The Individual in Language Policy and Management

Abstract

Named languages, as defined by the International Standards Organization, are theoretically recognized by lack of comprehensibility by speakers of other varieties but turn out in practice to be decided politically rather than linguistically. The fact that multilingualism is so common suggests that we should deal with repertoires rather than languages. Varieties are supported by ideologies and beliefs in their economic or identity values. Even at the level of the individual speaker, this is true. The book starts with the individual, encouraged by the existence of self-management in Language Management Theory and even more by the example of a grandson who resisted his elder siblings’ shift to their school language.