Language As Commodity : Global Structures, Local Marketplaces.
Title:
Language As Commodity : Global Structures, Local Marketplaces.
Author:
Rubdy, Rani.
ISBN:
9781441123985
Personal Author:
Edition:
1st ed.
Physical Description:
1 online resource (243 pages)
Contents:
Contents -- Notes on contributors -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 Dimensions of globalization and applied linguistics -- 2 Linguistic instrumentalism in Singapore -- 3 The commodification of Malay: Trading in futures -- 4 Beyond linguistic instrumentalism: The place of Singlish in Singapore -- 5 Linguistic pragmatism, globalization and the impact on the patterns of input in Singaporean Chinese homes -- 6 Anatomies of linguistic commodification: The case of English in the Philippines vis-à-vis other languages in the multilingual marketplace -- 7 The English language as a commodity in Malaysia: The view through the medium-of-instruction debate -- 8 English in India: The privilege and privileging of social class -- 9 Negotiating language value in multilingual China -- 10 Language policy, vernacular education and language economics in postcolonial Africa -- 11 On the appropriateness of the metaphor of LOSS -- 12 The commoditization of English and the Bologna Process: Global products and services, exchange mechanisms and trans-national labour -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z.
Abstract:
Throughout human history, languages have been in competition with each other. As the world becomes more globalized, this trend increases. It affects the decision-making of those in positions of power and determines macro language policies and planning. Often decisions about language (or dialects or language variety) are related to usefulness - defined in terms of their pragmatic and commercial currency or their value as symbols of socio-cultural identity. Languages can be modes of entry into coveted social hierarchies or strongholds of religious, historical, technological and political power bases. Languages are seen now as commodities that carry different values in an era of globalization. This volume engages with language policies and positions in relation to the roles and functions these languages adopt. It examines the 'value' of languages, defined in terms of the power they have in the global marketplace as much as within the complex matrices of the local socio-politics. These valuations strongly underpin the various motivations that influence policy-making decisions, and in turn, these motivations create the tensions that characterize many language-related issues; tensions that arise when languages become commodified.
Local Note:
Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2017. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.
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