A major concern of many scientists, artists, writers, politicians, and leaders of linguistic communities is the preservation of cultural and linguistic diversity in today's world.
It is estimated that half of the current 6000 spoken languages are endangered of disapearing within the 21st century. Many factors affect the existence and usage of human languages.
Many countries have language policies designed to favor or discourage the use of a language or certain languages. There are many ways such laws could be categorized. Here is one:
A policy of assimilation is one that uses measures to accelerate the downsizing of one or more linguistic minority group(s). The ultimate goal of such policies is to foster national unity inside a State.
States that have such a policy:
Afghanistan - Burma - Brazil - Bosnia - Cyprus - Greece - Indonesia - Iraq - Iran - Northern Ireland - Kosovo - Pakistan - Syria - East Timor - Thailand - Turkey - Vietnam
A policy of non-intervention consists in choosing to let the normal rapport between the main linguistic group and the minorities evolve on its own. This almost invariably favors the dominant group. Sometimes, such policies are accompanied by administrative measures protecting certain minorities.
States that have such a policy:
Germany - Angola - Saudi Arabia - Argentina - Australia - Austria - Bangladesh - Benin - Burkina Faso - Chile - Democratic Republic of the Congo - Côte d'Ivoire - Cuba - Dominica - Ecuador - Gabon - Ghana - Gibraltar - Guinea - Guyana - Northern Ireland - Jamaica - Japan - Liechtenstein - Mali - Nebraska - Nicaragua - Dominican Republic - Czech Republic United Kingdom - Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Lucia - San Marino - Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - El Salvador - Senegal - Uruguay - Venezuela - Vermont
A policy that recognizes a different legal statute for a given language usually aims at allowing the coexistence of multiple linguistic groups inside a State. Typically, the majority has all its linguistic rights secured and sometimes promoted while the minority or minorities are given special protection for their langauge.
States that have such a policy:
Albania - Bulgaria - California - China - Croatia - Estonia - European Council - Guatemala - Latvia - Lithuania - Macedonia - Manitoba - Ontario - New Mexico - Paraguay - Netherlands - Wales - Quebec - Romania - Slovakia - Sweden - Yukon
A policy favoring the official language is a policy of unilingualism. Sometimes, it favors the national language, sometime it favors a colonial language with a strong influence internationally. In some cases, such policies are accompanied by measures recognizing and protecting minority languages.
States that have such a policy:
Aland - Albania - Algeria - Andorra - Azerbaijan - California - Cambodia - Cyprus - Colombia - North Korea - South Korea - Croatia - Egypt - Spain - Estonia - United States - Greece - Iran - Iceland - Italy - Kuwait - Latvia - Lebanon - Lithuania - Macedonia - Madagascar - Morocco - Mexico - Moldova - Montenegro - Nepal - Uzbekistan - Peru - Quebec - Romania - Serbia - Saint-Pierre and Miquelon - Slovakia - Somalia - Tunisia - Vietnam - Voivodina
A policy favoring the two official languages is a policy of bilingualism. There are many different ways in which these policies can be applied.
A policy of bilingualism based on non-territorialized individual rights recognizes the same rights to all members of a community whatever their location on the national territory.
South Africa - Belarus - Belgium - Burundi - Canada - Central African Republic - Djibouti - Guam - Hong Kong - Ireland - Kenya - Kiribati - Malta - Nauru - Norway - New Brunswick - New Zealand - Nunavut - Rwanda - Western Samoa - Tanzania - Chad - Northwest Territories - Tonga - Tuvalu
Primary source of information: LECLERC, Jacques. "Politiques linguistiques" in L’aménagement linguistique dans le monde, Québec, TLFQ, Université Laval, December 2003 [http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/monde/index_politique-lng.htm]Assimilation Policies
Non-intervention Policies
Differentiated Legal Statute Policies
Valorization of the Official Language Policies
Sectorial Policies
Bilingualism or Trilingualism Policies
Based on non-territorialized individual rights
Based on territorialized individual rights
Based on territorial rights
Strategic Multilingualism Policies
Linguistic Internationalization Policies
Mixed Linguistic Policies
