Federalism and the Development of Language Policy: Preliminary Investigations  

Oleh:

Cloonan, Jeanne Denise ; Strine, James Michael

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Language Problems and Language Planning vol. 15 no. 3 (1991), page 268-281.

Ketersediaan

Perpustakaan PKBB Nomor Panggil: 405/LPL/15 Non-tandon: tidak ada Tandon: 1

Lihat Detail Induk

Isi artikel

While the move toward federal constitutional rights for minority language populations is inevitable and desirable, tradeoffs result from the move to a national policy. Surveys of welfare and driver licensing bureaus in seventeen of the United States reveal the decentralized nature of language policy development. The provision of materials in a foreign language by these agencies reflected a clientele-oriented model of the policy process. That is, language policy often was determined by the agency itself rather than by legislatures or the public through initiative and referenda. Little evidence supported the state-benefit model, which suggests states will avoid expenditures which would make more people eligible for welfare funds. If operating under a state-benefit model of policy, states would restrict foreign language applications for welfare assistance to limit the eligible population. There is no evidence that states attempt to place barriers in the way of language minorities who wish to apply for state assistance. Until the English-only movement becomes more widespread and states further restrict rights of language minorities, minority language populations benefit from maintenance of decentralized language policies. State bureaucratic agencies are more protective of language minority rights than federal legislation or constitutional rights would be.

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