Deconstruction and Reshaping in Spolsky’s Rethinking Language Policy

Journal of Language Situation and Language Service (ISSN 3078-3755) 

JLSLS, Vol.1, No.1,2025, pp.112-118

斯波斯基《语言政策再思考》中的解构与重塑

方   愈（Fang Yu）^[1]

摘要：斯波斯基（Spolsky）的《语言政策再思考》（Rethinking Language Policy，2021）是其在语言政策领域四十年研究的集大成之作。该书以其标志性的“语言实践、语言信仰和语言管理”三要素模型为基础，提出了一项重要的理论更新：通过对传统国家中心视角的解构，将语言政策分析的起点转向个体说话者。斯波斯基通过广泛的全球案例，系统考察了个体、家庭、机构、社区、政府乃至超国家层面上的语言实践、信仰和规划努力，深刻揭示了语言政策的复杂性、动态性和混沌性，并强调了非语言因素在其中的决定性作用。此书为语言政策研究提供了“权威指南”，但在理论分析深度、对“命名语言”本体论的阐释、二元对立的呈现以及引用来源的语种多样性等方面仍有改进空间。作为当代语言政策研究的奠基人之一，斯波斯基在此书中对其数十年的学术积累进行了深刻的反思、拓展与重塑，挑战了传统范式，主张从更为整合和动态的视角理解语言政策的制定与执行。

关键词：语言政策；语言管理；数字语境；个体说话者；非语言因素

Title: Deconstruction and Reshaping in Spolsky’s Rethinking Language Policy

Abstract: Spolsky’s Rethinking Language Policy (2021) is the culmination of his 40 years of research in the field of language policy. The book proposes an important theoretical update based on its iconic three-element model of “language practice, language belief, and language management”: through the deconstruction of the traditional nation-state centered perspective, it shifts the starting point of language policy analysis to individual speakers. Spolsky systemati­cally examines language practices, beliefs, and planning efforts at the individual, family, insti­tutional, community, government, and even supranational levels through extensive global cases, profoundly revealing the complexity, dynamism, and chaos of language policies, and empha­sizing the decisive role of nonverbal factors in them. This book provides an “authoritative guide” for language policy research, but there is still room for improvement in terms of theo­retical analysis depth, interpretation of the ontology of “named language”, presentation of bi­nary oppositions, and linguistic diversity of citation sources. As one of the pioneers of contem­porary language policy research, Spolsky deeply reflects, expands, and reshapes his decades-long academic accumulation in this book, challenging traditional

paradigms and advocating for a more integrated and dynamic perspective to understand the formulation and implementation of language policies.

Keywords: language policy; language management; digital context; individual speakers; non-linguistic factors

[1] 方愈（Fang Yu），广州商学院国际学院教师，爱丁堡大学硕士，研究方向：语言政策、国际中文教育。电邮：fangyu722@icloud.com。