Bernard Spolsky es un distinguido académico en lingüística aplicada, centrando su trabajo en la adquisición de segundas lenguas y la política lingüística. Su investigación profundiza en las condiciones que facilitan el aprendizaje de idiomas extranjeros, examinando las dimensiones sociolingüísticas del desarrollo del lenguaje. Las investigaciones de Spolsky contribuyen a una comprensión más profunda de cómo los individuos y las sociedades interactúan con el lenguaje. Sus publicaciones, bajo prestigiosas editoriales universitarias, ofrecen valiosas perspectivas tanto para lingüistas como para educadores.
Sociolinguistics is the study of the different ways in which different groups of people use language. This book provides a brief but comprehensive introduction to the field, making links with related disciplines such as history, politics, and gender studies.
Over the last 50 years, language policy has developed into a major discipline, drawing on research and practice in many nations and at many levels. This is the first Handbook to deal with language policy as a whole and is a complete 'state-of-the-field' survey, covering language practices, beliefs about language varieties, and methods and agencies for language management. It provides a historical background which traces the development of classical language planning, describes activities associated with indigenous and endangered languages, and contains chapters on imperialism, colonialism, effects of migration and globalization, and educational policy. It also evaluates language management agencies, analyzes language activism and looks at language cultivation (including reform of writing systems, orthography and modernized terminology). The definitive guide to the subject, it will be welcomed by students, researchers and language professionals in linguistics, education and politics.