1.1

Language policy and language Conflict

11.1 Industrialization and modernization
There are a number of interrelated sociocultural and economic changes which the industrialized countries of the world underwent a hundred and fifty or so years ago and which the so-called developing countries of the third World are undergoing today. The conceptualization of these processes is somewhat of a theoretical and ideological controversy at the present time in sociology. Those who use the model envision the Third World nations evolving into societies which are reasonable approximations to the 5ccieties of Western Europe; to them, modem means “western.” One of the characteristics which these societies are said to be acquiring then is modernization, which is usually, defined terms of an increase in such, factors as literacy, urbanization, and per capita income, areal mobility exposure to communication, industrialization, and political control, economic power, and innovation to outlying areas and groups. The basis for such communication lies in widely circulating mass media, increased literacy, and a general educational system. Those directing the social mobilization process in developing countries not only must decide what language to choose but also how to carry out the standardiza¬tion process.
The processes of modernization and industrialization do not in themselves necessarily lead either to uniformation or diversification of languages. In fact both may go on simultaneously; While new languages or varieties (for example. Languages of wider communication) may be introduced from the outside. others may spread by means of educational or other institutions over wider areas and displace certain varieties. At the same time. old end new varieties may interact to produce new hybrid varieties. The status of some varieties is lowered at the same time that the status of others is elevated. For example, in Yugoslavia, Macedonian has achieved the status of a full-fledged Language, at the same time that Yiddish has been almost completely obliterated in Eastern Europe. The American experience is atypical, in that various ethnic populations in contact with each other are all dislocated populations. Dislocation often leads to cultural and ethnic assimilation, as is happening in the Soviet Union and in much of postwar Europe.

In Europe and North America, industrialization preceded urbanization, and (particularly in Eastern Europe) ethnic nationalism preceded political nationalism. Furthermore, the first set of phenomena preceded the second. In the Third World today, however, we seem to be witnessing the reverse of these sequences, that is, nationalism there is preceding urbanization which, in turn, is preceding industrialization. Third world elites are de-emphasizing language issues of a local or regional nature at the same time that they are favoring continued use of supraregional and colonial languages as an aid in the modernization and industrialization processes (Fishman 1972b:125).
Those who prefer the liberation model, rather than the development model, envision Third World societies as liberating themselves both from the traditions of a feudal-like society, as well as from the shackles of colonialism and neocolonialism. Regardless of the conceptualization involved, it is apparent that the changes these societies are undergoing are directly related to language problems. In the first place, the former colonized areas are faced with the legacy of colonialist language policy. In most cases, the natives learned Western technology, organization, and cultured through the medium of a Western language, hence their own languages did not have adequate opportunity to develop their lexicons to meet these needs. They were even compelled to think in the Western language in dealing with technologies. organizational structures, and other cultural systems imported from, and imposed on them, from the West (d. section 10.2)
With the achievement of independence ill the former colonies, man)! desired that modern science technology, and civic life be the patrimony of the entire nation, not just of a privileged elite. This meant that the people would have to receive a' modern education in their own, or a closely related, vernacular. This involves the question" of language development, how a language can be expanded and adapted to a radically new kind of technological and social order. That it can be done is proven, for example, by the cases of English and Japanese, which changed to meet the needs of an industrial society, although they had a century or more in which to do it The developing nations, however, cannot wait a hundred years for their languages to catch up with their technology through "natural" that is, unplanned change. Change must be rapid, and it must be planned.
There are similarities between economic development and language develop¬ment In neither respect are the non- Western nations likely to follow in the step of the developed Western nations. The former are much poorer now than were the rich countries of today in their developing periods. The Third World countries have an unfavorable balance of resource exploitation. and they do not have the ready markets for the sale of their wares at advantageous prices, the emigration outlets, not the cheap sources of raw materials that the Western nations had when they industrialized in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Just as the Western nations have preempted markets and raw materials, so have they pre¬empted the language field. European languages are those through which most future technical political, and social changes will reach the indigenous language communities, and the most likely languages through which locals can leave the indigenolis language community (Fishman 1973a:28-29).
A further problem of the Third World nations is that their political boundaries correspond rather imperfectly to pre-existing ethnic boundaries.. Although this was also true of the new nations of Eastern Europe after World War I, the latter had for decades engaged in nationalistic activity, which lead to a high degree of culture consolidation and integration before the achievement of nationhood. On the other hand , in the new nations of Africa especially, political independence was achieved far in advance of unification around a set of national symbols. Hence, language may become a symbol not of ethnic but of national identity, except for those ethnic groups who resist fusion into the larger nationality. In addition to, the problems of cultural legitimacy and authenticity, the new nations have been confronted with language problems revolving around efficiency and instrumentality. That is, the countries are faced not only with ideologies and symbolization and unification but with solving practical problems, in business, government, education, etc. In much of the Third Work the symbolic goals may have to give way to the immediate operational needs of the country. Some language or multiple languages may have to be recognized For example, a common solution is the use of local languages for elementary schooling but a European language for government activity and higher education. In the newly emergent countries of Africa and Asia, the demand for literate. education comes from those classes which especially see themselves at an economic disadvantage without, they do not see education as a means of developing an integrated personality but as the only way to get ahead economically. Vernacular educa¬tion may not necessarily be in the best interest of these people's ambitions. Education in a world language may promote more opportunity for social mobility, but culturate strangement may be the price for economic advance.
Ferguson (1968a:28) identifies three dimensions of language development, namely graphization (reduction to writing), standardization and inter translatibility with the languages of the industrialized, secularized and structurally differentiated modern societies. A language may be considered modernized when it has become the equal of other developed languages as an appropriate vehicle of modern forms of discourse. The process of modernization includes the expan¬sion of the lexicon, as well as the development of new styles and forms of discourse.
Some nation-states are more homogeneous linguistically than others, end this seems favor development and modernization. Fishman (1968c:60) has claimed that linguistically homogeneous countries are usually economically and educationally more advanced, and politically more modernized and stable than the heterogeneous ones. On the average, the more homogeneous countries are also richer. He concludes that while language diversity may hinder, language unity helps development. When there is a diversity of language, political section¬alism may be aggravated, which hinders cooperation among groups and regions, as well as impeding political stability and political' participation. Language diversity also slows economic development, by reducing occupational mobility and the number of people available for mobilization into the modem sector of the economy. It is, furthermore., difficult to diffuse innovative techniques to the polyglot population. In a study of the interrelationships of these factors, Pool (1972) concluded that a country can have any degree of language uniformity or fragmentation and still be underdeveloped On the other hand, a highly linguistically homogeneous state can be anywhere from very rich to very poor. "But a country that is linguistically highly heterogeneous is always under¬developed or semi-developed, and a country that is highly developed always has considerable language uniformity. Language uniformity, then, is a necessary but not sufficient condition of economic development (There are individual exceptions, such as Switzerland, for example.)