Language Politics in Tunisia
A Study of Language Ideological Debates
By (author) Fethi Helal, Prof. Joseph Lo Bianco
Publication date:
Q1 2025Publisher
Multilingual MattersDimensions:
234x156mm6x9"
ISBN-13: 9781800410879
This book offers both an empirical examination of language ideologies and language policies in post-Arab Spring Tunisia and a detailed critical and interdisciplinary model of Language Policy and Planning (LPP). The authors present a comprehensive picture of how multiple language ideologies interact and play out as language policy against a background of political turmoil in a country with a complex history of indigenous and colonial languages. They utilise critical perspectives from Sociolinguistics and Applied Linguistics and add Critical Discourse Studies and a Discourse-Historical Approach to produce a model of LPP for scholars in other settings to describe and work to improve their own specific language contexts.
Helal and Lo Bianco provide a powerful analysis of language ideologies underlying Tunisia’s policy struggles associated with the Arab Spring. Beyond its immediate context, this book also makes a major methodological contribution to the field of language policy analysis. It is a must read for scholars and serious students alike.