Review of Normative Language Policy

Abstract

This book is a welcome addition to the literature on language policy. The authors are mainly concerned with providing an axiological account of normativity in language, using the province of Québec as a case study to explore the extent to which normativity can be morally justified in certain contexts. This focus represents a significant departure from the mainly descriptive and ontological accounts of implicit and explicit policy that are current in many strands of language-policy research. In fact, the focus of the book emerges from the authors’ view that contemporary language-policy scholarship maintains a strongly descriptive and empirical character, with the ‘ought’ of language in society (i.e. normativity) often not a central concern. Indeed, they argue that normativity in language is often associated with illegitimate power and coercion, and is thus regarded negatively, with authors criticising it but not offering insights into how things might be improved. An interdisciplinary approach is adopted here, drawing mainly on literature from sociolinguistics and normative political philosophy, in order to argue for a more nuanced view of prescriptivism. The authors contend that normativity is not inherently wrong in and of itself. Ultimately, they argue for a research agenda that includes an examination of the ethics and morality of normative language policy.