Polityka językowa w kształtowaniu tożsamości walijskiej
Language policy and identity politics in Wales

Summary/Abstract: Language is a crucial element of any society’s identity. Likewise, language policy is a vital social and political issue. Even in the European Union, a geo-political identity based on ideals of unity and shared values, there are visible efforts to construct minorities or nations’ institutions and identities through demands concerning language use. It is because the empowerment of language through language policy may shape speakers’ identification with a particular nation, their attitudes towards other communities, and their cultural and personal identity. The following article concerns one such case, namely Wales, and its present-day policy of promoting the indigenous language to make the society bilingual. The policy affects both the public sphere, mainly schools and institutions, and the private one, i.e. autonomous organisations and business. It results partly from the regional developments in post-devolution Britain as well as aspirations of all those engaged in preserving the Welsh national heritage.

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