Social organization of language behavior in Luxembourg: Implications for language planning

This dissertation is an investigation of the sociocultural factors that influence language choices and uses in the multilingual country of Luxembourg. Recent sociolinguistic research in multilingual settings suggests that individual decisions about language are highly interdependent with socioeconomic conditions and historically established language values. Yet language planning studies have tended to focus on primarily national level policies and goals.;This study approaches language policies by examining relationships among: intended policy involving the government's language policies and goals; implemented policy which includes actions taken by state and local agencies in efforts to realize these goals; and experienced policy involving the effects implementation has on individuals within society. The study considers the ways in which the language and social experiences of children within low socioeconomic communities differ from school expectations and how these differences affect achievement of both individual and government goals. In Luxembourg, language policies involve the use of Letzebuergesch, French, and German among 365,900 inhabitants including 26 per cent who are foreign.;A history of past language policy and practices sets the background for recent policy formation and current language uses and values. An investigation of the roles of reading, writing, and speaking within school settings illustrates policy implementation and individual usage. The ways in which policy is experienced is described in terms of the number and extent of language functions within communities including: (1) the skills required, (2) between-group or within-group interaction, and (3) topic and setting. The nature of language experience is reflected in ethnographic descriptions of the roles language and literacy abilities play in social life. These descriptions are presented in terms of patterns of language use across socioeconomic groups and through composite case studies of three families representing upper, middle, and lower class backgrounds. Community and school language behaviors are then compared across socioeconomic groups through an analysis of the degree of congruence between reading, writing, and speaking functions outside of school and the in-school norms and methods of language instruction. The study further examines the practical and theoretical implications of the relationships among policy intent, implementation, and experience in the context of socio-economic transitions in modern multilingual nations.