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Landyachtz Stratus Sanctuary Complete 9.25″ x 45.5″ Black

$ 274.95

Flying in with a fresh graphic is the Landyachtz Stratus Sanctuary, and is ready for you to put on your favorite jam and get familiar with your new dancing partner!

This complete comes rolling with Grizzly Gen 6 trucks and 63mm Fatty Hawgs. This board is perfectly suited to riders who are looking for a board that will flip faster and with less effort than a wider dancing board!

Out of stock

• Description

Additional information

The Stratus is a flexy longboard shape designed specifically for freestyle and longboard dancing. At 45.5″ long by 9.25″ wide and with griptape only where you need it.

This board is perfectly suited to riders who are looking for a board that will offer more control than a smaller board. The Stratus uses a 8-ply Canadian Maple construction to give a nice medium flex feel, that returns lots of energy out of each turn but still gives you a confident feeling when landing tricks. 

Redesigned from the ground up and incorporating technology perfected in our high end DH and Freeride trucks, Gen 6 Grizzlies are the best performing cast trucks on the market today. Game changing strength and highly refined steering geometry are just the tip of the iceberg.

Dancing is one of the fastest-growing and most vibrant styles within skateboarding today as its social, expressive nature and accessibility make it appealing to a wide variety of people. Landyachtz’s line of dance boards looks to provide well thought out. Complete dancing boards at great value for people of all shapes, sizes and styles of riding. As a result, they are light, durable, and stylish dancing boards make smooth footwork and precise freestyle tricks a breeze. In addition to eye-catching graphics, high-performance components, and thoughtful laser-cut grip tape.

STRATUS SANCTUARY:

• Deck width: 9.25″
• Deck length: 46″
• Wheelbase: 27.5″ – 29.5″
• BOARD AS COMPLETE INCLUDES:
• Bear Grizzly Gen 6 trucks
• Bear Spaceball Built-in bearings
• Landyachtz Fatty Hawgs 63mm 78a
• Wheels from factory may vary
• More:  LANDYACHTZ COMPLETES

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Landyachtz Longboards at the world's largest online longboard skateboard shop thelongboardstore.com, our 6,400 square foot warehouse is packed full of the largets seletion of premium hand crafted longboard styles from; pintails, top mounts, drop throughs, downhill, freeride, carving and cruiser skateboards. Check out thelongboardstore.com for Free shipping on your next complete longboard.

Your Trusted Longboard Supplier

Family owned since 2006, The Longboard Store offers quality brand-certified longboard completes, longboard decks, trucks, wheels, and accessories. Longboarding is a unique skating experience and we offer only the highest quality longboards and related tech to guarantee a smooth ride. We offer longboard completes with all brand certified equipment. However, if customization is what you’re after, we offer a wide variety of decks, trucks, wheels, and other accessories for your longboard. The longboard community is a unique crew so even if you start off with a complete, you can switch up your trucks and wheels depending on your mood and destination. Check out the different longboard brands we sell like Arbor , Landyachtz , and Sector 9 . By shopping with us, you’re guaranteed free USA shipping and no sales tax. Start browsing our high quality selection today and find the longboard that perfectly matches your riding style.

Free Shipping USA/CA on orders over $125 – excluding bikes

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SCENIC CRUISE

Great for Seawalls, smooth walking paths, bike paths, and quiet streets. Embrace the Ride, Explore the Beauty!

A skateboard with soft wheels is the most fun and effective way to get to wherever it is you need to go. Skate Your Way!

Taking a skateboard down a hill is one of the purest joys of life. Surrender to gravity, feel the rush!

CITY CRUISE

If you like tight turns and dynamic environments with lots of obstacles, don’t look any further than city cruising.

Challenge yourself to master new moves. Don’t have a board for tricks? We’ve hand-picked the best boards for you.

Pump tracks are great for everyone, from beginners to seasoned veterans. We’ve selected the best boards to enhance your experience.

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Discover the joy of skateboarding with our selection of boards perfect for beginners. Crafted to help you learn quickly and enjoy every moment.

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We’ve marked down some perfectly good, brand-new boards with minor aesthetic flaws. Get a deal on a 100% skateable board!

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We plant one tree for every skateboard we sell

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• The Random Lounge
• The Lounge (Off-Topic)

longboarding?

• Thread starter ponyboy
• Start date May 28, 2012

|KKK|'s Pony

• May 28, 2012

Predator'

Staff sergeant.

I have a 2012 Landyatchz Wolfshark im sponsored by Edge Boardshop for downhill racing P.S the landyatchz eh team is awesome!  

Foolish Mortal

|KKK|s Sexiest Voice

I reallywant a longboard, but I gots no munies, so plastic banana board and regular board it is.  

• May 29, 2012

I got invited to race something in Hawaii but i was too young it was 16 and over, plus it cost way to much money for me to go  

I wanted this board called a Streetboardz or something but it was $300, then I found the exact same board, and I meant exact same, under another brand for only $180! then I forgot what the brand and website was called, and its lost for ever.  

get ur board at daddies board shop in portland one of the best prices for boards. ---------- Post added at 06:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:56 AM ---------- its awesome though because i can just got to landyachtz and get whatever they have.  

Flying Dutchman

I see alot if them boarders here, there even classes for it..  

I have a Gravity longboard....love riding it round town..  

Im thinking about getting a longboard. What would you guys suggest for a deck? I already know Im gettin bear 180's with SHR Venom 81a cone's, and flashbacks for wheels...  

Pony boy, I live a few thousand KM from Portland because of, you know, being in Australia Haha. I just might check that out pred, but I don't know your real name, and saying Predator sent me might not get either of us very far Haha.  

lol and sheldon u should get a landyachtz board or a rayne board, both of them are so good but rayne has fiberglass boards and nice concave landyachtz has everything from pintails to tiny decks, and their boards are so well made, if ur getting wheels u probably want orangatangs or abec 11s. ur gettin bear 852s right because bears are awesome. u probably want something other than the cones, if ur planning on downhill, but for carving u can get em. i reccomend the rayne amazon or the demonseed, the landyachtz 925 or the switchblade.  

Bones swiss=best bearings ever.  

Pony im mainly gunna use it for carving and getting around, so that's why I want the cones. I've already decided on abec's (flashbacks) and bears. Also for bearings im geting bone reds.  

Bones reds are great, they're dirt cheap and provided you keep them clean they'll stay as fast as you want them.  

Sheldon said: Pony im mainly gunna use it for carving and getting around, so that's why I want the cones. I've already decided on abec's (flashbacks) and bears. Also for bearings im geting bone reds. Click to expand...

Well I don't do downhill, so BR's are the best and most practical bearings I've found.  

• May 30, 2012

Yeah they are better for cruising. I just use Tektons cause they dont cave and roll well.  

But are they $15 a set? Haha  

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The Oxford Handbook of Language Policy and Planning

James W. Tollefson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington and Honorary Professor in the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong. His many publications include Planning Language, Planning Inequality (Longman, 1991); Language Policies in Education: Critical Issues (2nd edition, 2013); and, with Amy B. M. Tsui, Medium of Instruction Policies: Which Agenda? Whose Agenda? (2004) and Language Policy, Culture and Identity in Asian Contexts (2007). His books have also been translated into Chinese, Arabic, and Japanese. His current research focuses on language and inequality, mass media in language policy processes, and the role of language in the history of progressive and pacifist movements in the United States.

Miguel Pérez-Milans is Senior Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Centre for Applied Linguistics in the UCL Institute of Education, University College London, and is currently linked to The University of Hong Kong as Honorary Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education. His latest research projects involve the ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of language ideology, identity, and social interaction in institutional spaces in London, Madrid, Mainland China, and Hong Kong, with specific attention to instability, social change, and interpersonal collusion under conditions of late modernity. He is author of the book Urban Schools and English Language Education in Late Modern China: A Critical Sociolinguistic Ethnography (Routledge Critical Series in Multilingualism, 2013). He has also edited the following monographs in the form of special issues: Multilingual Discursive Practices and Processes of Social Change in Globalizing Institutional Spaces (International Journal of Multilingualism 11[4], 2014); Language Education Policy in Late Modernity: Insights from Situated Approaches (Language Policy 14[2], 2015); and Reflexivity in Late Modernity: Accounts from Linguistic Ethnographies of Youth (AILA Review 29[1], 2016).

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This Handbook offers a state-of-the-art account of research in language policy and planning (LPP). The Handbook examines the ways in which scholarship in language policy and planning (LPP) has understood the changing relationship between LPP and political-economic conditions, and how this changing relationship has shaped knowledge production in the field. With an underlying interest in language, social critique, and inequality, scholars in this volume work in widely divergent local, regional, national, and institutional settings, to investigate the ongoing processes that have gradually become the focus of contemporary LPP research, in many cases forcing scholars and practitioners in the field to revisit their own assumptions, views, and methodological perspectives. Through a critical examination of LPP, the Handbook offers new directions for a field in theoretical and methodological turmoil as a result of the socioeconomic, institutional, and discursive processes of change taking place under the conditions of late modernity. Chapters in this handbook are divided into three major sections: conceptual underpinnings of LPP; LPP, nation states, and communities; and LPP and late modernity. Subsections include chapters focusing on LPP and nationalism, minorities, standardization, and globalization; LPP in institutions of the nation-state and in communities; language, neoliberalism, and governmentality; language and mobility, diversity, and new social media; and new approaches to extending LPP scholarship. A final chapter offers an integrative summary and suggestions for future directions in LPP research.

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Home > Books > Sociolinguistics - Interdisciplinary Perspectives

The Characteristics of Language Policy and Planning Research: An Overview

Submitted: 08 September 2016 Reviewed: 27 February 2017 Published: 05 July 2017

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.68152

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This chapter has been compiled to provide an overview of the language policing and planning (LPP) field, particularly for new researchers who would like to pursue their MA or PhD. It aims to explore the following: the genesis of LPP from the 1950s to date, type of research questions pertinent to the field, methodology that can be applied, substantial literature review and case studies that have been carried out in LPP, ethnography of language policy and planning, the historical analysis approach and authorities in the field of LPP such as Hornberger, Johnson and Ricento.

• language policing and planning (LPP)
• ethnography
• research instruments
• historical analysis approach

Author Information

Prashneel ravisan goundar *.

• Department of Language & Literature, Fiji National University, Lautoka, Fiji

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

Language policing and planning (LPP) is one of the fastest growing subdisciplines of applied linguistics [ 1 ]. The LPP field was formed in the early 1960s by language scholars interested in solving the language problems of new, developing and/or post-colonial nations.

As claimed by many to be the pioneer in the field of LPP, it was Haugen who introduced the term language planning in 1959. Haugen defined language planning as “the activity of preparing normative orthography, grammar and dictionary for the guidance of writers and speakers in a non-homogenous speech community” [ 2 ]. What Haugen described was later categorized as status planning [ 3 ], corpus planning [ 3 ] and acquisition planning [ 4 ].

2. The emergence of language policy and planning as a field of applied linguistics

As emphasized earlier, LPP is a new field of study which is growing rapidly but researchers have found LPP structures from the World War II era. Ricento [ 5 ] “traces the evolution of LPP research since World War II in three phases with their respective socio political, epistemological and strategic concerns.” It is argued that the 1950s–1960s was an era of decolonization and state formation during which LPP research was carried out under a structured paradigm that was oriented towards problem solving [ 1 ].

2.1. The 1950s–1960s era

The LPP field came into existence from this period and many linguists emerged to provide solutions of LPP-oriented issues in light of the colonial ruling globally. Johnson [ 2 ] argues that “during this era, many linguists were recruited to help develop grammars, writing systems and dictionaries for indigenous languages and, out of this, an interest in how best to develop the form of a languages, i.e. corpus planning grew.” Lin [ 6 ] shares her perspective on the development of LPP. She states that “language policy and planning (LPP) as an interest for academics emerged in the 1950s, and 1960s has largely been ‘problem-oriented’ that responded to the needs of the newly established states; these polities had just gained independence from their former colonial powers” [ 7 ].

It is stipulated that early researchers in LPP were technical in their approach, seeing their task as one of planning, standardizing, regulating, containing or managing linguistic diversity for the national development agendas; these would include planning for spreading a standardized national language as well as modern economic development [ 1 ]. Moreover, Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ] claim that while early research offered various macro-level frameworks in order to account for and guide national language planning, the latest critical methodologies focus on how language policies can be hegemonic by delineating minority language education.

Finally, Johnson [ 2 ] explains why much of the earlier works in language planning has had negative feedback. “Initial language planning work has been critiqued for various reasons—as it was exclusively focused on deliberate language planning done by governing states, because the work was subjugated by a structuralist or positivistic epistemology and because the frameworks disregarded the socio-political context in which language planning takes place” [ 2 ].

2.2. The 1970s–1980s period

During the 1960s–1970s, LP was seen as a non-political, non-ideological, pragmatic and a technicist paradigm. Its overt objective was to solve the immediate language issues of the newly emergent post-colonial states in Africa, Asia as well as the Middle East. Furthermore, status language concerns at this time, thus, focused in particular on establishing stable diglossic language contexts in which majority languages (usually, ex-colonial languages and most often English and French) were promoted as public languages of wider communication [ 9 ].

On the contrary, Johnson [ 2 ] argues that “it is challenging to precisely and/or cohesively characterize the work during this period as interest became more prolix that extended beyond the corpus/status distinction, and many language planning academics began to question the practicality of previous models of language planning” (p. 30). He further explains that it was during this time whereby positivistic linguistics paradigms and structuralist concepts were increasingly being challenged among various disciplines. The critical linguistics and sociolinguistics examined previous approaches that attempted to divorce linguistic data from the sociocultural context in which it was created. Therefore, these two related, nevertheless diverse, areas of research have facilitated in shaping the LPP field [ 2 ].

Therefore, Hymes suggested that what needs to be accounted for in any acceptable theory of language users as well as language use is a speaker’s communicative competence, which takes into account not only the linguistic ‘’competence” as defined by Chomsky but also the sociolinguistic knowledge to interact applicably in particular sociocultural contexts [ 2 ].

2.3. 1990s to current expansion of frameworks

Current developments in LPP further focus on the agency of local social actors in the policy-implementational spaces [ 8 ]. Each of these theoretical developments carries with it different methodological and epistemological stances [ 1 ].

Johnson [ 2 ] argues that the critical shift in linguistics and sociolinguistics ultimately influenced the field of language planning and overtly integrated into critical language policy in the 1990s, but prior to that, there were at least three crucial developments:

The attention moved away from “language planning” being understood exclusively as something obligatory by governing bodies to a broader focus on activity in several contexts and layers of LPP.

An increasing interest in language planning for schools, including the introduction of acquisition planning by Cooper [ 4 ] to the original status/corpus distinction.

An increased interest in the sociopolitical and ideological nature of LPP.

3. Pertinent research questions

Various questions can be derived from the issues that concern language, its maintenance and its growth. The following are the suggested research questions that researchers may take up as part of their MA or PhD curriculum.

What processes are involved in language planning and policy in a polity?

This question examines the process that is undertaken in creating a language policy in a country, society or state. Researchers can search through archival documents such as meeting proceedings, debates on the creation process as well as draft copies of the language policy.

How is a particular language policy being enacted in the schools?

This question deals with the notion that a language policy exits in a country but whether it is being enacted properly or not in schools, either in the primary or secondary sector.

What is the correlation between language issues of a country and its LPP?

The language issues that arise in a country could be attributed to the LPP. This question examines first, the language issues then it analyses the language policy and how it is related to the language issues.

4. Ethnography of language policy and planning

The term Ethnography can be defined as the scientific description of customs of individual people and cultures. Ethnography research plays a major role in language policy and laguage planning (LPP), multilingualism and language education researches (Some of the experts in the field include [ 2 , 5 , 8 – 12 ]).

One of the crucial researches in this field was carried out by Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ], which is cited in recent LPP researches. In this article, the authors initiate the need for more multi-layered and ethnographic approaches to language policy and planning (LPP) research by emphasizing on two examples of how ethnography can irradiate local interpretation and implementation. They propose ethnographic data collected in two distinct institutions. Both of these perform as transitional agencies between national language policies and local educational initiatives [ 8 ].

Analysing from long-term ethnographic work in each context, the researchers present pieces from spoken and written discourse that bring light on the opening up or closing down of ideological and implementational spaces for multilingual language education policy as well as practice. Using examples they illustrate that ethnographic research can, figuratively speaking, slice through the layers of the LPP onion [ 13 ] to unveil agentive spaces whereby local actors implement, interpret and often resist policy initiatives in varying and exclusive ways.

Davis explains that even though critical approaches, such as the historical structural approach, provide a logical base for LPP research, it lacks a methodology for gathering data. However, she suggests that ethnography can offer a copious description of language planning within communities, schools and other social institutions. Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ] and Canagarajah [ 12 ] add that ethnography can help build LPP models and inform policy-making.

Furthermore, Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ] agree with Davis that ethnographies of language policy offer unique insights into the LPP processes through broad descriptions of policy interpretation and implementation at the local level. Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ] further clarify the ideology and implementation of ethnographic researches by stating “Ethnographic language policy research offers a means for exploring how varying local interpretations, implementations, negotiations and perhaps resistance can pry open implementational and ideological spaces for multilingual language education” (p. 511).

The research instruments that were used in Johnson’s multi-sited ethnographic study between 2002 and 2005 of language policy in the School District of Philadelphia included participant observation, recorded interviews, recorded naturally occurring conversation, historical legal analysis and textual analyses [ 8 ]. Consequently, his research used intertextual analyses to look at spoken and written discourse throughout the various layers of language policy development, interpretation and implementation.

To add on, Canagarajah [ 12 ] claims that ethnographers may supplement participant observation with surveys, questionnaires and interviews and may use audio and video taping, field notes or digital media to “capture” data. Whatever means are used, ethnographers present a broad description of concrete details and narratives in their reports, enabling readers to see language practices in all their contextuality and variability [ 12 ].

5. The historical-structural approach

A wide range of topics that can be investigated using historical-structural research methods can make it difficult for beginning researchers to decide what to include in a research plan [ 1 ]. A useful structure for establishing historical-structural study is illustrated in Table 1 . This structure takes on the traditional divisions between the language-planning processes of status planning, corpus planning as well as acquisition planning and between micro and macro levels of analysis [ 14 ].

Table 1.

Descriptive framework of historical-structural research.

Note: Adapted from Tollefson [ 14 ].

Corpus planning can be defined as those aspects of language planning which are primarily linguistic and, hence, internal to language [ 15 ]. Some of the example of these aspects that are related to language planning includes orthographic (the way in which words in a language are spelled) innovation, including design, harmonization, change of script and spelling reform; pronunciation; changes in language structure; vocabulary expansion; simplification of registers; style and the preparation of language material [ 15 ]. Whereas status planning is concerned with the environment in which the language is used, for example, which language is the “official language” or the “national language” of a country.

According to Donakey [ 16 ], acquisition planning is concerned with language distribution, which can involve providing opportunities to use a particular language to increase the number of users. Furthermore, Tollefson states that historical-structural factors may apply in all the planning processes at all the levels.

6. Conclusion

In a study that investigates language policy and planning (LPP), it is pivotal to comprehend what the researchers take up in their scholarship. Hult and Johnson [ 1 ] clarify this particular point by stating that LPP researchers are concerned with the creation, interpretation and appropriation of policy on language status, corpus or acquisition in particular contexts—we seek to understand, illuminate and influence policy-shaped/policy-shaping texts, discourses and practice.

Furthermore, LPP researchers often take up the “what” of language policy as it plays out in education, focusing on policy and planning around language teaching and learning or language in learning and teaching [ 1 ]. This, in turn, constitutes the fields which could be investigated, for example, policies on language learning and instructional practices in classrooms at elementary, secondary or tertiary levels; on language acquisition and use in classroom interaction; or on method of assessing what a language learner knows and can do. Hult and Johnson [ 1 ] summarize this perspective by stating that context is crucial to analysing, interpreting and generalize findings.

7. Future directions

Language planning and policy (LPP) research falls into the field of sociolinguistics which is a branch of applied linguistics. Sociolinguistics is the basic grounding needed for scholars to engage in LPP studies. The terminology that is vital or the background knowledge that is required for LPP studies can only be derived from sociolinguistics. Therefore, it is suggested that students actively involve themselves in this before engaging in LPP research.

To sum up, this chapter has outlined the characteristics of language policy and planning research, the type of questions pertinent in this field. The article has also discussed some methodology which can be employed in conducting future studies. Moreover, those who are unfamiliar with the terminology used in the LPP field should have become acquainted with these.

• 1. Hult FM, Johnson DC. Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide. Vol. 7. John Wiley & Sons; 2015
• 2. Johnson DC. Introduction: Ethnography of Language Policy. 2013
• 3. Kloss H. Research Possibilities on Group Bilingualism: A Report. ERIC, US; 1969
• 4. Cooper RL. Language Planning and Social Change. Cambridge University Press, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, United Kingdom; 1989
• 5. Ricento T. Historical and theoretical perspectives in language policy and planning. Journal of Sociolinguistics. 2000; 4 (2):196-213
• 6. Lin AM. Researcher positionality. Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide. Vol. 4. John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey; 2015. p. 21
• 7. Spolsky B. Introduction: What is educational linguistics? The Handbook of Educational Linguistics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, United Kingdom. 2008. pp. 1-9
• 8. Hornberger NH, Johnson DC. Slicing the onion ethnographically: Layers and spaces in multilingual language education policy and practice. TESOL Quarterly, Virginia. 2007;509-532
• 9. Ricento T. Language policy: Theory and practice – An introduction. An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method. 2006. pp. 10-23
• 10. Johnson DC. Ethnography of language policy. Language Policy. 2009; 8 (2):139-159
• 11. Canagarajah AS. Reconstructing local knowledge, reconfiguring language studies. Reclaiming the Local in Language Policy and Practice. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. 2005. pp. 3-24
• 12. Canagarajah S. Ethnographic methods in language policy. An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method. 2006. pp. 153-169
• 13. Ricento TK, Hornberger NH. Unpeeling the onion: Language planning and policy and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly. 1996; 30 (3):401-427
• 14. Tollefson JW. Historical‐Structural Analysis 13. Research Methods in Language Policy and Planning: A Practical Guide. Vol. 4. 2015. p. 140
• 15. Baldauf RB. Language planning: Corpus planning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 1989; 10 :3-12
• 16. Donakey A. Language planning and policy in Manchester [thesis]. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Manchester: Manchester, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum. United Kingdom; 2007

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The framework and features of language policies in global constitutional texts.

• 1 China Center for Language Planning and Policy Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
• 2 School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China

Language policy, which is directly concerned with language practice, language ideology and language management, has become increasingly important in real social life. Explicit language policies in different fields, such as texts in law, education, and the public, have been explored for many years. However, the global comparative research on language policies in various constitutional texts (CT) is quite limited. In response, the present study aimed to investigate the framework and features of language policies in global CT through a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis. Results showed that: 1) there were seven parts of the CT dealing with language policies, such as Preamble , General principle , The state , Fundamental rights and Duties of citizen , State authority , National objectives , and Supplementary ; 2) there existed significant differences in the frequency of language policies in seven parts of the CT. Among them, language policies appeared most frequently in the part of Fundamental rights and duties of citizen ; 3) the geographical location where the Constitution was enacted affected the distribution of language policies across parts. Overall, our findings suggested that the language policy in CT was influenced not only by constitutional principles, but also by the national language environment.

Introduction

Generally, policies are framed in various fields by the lawmakers to provide the executive with a roadmap. Language policy is considered to be one of the most important among the many policies formulated in various fields of life such as economy, health, education, environment, social security, industry and trade ( Kumar, 2020 ). Therefore, policy can be viewed as an ensemble of activities, some of which are textual (laws, reports, authorisations; Lo Bianco, 2008 ). Walsh (2012) enriched and deepened the understanding of the theoretical framework of language policy through the analysis of texts in language schemes. The Constitution, which provided a legal framework for the country to formulate policies in various fields such as legislative, executive, and judiciary fields, was the most powerful texts for its compliance with national ideology and guidelines. In fact, language policy and the Constitution are entwined, wherein the latter acts as guiding entity. Language policy usually refers to the rules or laws that determine the usage, status, and rights of a language(s) in a country. Spolsky (2004) once pointed out the main features of the theory of language policy. The first point was the tripartite division of language policy into language practices, language beliefs and language ideology. The second feature was that language policy functioned in complex relationships. Constitutional texts (CT), as the expression form of language policy, were also permeated with ideas, ideals, and ideologies ( Frankenberg, 2006 ). CT would be a good example of language policy and the study of it would reflect basic features of Language policy.

Understanding the language ideology patterns in the texts of national constitutional language policy could help us to clarify the relationship between language ideology, language management and other theoretical structures of language policy. For example, language ideology pattern could reveal whether language-ideological changes in language management are systematic. In addition, it could examine the similarities and variability in the constitutional sources of ideological production in countries around the world. In short, it helps us to enhance our understanding of the internal functions of texts and the external ideology of language policy. Furthermore, such research reveals whether legal text types are better at conveying ideological information to policy agents than other text types in terms of state ideology. This is important since policy-makers access texts more frequently than others and use different texts for different goals. Thus, trans-constitutional language ideologies might influence the overall impact of legal frameworks on language policy.

Meanwhile, an increasing number of researchers have studied the language policies of the Constitution ( Verschik, 2005 ; Garibova and Asgarova, 2009 ; Ó Flatharta, 2015 ; Sokolova et al., 2019 ). Indeed, the language policies of the Constitution that directly or indirectly deal with national symbols, solidarity, linguistic equality and protection are important for understanding the norms and principles of the Constitution. Additionally, policies on how to regulate relationships between different groups, especially ethnic minorities ( Ruiz Vieytez, 2004 ; Kadenge and Kufakunesu, 2018 ), usually reflected in the language regulations. As mentioned earlier, the understanding of texts at the national level is more complex and inextricably linked to identity and power, reflecting the linguistic institutions and traditions of each country. For instance, Malan (2008) has suggested that the South African Parliament should not violate the language provisions of the Constitution in the legislative process, otherwise it would damage the crucial cultural assets of the South African citizenry. In summary, we found that the study of language policies was no longer confined to the constitutional provisions itself but was closely related to the access of citizens to human rights and the safeguarding of state power.

Based on Lo Bianco’s (2008) concept of language policy texts in the constitutional domain, our study aimed to find a framework of language policies in CT and to analyze the language features of the Constitution across different parts in form of CT and countries, which could provide a new research perspective for the Language Policy and Planning (hereinafter LPP) theory.

Literature review

Language policies in ct from linguistic and legal perspectives.

The analysis of language policies in the Constitution is often politically and legally relevant. Powell (2018) pointed out that “Some discussions of language rights refer to constitutional provisions ( Asmah, 1971 ) or international human rights covenants ( Phillipson, 1992 ); others ( Cooper, 1989 ; Tollefson, 2002 ) go a step further and argue that it exploits language conflict for political purposes. It is naive to expect the legal system, as a state-established authority, to be isolated from politics.” To a large extent, language policy making exists in the issuance of laws and in the legal-political practice of regulation. LPPs in this sense constitute the body of declarations proclaimed by authoritative bodies ( Lo Bianco, 2009 ). Constitutions are thus the most overt and declared mode of language planning, the ultimate public text, formal operations involving laws, regulations, and planning and implementation. However, from the perspective of LPP, language use is rarely used as an administrative activity or the object of language analysis. Such public texts in countries around the world have not been analyzed as a whole language practice. Fitzsimmons-Doolan (2019) expanded the legal text into a special register, resulting in a deeper understanding of the field of language policy. Therefore, on this basis, we can study the language practice of large-scale CT in the legal field.

Linguistic and legal perspectives are often the main theoretical perspectives for studying CT, and researchers in both fields have made significant contributions. Previous studies have described contents dealing with language policies in the Constitution, such as the gap between language practices and language provisions ( Gafaranga et al., 2013 ), the role of language institutions ( Rousseau and Dargent, 2019 ) in accordance with legal principles, especially more emphasis has been placed on the dominant role of language power in state institutions ( Meeuwis, 2015 ), the influential factor of constitutional bilingualism ( Saarinen, 2018 ) on civic attitudes and national identity ( Korhecz, 2002 ) and the constitutional effect on nation building ( Charles, 2015 ).

In addition, some researchers have also paid attention to the comparative analysis of the Constitutions across countries. For example, Ruiz Vieytez (2004) conducted a jurisprudential analysis of the terms “official language” and “national language” in the Constitutions of 48 European countries. Lagarde (2019) compared the legal concept of minorities in terms of linguistic pluralism of French and Spanish CT. Besides, the contradiction between the implementation of language policy and the language norms in the Constitution ( Kużelewska, 2015 ; Jiménez-Salcedo, 2019 ) also has practical significance. On this basis, the CT could become the product of language policy in the legal field and a form of language practice.

Overall, these topics, ranging from the basic concepts of constitutional contents to the potential factors affecting Constitution making, have been the research hotspots in recent years. However, under the guidance of the legal framework of constitutional principles, relatively few studies have taken CT as language practice at the national level and interpreted the characteristics of language policy from a legal perspective.

CT as a domain of language practice and language rights

Language policy includes the language practices, language beliefs, and management decisions of a community or polity ( Spolsky, 2004 ). In a speech community, language practice means the habitual pattern of selecting among the varieties that make up its linguistic repertoire, while language beliefs (ideology) refer to the beliefs about language and language use; and any specific efforts to modify or influence that practice by any kind of language intervention, planning or management ( Spolsky, 2004 ). The easiest to recognize are policies that exist in the form of clear-cut labeled statements (e.g., a clause) in official documents (e.g., national Constitution), or a language law, or a cabinet document or an administrative regulation ( Spolsky, 2004 ). Therefore, the Constitution has become an important basis for the state authority to make language policies due to its political nature.

A domain is named for a social space, such as home, school, workplace, legal or health institution, or governmental level (city, state, nation) ( Spolsky, 2009 ). The three components of language policy (i.e., language practices, language beliefs, and management decisions of a community or polity) are actually interrelated within a domain ( Zhang et al., 2022 ). Most countries have prescribed language requirements through the Constitution, including the “official language” or the status of other languages, which reflects the general language policy of a nation guaranteed by law. However, there are some countries that so far do not have direct constitutional provisions or language norms. This does not mean that language issues are not important in that country but reflects an invisible language policy. That is, in accordance with national traditions, inaction or other measures, they recognize or allow the official use of only one language, as in the United States, Japan and the United Kingdom. Thus, in the legal domain, language policy in the Constitution is of great concern to most countries around the world.

As mentioned above, the two fundamental and interrelated fields most relevant to language policy in the Constitution are law and linguistics. Constitutions can reflect the shared norms and values of the state ( Lerner, 2011 ), and it is a common practice to use the Constitution as a fundamental solution to the language issues of the state. For example, Azerbaijan promotes the determination of language status through language revival measures ( Garibova and Asgarova, 2009 ), and Ireland has a detailed language plan to assess the implementation of language services ( Ó Flatharta, 2015 ). The language regime in the Constitution is also a means of state language policy ( Verschik, 2005 ; Sokolova et al., 2019 ). Therefore, the study of language policy in the Constitution has gone from language norms to its application, which is related to the language problems that need to be solved in social development.

Among them, the status of language in LPP is fundamental in language legislation. Language status in the Constitution not only has a symbolic function ( Nagy, 2013 ), but also contributes to the political governance of the country. The French constitutional provision “French is the language of the Republic” is an example of language status planning, which seeks to restore (partially) lost territories through some coercive sphere of society ( Bakmand, 1999 ). Mac Síthigh (2018) elaborated the constitutional implications of the status of language and official language, highlighted the effect of decentralization within the United Kingdom, and made an in-depth study of the relationship between language, territory, and identity. Choudhry (2009) took South Asia as an example, illustrated the possibility of governing linguistic nationalism through constitutional design.

The study of citizens’ basic rights in the Constitution is a fundamental issue in the interdisciplinary study of law and linguistics. Linguistic issues involve specific rights such as the right to freedom which Kadenge and Kufakunesu (2018) has interpreted through the using of indigenous “minority languages” in civil courts, and the right to education, which is one of the basic measures of language legislation with the purpose of building and protecting the state ( Saarinen, 2018 ). Constitutionally speaking, language rights refer to a particular language or small group of languages. Still, it should not be ignored that the main preoccupation addressed by the notion of language rights is the legal situation of speakers of non-dominant languages or where there is no single dominant language ( Arzoz, 2007 ). Therefore, the rights of linguistic minority groups are another subject of language rights that has received increasing attention. For example, minority language governance and regulation ( Williams and Walsh, 2019 ), the fighting for indigenous language rights ( Rousseau and Dargent, 2019 ), the standardization and place-naming planning of sign language ( Du Plessis, 2020 ), and the ideologies of sign languages as well as language policy for revitalization ( Lo Bianco, 2020 ). Taken together, the protection of the language rights of these groups is more specific and targeted, which reflects the real protection of language rights in varying degrees, not just the language provisions in the legislation itself.

Theory of language policy and planning

Language planning is a body of ideas, laws and regulations (language policy), change rules, beliefs, and practices intended to achieve a planned change (or to stop change from happening) in the language use in one or more communities ( Kaplan and Baldauf, 1997 ). Countries would take political intervention to solve the language problem. One possible method is to write language provisions into the Constitution. Classic language planning is based on the premise that language planning is carried out at the national level, and these plans are formulated for the development of the whole society. The language planning theories of the 1960s and 1970s was formed in a specific political and social context, which left them with unique features. In the 1980s and the following years, many scholars criticized the language planning theory of the previous period. They believed that language planning was beyond the scope of linguistics and should be considered from an interdisciplinary perspective. For example, language planning was actually a political issue in the process of implementation ( Nekvapil, 2011 ). Moreover, Cooper enriched Haugen’s dichotomy, and added acquisition planning on the basis of corpus planning and status planning, by which he made language planning explicitly relevant for applied linguistics. In an era of interdisciplinary integration, based on Cooper’s LPP theory, the research of ecology, sociology and other disciplines were gradually enriched. The theories, frameworks and features of language planning will undoubtedly continue to develop according to the demand for language planning itself in contemporary society. With the development of theories, perspectives and methods of language policy and planning, the trend of interdisciplinary research in this field has become increasingly obvious ( Oakes and Peled, 2018 ; Valle, 2019 ). Although the Constitution is a political product at the national level, little research has been done on the language policy in the Constitution. Therefore, this paper aims to explore this issue from the interdisciplinary perspective of language policy and law.

In summary, the language policies in the Constitution are not only the focus of research on specific groups or communities, but also the focus of regional studies, which are related to the implementation of the protection of citizens’ basic rights and the smooth progress of national political development. Besides, it is not only a key research issue for language policy, but also a hot spot for jurisprudential norms and state-building concerns. The afore-mentioned studies have enriched our understanding of language issues in CT, but there exist some research gaps at the same time. Firstly, there are more research on the specific language issues of each country and less discussion about the common language problems for the whole world. Most previous studies have focused on case studies of one or a few nations ( De Varennes, 1996 ; Faingold, 2016 , 2017 ; Lagarde, 2019 ), which might limit the generalizability of research findings, making it difficult to generalize these findings to most countries in the world. Secondly, there exist more studies on the specific language provisions of the Constitution than on the overall analysis of the framework of language policies in Constitution. While some have explored the impact of politics, history, citizenship or language ideology on language legislation in language policy ( Blommaert, 1999 ; Lo Bianco, 2008 ; May, 2012 ), it is of great importance to explore and examine other factors in interdisciplinary research, which may enhance our in-depth understanding of language issues and legal framework of language policy. Last but not least, there is a lack of quantitative empirical research using large-scale data, combining perspectives of both law and linguistics. Indeed, the analysis of linguistic Law from the perspective of Comparative Constitutional Law is not a methodological novelty ( Ruiz Vieytez, 2004 ) and some scholars in this field have worked on this approach. More importantly, when drawing more general conclusions regarding the problems and reflections that Linguistic Law must deal with in the future, a global comparative method becomes necessary ( Ruiz Vieytez, 2004 ). Chew et al. (2018) focuses on how different “glob-national” actors have been involved in intended and unintended LPP and their impact on multilingual language use, especially in this globalized world. The global dimension thus offers a new perspective for LPP.

Therefore, to fill these gaps, this study attempts to examine the framework and features of language policies in the Constitution from a global comparative perspective, while focusing on the potential effect of “geographic location” on the relationship between the frequency of language policies and the parts of framework in which they were distributed. Generally, there were three research questions to be addressed in this paper:

RQ1: Is it possible to generalize a framework of language policies based on the CT of all counties in the world?

RQ2: Is there a correlation between the frequency of language policies and the parts of language framework in which they were distributed? In other words, which parts of this framework are closely related to the occurrence of language policies?

RQ3: Is their relationship influenced by the geography of the country (i.e., continent)?

Methodology

This study was carried out by applying grounded theory (GT), known as Glaser version. GT is a suitable method for qualitative researchers to answer questions like “what is going on in an area?” by generating formal or substantive theory ( Corbin and Strauss, 2014 ). The goal of GT is to discover patterns and understand the social interactions of a group of individuals in the real world ( Polit and Beck, 2008 ). Given that the language provisions in CT are the result of interactions between the different groups of stakeholders and an outcome of their preferences, GT is suitable for understanding this phenomenon. Besides, GT is very helpful when exploring a relatively novel area or trying to obtain a fresh new perspective on a well-known area ( Stern, 1994 ). Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, few researchers have applied GT in their constitutional research.

Data collection

We searched the constituteproject.org ( Constitute ) 1 website (January 2022) for the following keywords to capture relevant language provisions: “language(s)” “linguistic(s)” “mother tongue” “multi-lingual” and finally obtained a corpus of CT ( n  = 333,401 words). The use of publicity-available data in this study did not require Institutional Review Board approval. All texts obtained were then classified into six categories, namely, Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, South America and Oceania, according to the classification standards of United Nations, among which 193 countries were recognized by the UN. The final sample data remained 177 countries after several screening rules (see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . Overview of the screening procedure ( n  = 177 nations).

Data analysis

The analysis firstly consisted of identifying and describing themes and patterns using the MAXQDA 2020 ( VERBI Software, 2019 ) pro software. Two researchers were involved in the process of data coding. The research team used an iterative and data-driven process of creating codes that were organized into themes representing frequently occurring patterned responses throughout the dataset. Inter-coder consistency was checked for and divergence in code interpretations was eliminated to the best of our ability. After calibrating, interrater reliability was assessed on 177 samples texts (Cohen’s Kappa = 0.915).

Coding is used for analysis of the data collected in the process of grounded theory. During coding, the collected data are analyzed, conceptualized and finally juxtaposed in a new way ( Flick, 2009 ). According to Corbin and Strauss (2014) , the coding procedure has three stages: open coding, axial coding and selective coding. These stages are not necessarily separate but complement one another.

During open coding, events, actions and interactions are compared and contrasted and tagged for the purpose of finding similarities and differences. In this stage, data are fractured, analyzed, compared and conceptualized. Conceptualization means that each section of interactions, theories and ideas that are in the related texts get extracted ( Corbin and Strauss, 2014 ). During axial coding, links are established between the concepts and categories that are derived from the open coding stage. The basis of this linking process in axial coding is identification of one core category and classification of other similar codes as its sub-categories ( Corbin and Strauss, 2014 ). Finally, during selective coding, a theory is constructed with a number of abstract codes and there is no need to code new data. At this stage, the codes have become theoretically saturated. These codes are juxtaposed in a logical way based on the coded categories in the first two stages and then the core category is selected. The core category can be selected in two ways: selecting one of the available categories or determining/constructing a new category. Regardless of the method, selecting a core category at this stage requires accurate analysis of the collected data during the first two stages ( ibid. ). MAXQDA software was used in this study to facilitate coding. Upon coding, 1,022 concepts were grouped into 60 subcategories and 7 main categories. The extracted categories were generalized according to principles of constitutional law. Then, the grounded model of the study was developed. The content examples in CT were shown in Table 1 . The features of these seven parts were consistent with the constitutional principles. Therefore, these 7 parts were the framework of language policy that we found in CT. The detailed coding process and examples of coding were shown in Supplementary materials 1 , 2 .

Table 1 . Examples of language provisions coded into seven parts.

Subsequently, based on the framework of language policies in CT, we further examined the quantitative features of this framework across different parts and countries by using the IBM SPSS 25.0 software. First of all, the descriptive analysis was conducted to summarize the distributions of language policies in each part across nations. Frequencies were calculated to determine the total number of occurrences of language provisions in each part. Afterwards, the Chi-square analysis was conducted to analyze the relationship between the frequency of language provisions and the parts in framework of language policies in CT, as well as the possible influence of geographical location on their relationship.

The framework of language policies in CT

There were mainly seven parts constituting the framework of language policies in CT and the distribution of the language provisions in different parts, i.e., seven parts in CT, were presented in Table 2 : Preamble (2.05%, hereinafter PR), General Principle (16.34%, hereinafter GP), The state (13.41%, hereinafter TS), Fundamental Rights and Duties of Citizen (40.70%, hereinafter RD), State Authority (13.21%, hereinafter SA), National Objectives (6.65%, hereinafter NO), and Supplementary (7.64%, hereinafter SU). The number of language policies in RD was the highest among the seven parts. The descriptive statistics for the distributions of language provisions in each part across nations were shown in Table 3 . Specifically, the distribution of language provisions varied across 7 parts, and the RD occupied the largest proportion, which was in line with constitutional principles. Besides, each part contained the core content of language policy, suggesting that language status and language use were still the focus of lawmakers and agencies across countries. The main content and distribution percentages of each part were presented in Table 4 .

Table 2 . Distribution of language provisions across parts.

Table 3 . Distribution of language provisions across nations.

Table 4 . The main content of each part and its percentage.

Distribution of language provisions across chapters

As shown in Figure 2 , the distribution of language provisions varied significantly across parts and RD was the first concern. It was found that there was a significant difference in the frequency of language provisions in different parts of the Constitution (Pearson χ 2 = 253.307, p < 0.001). Besides, according to the Cramer’s V coefficient, we found that the correlation between the language provisions and parts was moderately large ( v = 0.452, p < 0.001). Finally, according to the chi-square test (2*C) pairwise comparison, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference in language provisions distribution between the top parts RD and SA ( p  < 0.05). That is, the statistical results conform to the essence of the Constitution.

Figure 2 . The relationship between constitutional parts and language provisions. “1” = PR; “2” = GP; “3” = TS; “4” = RD; “5” = SA; “6” = NO; “7” = SU.

Effect of geographical location

In order to further examine whether there were differences in the distribution of language provisions in CT across different regions, we divided countries according to the geographical location (continents) where the Constitution was enacted and analyzed the relationship between language provisions and parts in different regions, respectively.

Overall, we founded that the distribution of language provisions varied significantly across parts in each region (See Figure 3 ). Firstly, there were significant differences in the frequency of language provisions in different constitutional parts across different continents (Asia: Pearson χ 2  = 54.145, p  < 0.001, Africa: Pearson χ 2  = 60.683, p  < 0.001, Europe: Pearson χ 2  = 76.885, p  < 0.001, North American: Pearson χ 2  = 62.275, p  < 0.001, South American: Pearson χ 2  = 26.880, p  < 0.001, and Oceania: Pearson χ 2  = 36.206, p  < 0.001). Secondly, it was further revealed in Figure 3 that the distribution features of language provisions in each part of the six continents were largely different. In general, it can be inferred that the distribution of language provisions in each part would be affected by geographic location. However, it is worth noting that among the seven parts, RD was the most important part related to language provisions across different continents.

Figure 3 . Distribution of language provisions across six continents. “1” = PR; “2” = GP; “3” = TS; “4” = RD; “5” = SA; “6” = NO; “7” = SU.

Discussion and implications

We conducted a comparative study of language policies in different CT, based on 177 countries, using qualitative and quantitative methods. We founded that (1) there were seven parts of the CT dealing with language policies; (2) there existed significant differences in the frequency of language policies in seven parts of the CT, and that (3) the geographical location where the Constitution was enacted affected the distribution of language policies across parts.

Previously, there was an established framework of CT ( Maarseveen, 2007 ) from the perspective of law, consisting of political structure, legal system, constitutional form, values and norms, cultural systems, and nation-building. However, the framework of language policies in CT should also be established since most countries in the world have written language policies into their Constitutions. In response, this study has found a framework of language policies in CT based on the principles and values of the global Constitution. In terms of LPP theoretical development, the results of this study have validated Lo Bianco’s (2008) concept of language policy “public text policy” as a social behavior. Besides, it has enriched the content of Fitzsimmons-Doolan’s (2019) research and provided a novel perspective for researchers to further understand the characteristics of language policy in the special register of LPP. By finding a framework of language policies in the Constitution, this study displayed a full interdisciplinary picture for researchers in the field of linguistics and law who are interested in language legislation.

Comparative constitutional study focused on the essential relationship between RD and SA. The statistical analysis results of this research showed that these two parts of this paper were relevant. Therefore, to a certain degree, our findings are consistent with the principles and characteristics of the Constitution. As for second research question, we aimed to reveal the correlation between the frequency of language policies and the parts of language framework in which they were distributed. Firstly, we found that the number of language provisions in the RD was the largest among seven parts. As shown in Figures 2 , 3 , it was not only the most prominent part of the framework, but also the largest number of language provisions in each continent. This was a new feature of language policy in CT. In the early days of the establishment of a nation state, language status was usually determined in the Constitution, highlighting the symbolism of language policy, because it reflected the country’s primary political goal. But our findings showed that the language policy in the CT was more functional to protect citizens’ rights and duties. Another new finding was that the provisions on language status were usually distributed in two parts, GP and TS. It was generally believed that the provisions on language status were very important, but few studies have explored the part in which such provisions were written. Our research found that although the themes of GP and TS were almost the same (see Table 4 ), we did not combine them into a whole, because we found that each part of CT has its own characteristics, intrinsic values and norms based on the nature of the Constitution. Specifically, TS placed more emphasis on the national sovereignty and status symbol, while GP was more regarded as general rules. In addition, this behavior is also related to the constitutional characteristics of countries in different regions. Just as Colón-Ríos (2011) prescribed the characteristics of Latin American Constitutions, “It is in the third and fourth waves that the multi-cultural and multi-lingual character of the region was able to make its way into constitutional law. During these waves, constitution-makers decided to alter the ways in which their countries described themselves to the world, moving beyond the idea of a single national culture, and gave constitutional recognition to cultural difference.” We, therefore, suggested that GP and TS were two parts with different functions. From a legal perspective, the GP and the TS were special parts in language policy framework, but according to linguists, they embodied the symbolism of the language policy in the Constitution. Just as Cooper (1989) said “In many cases, the function of a language is specified constitutionally … But it may be useful to distinguish two other types of official language: a language which a government uses as a medium for its day-to-day activities and a language which a government uses as a medium for symbolic purposes, i.e., as a symbol of the state.” Furthermore, official language has more than an instrumental and symbolic role in the Constitution. It has been argued that the designation of one or more languages as official did not necessarily or automatically entail significant legal consequences ( Turi, 2012 ). The legal significance of making a language as an official language depends on the effective legal treatment accorded to the language. When the state determines the status of a language, it is usually also guided by state policy, where the state guarantees the status and use of the language, in which case the language takes on a social function, combining with economic, political, and cultural factors and performing a dynamic role. In the domain of legal contexts, there were systematic differences in the functionality of language policies in the legal register, suggesting that language functions in language policy legal texts differed from previous studies, which only treated language provisions as symbols. Language use and language status were the basis and focus of language legislation, to highlight their functionality. In particular, the cultural and social functions of language provisions were also playing a role. More and more countries have begun to take effective measures to promote and maintain language in order to strengthen nation-building and solidarity. The measures they usually take could be reflected in the language policies in RD, which has the largest proportion of language provisions in the CT, highlighting the core principle of the Constitution, that is, the basic rights of citizens guaranteed by the state. Protecting citizens’ language rights is the starting point for the state authority to exercise language power, and it can also reflect its specific measures to protect citizens’ language rights. These measures reflect the functionality of language policies.

Finally, the language policies of CT have obvious characteristics of localization and contextualization. Previous study rarely took location as an important influential factor, but there existed large differences in the distribution of language policies across different continents ( Figure 3 ). Therefore, we cannot conclude that the framework of language policies and its features in the constitutional context are fixed. In fact, formulating constitutional language policies for each nation would be a political objective. Just as Blommaert and Verschueren (2022) mentioned that the role of language in nationalist ideology was, to a large extent, political. In other words, language has both normative and political features. If we look at the development history of the world Constitution and the content of their provisions, we will find that all Constitutions, regardless of their substance or form, are related to democracy. The Constitutions actually express the aspirations, principles and means of the ruling class for democratic management of the state and all aspects of social life and reflects the purpose to be achieved by implementing these aspirations, principles and means. The language policies in GP, TS, RD, and SA parts are precisely aimed at the will and interests of the ruling class to establish a democratic country. The language policies in the Constitution also mean language choice to a certain extent and reflect the determination of the status of language, the scope of language use, citizen’s choice of language for expression, education and communication, and the guarantee of the fundamental rights of the common people by the state institutions through the choice of language through status planning. The Constitution is the embodiment of national consciousness, national political language policy and national attitude toward language. Linguistic awareness, which plays an important role in the Constitution, reflects the political compromise and consensus on the development of the state. Therefore, the Constitution is a consensual and legitimate commitment, and linguistic awareness has become one of the factors affecting the constitutional order.

Overall, the findings of this study indicate that interdisciplinary research could expand the scope of research. Theoretically, we combined Cooper’s language policy theory with legal principles, enriching the characteristics of language policy. By comparing the global CT, we have discovered the framework and features of language policies in the Constitution. On this basis, we can help determine the current situation and development trend of global language issues in the Constitution. Moreover, the legal policymaking is a multi-party negotiation process, and the literal meaning of CT encompasses not only the regulation of language, but also the language ideology of stakeholders. The findings of this study could also be used to predict the trend of LPP in the legal domain.

The main goal of this study was to uncover the framework of language policies in CT through a hybrid qualitative and quantitative approach. It turned out that all continents in the world regulated language provisions differently and granted language rights or language status according to their own needs and language surroundings. Regulations of language provisions in RD was an essential part of the Constitution and played an indispensable role in the constitutional framework.

The main theoretical contribution of this paper is to enrich Cooper’s LPP classification from an interdisciplinary perspective and endow it with new connotations. Status planning refers to which discipline occupied the main position, corpus planning refers to which content was the core, and acquisition planning refers to what measures the country took to systematically work across disciplines ( Oakes and Peled, 2018 ). The new findings suggest that legal principles are the most important, which represents the status planning. The seven parts in the framework are the core content of CT, representing the corpus planning. Additionally, policy-makers need to strengthen the language awareness based on the geographical location of each country, and to formulate language policies in the Constitution in line with its own national conditions, which reflects the acquisition planning.

Meanwhile, this study has some practical implications for the primary stakeholders of language management in each country. Firstly, the framework of language policies in the Constitution could facilitate policymakers at the national level to formulate or adjust language policies in the Constitution or other language-related laws. Secondly, this study has linked language power with value, indicating that some nations may be able to improve their political capacity by managing their language policies in CT. Finally, in the age of globalization, the authorities need not only to stabilize their domestic governance, but also to keep pace with the world’s constitutional legitimacy.

However, it is worth noting that there are several limitations in this study. First, due to technical retrieval problems, we could only find the latest valid samples, but cannot trace the previous ones. Therefore, we hope that more diachronic comparative studies could be conducted in the future. Second, this research has explored the distribution features of language policies from the perspective of geographical location, but there may be other factors, such as national politics, doctrine, etc., worthy of further discussion. In addition, from the perspective of language policy, there are many factors that could affect the process of formulation of language policies, such as international treaties, language ideology, language management, and even language tradition and value. These are also factors that cannot be ignored in the discussion of constitutional language policy framework. Last but not least, we have selected the English corpus from official databases in order to ensure the authority and validity of the data. However, at the same time, we may ignore the specificity of certain countries whose official language is not English. Specifically, the interpretation of the words or texts translated into English may have a different meaning in the language of the original version. Indeed, this is a problem that is currently insurmountable when conducting global comparative studies of the Constitutions, and we hope to overcome this problem through technological innovation in the future.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Author contributions

YH conceived the project and edited the manuscript. CZ conducted the study, analyzed the data, and drafted the original manuscript with the help of YH and RZ. All authors reviewed the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript for submission.

This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of China’s major research project on philosophy and social sciences, “Construction and Comparative Research on the Comprehensive Resource Bank of World Language Policy” (Project No. 15JZD047), and “Disciplinary Innovation and Talent Introducing Program” (111 Project B20081) of Higher Education Institutions.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank CCLPPS for its support of the manuscript. We are also grateful for the generosity of time and effort by all the reviewers of this study.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1064034/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords: language policy, framework, feature, constitutional texts, combined qualitative/quantitative method

Citation: Zhang C, Zhao R and Huang Y (2023) The framework and features of language policies in global constitutional texts. Front. Psychol . 13:1064034. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1064034

Received: 07 October 2022; Accepted: 25 November 2022; Published: 04 January 2023.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2023 Zhang, Zhao and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Yan Huang, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method, Edited by Thomas Ricento

2007, Journal of Sociolinguistics

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Educational language policy—variously referred to as language education policy, language-in-education policy, and language policy in education (see discussion in Menken & García, 2010)—refers to a focus on educational contexts within language policy and planning (LPP) research, primarily in K-12 settings, but might also include informal educational activities and socialization in homes and communities. This work focuses on how language policy creation, interpretation, and appropriation in schools impact educational processes and pedagogy, with particular attention to opportunity for minority and Indigenous language users. While language policies impact the form, function, use, or acquisition of language more generally, educational language policies have been defined as “the official and unofficial policies that are created across multiple layers and institutional contexts (from national organizations to classrooms) that impact language use and education in schools” (Johnson, 2013, p. 77). “Policy” has traditionally been thought of as something that governing entities enact as a top-down regulation. However, educational language policy research includes analyses of both official and unofficial policy texts and discourses and the social beliefs and practices that shape how they are created, interpreted, and appropriated.

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Academic Publishers Threatened By Open-Access Expansion

Critics say a directive to make federally funded research immediately free to the public could violate authors’ copyrights. It could also disrupt the $19 billion academic publishing industry.

By  Kathryn Palmer

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Some politicians and publishers argue that giving federal agencies a license to immediately publish scholarly research would violate authors’ copyright protections.

Photo illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed | GelatoPlus/Getty Images

Even as federal agencies work to implement the Nelson memo—a 2022 White House directive to make federally funded research freely available to the public immediately after publication—members of Congress are joining academic publishers in pushing back.

Under the directive, slated to go into effect by 2026, authors who use grant funding to produce research will be required to deposit their work into agency-designated public-access repositories as soon as it’s published. That change eliminates the existing option for authors or their publishers to place a 12-month embargo on public access to government-funded research publications, a rule that’s been in place since 2013.

Alondra Nelson, the former acting director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote in the 2022 memo that bears her name that the goal of lifting the embargo is to promote “equity and advance the work of restoring the public’s trust in Government science, and to advance American scientific leadership.”

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Although open-access advocates and library groups support the move, opponents argue the new policy will limit researchers’ ability to maintain control of their published work—and cut into the $19 billion academic publishing industry ’s profit margins.

“Researchers should have the right to choose how and where they publish or communicate their research and should not be forced to disseminate their research in ways or under licenses that could harm its integrity or lead to its modification without their express consent,” the Senate and House Appropriations Committees both wrote in reports attached to their draft budget bills, which passed out of committee earlier this summer.

Carl Maxwell, vice president of public policy for the Association of American Publishers (AAP), said in an email to Inside Higher Ed that the organization applauds Congress’s latest efforts to scrutinize the Nelson memo and “protect the right of authors to determine how the articles, books, and reports they have written are licensed.”

Federal Purpose License

As tensions over open-access expansion mount in Washington, a growing number of academic library groups across the nation has expressed concern about the challenges of helping authors learn to comply with the new deposit policy, which many may encounter for the first time after the Nelson memo takes effect.

“In a worst-case scenario, authors who do not understand their grant requirements and the legal landscape may face negative enforcement actions from funders, disputes about copyrights or contracts, or roadblocks to publishing,” reads a recently drafted petition signed by dozens of individual librarians and library groups, including the Authors Alliance and SPARC, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition.

The petition encourages federal agencies to “level the playing field for authors” by applying the federal purpose license, a decades-old regulation that gives federal agencies that funded the publication of research “the royalty-free, nonexclusive and irrevocable right” to reproduce, publish or otherwise use the work.

Although federal purpose license advocates believe it will “provide grant recipients with a clear understanding of their obligations as authors [and] facilitate better compliance with funder requirements,” the House Appropriations Committee’s recently advanced bill prohibits agencies from exerting “broad” federal purpose authority.

Not a ‘Viable’ Path

Publishers don’t like the idea, either.

Maxwell, a registered lobbyist for the AAP , said that while “broad open licenses may make sense for some researchers,” others “may be rightfully concerned about inappropriate modification, or commercialization of their publication, and those authors should have the final say in who can modify and commercialize their work.”

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Although the copyright-focused argument is dominating the political opposition to the Nelson memo this year, last year the House Appropriations Committee tried—but failed—to block funding to implement it. Public comments submitted by the AAP and numerous other publishing groups, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, Springer Nature and Wiley, show the embargo lift is also creating financial anxieties.

“There is no viable way for scholarly societies and other publishers to continue to produce trustworthy, high-quality open access publications without any means to recoup the significant investments and expenses required for them to do so,” Maxwell wrote in a letter submitted on behalf of the AAP to the National Institute of Standards and Technology last August. “We are concerned about potential long-term effects of the new policy on the scholarly communication ecosystem.”

Currently, the academic publishing industry’s business model relies largely on an author’s willingness to submit work for free—or even pay to publish it—and the publisher’s ability to turn around and sell that research to academic libraries through expensive journal subscriptions. Libraries at doctoral-granting institutions spend about 80 percent of their materials budgets on such subscriptions, according to data from the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), which supports expanding open access of federally funded research and the federal purpose license.

“We don’t have any concerns about agencies limiting authors’ control over their works,” said Katherine Klosek, ARL’s director of information policy and federal relations. “These are nonexclusive licenses that authors are granting to agencies to use their work, so authors can retain those rights and choose to publish wherever they like in addition to complying with public access policies.”

Despite its purported concerns about copyright infringement, the publishing industry hasn’t always prioritized the rights of individual authors; last month the academic publishing giant Taylor & Francis angered many scholars by neglecting to mention it was selling their work to Microsoft for $10 million as part of an AI partnership.

Dave Hansen, executive director of the Authors Alliance, a California-based nonprofit that supports authors in disseminating their work, said authors already lack control because most closed-access subscription journals require them either to assign their copyright to the publisher or to grant the publisher exclusive rights.

“The idea that the federal government is exercising its right—before publishers swoop in—to reserve for itself this nonexclusive license is troubling to publishers that might worry that would limit their ability to exploit their exclusive rights for subscription revenue or other kinds of licensing deals,” he said. “But that’s not really a copyright conflict—that’s just a business model conflict.”

To address that conflict, publishers will first have to decide if they want to continue publishing research funded by the federal government, which finances nearly 55 percent of academic research and development, according to the National Science Board . “[For] most publishers, the answer would be absolutely not, because they’d have nothing to publish,” Hansen added.

He believes implementing the Nelson memo will also push publishers to make big decisions about how the industry should move forward in an age of open-access expansion.

“Do they adapt their business models and try to align more closely with what authors and funders want?” he said. “Or do they try to stick out the model they’ve developed, which is one that’s dependent on them trying to scoop up as much exclusive rights as they can for authors’ articles?”

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What is language policy?

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Part of the book series: Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics ((RPAL))

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The natural first question is: What is language policy? The question is commonly asked in books on the topic but concrete definitions are less common than discussions of language policy in terms of types, goals, or examples. This chapter will take both approaches by first examining and synthesizing definitions already in circulation and then looking at some example language policies to see how these definitions hold up. Complicating the question is the relationship between language policy and the term that preceded it, language planning. Most would agree that language policy and language planning are closely related but different activities. Some argue that language planning subsumes language policy (Kaplan and Baldauf 1997) while others argue that language policy subsumes language planning (Schiffman 1996). For the title of this book, the term language policy is adopted for two reasons: (1) terminological simplicity, and (2) within accepted definitions of language planning, there is an assumption that some agent(s) makes a plan intended to influence language forms or functions, yet, there are many examples of language policy that are not intentional and/or not planned. However, throughout much of the book I will use language planning and policy, often referred to as LPP, both out of respect for the tradition of research that gave rise to the field (language planning) and The historical trajectory because the two fields have, for all intents and purposes, coalesced into one (Hornberger2006a).

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Language Planning: Theoretical Background

Language Planning and Microlinguistics: Introduction

The Relationship Between Language Policy and Planning, Theoretical Linguistics and Natural Language Processing

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Johnson, D.C. (2013). What is language policy?. In: Language Policy. Research and Practice in Applied Linguistics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137316202_1

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Language Policy is committed to building a sound theoretical understanding of the field through the publication of high-quality empirically driven research that covers a range of cases, situations, and regions worldwide.. The journal aims to examine policymaking processes and practices by governments and governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, business enterprises, public and ...

The Routledge Handbook of Language Policy and Planning is a comprehensive and authoritative. survey, including original contributions from leading senior scholars and rising stars to provide a ...

Michal Tannenbaum and Elana Shohamy: Developing multilingual education policies: theory, research, practice. Huseyin Uysal. Book Review 09 October 2023 Pages: 535 - 537. Williams, C. H. (2023). Language policy and the new speaker challenge: hiding in plain sight. Cambridge University Press.

Research in language policy and planning is subsumed under three general headings: processes, agents, and goals. Under processes, researchers investigate the mechanisms by which and through which language policies are developed, implemented, and evaluated. Examples of possible research topics in the coming decade include the implementation of ...

This is the first volume exclusively devoted to research methods in language policy and planning (LPP). Each chapter is written by a leading language policy expert and provides a how-to guide to planning studies as well as gathering and analyzing data Covers a broad range of methods, making it easily accessible to and useful for transdisciplinary researchers working with language policy in any ...

Abstract. This Handbook offers a state-of-the-art account of research in language policy and planning (LPP). The Handbook examines the ways in which scholarship in language policy and planning (LPP) has understood the changing relationship between LPP and political-economic conditions, and how this changing relationship has shaped knowledge ...

Language policy and language planning have historically concerned themselves with privileging language choices and language problems in response to political and societal dynamics and have tended to be linked to powers of language regulation, ... Health Research Policy and Systems 15, no. 1: 35. PubMed Google Scholar. Colyer, H. and P. Kamath ...

Notes on Contributors Adnan Ajsic is a PhD candidate in applied linguistics at Northern Arizona University. His research interests include language ideology, corpus linguistics, critical discourse analysis, English as a global lingua franca, and language policy in post‐colonial and

The Cambridge Handbook of Language Policy Over the last fifty years, language policy has developed into a major discipline, drawing on research and practice in many nations and at many ... state-of-the-field overview of a major sub-discipline within language study and research. Grouped into broad thematic areas, the chapters in each

Language Maintenance and Shift. M. Brenzinger, in Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics (Second Edition), 2006 Language Policy. Language policy is a highly sensitive issue in well-established democracies and even more so in countries that are still struggling to find their way to good governance. Very few linguists are actively involved in the formulation of national language policies in ...

Ethnography research plays a major role in language policy and laguage planning (LPP), multilingualism and language education researches (Some of the experts in the field include [2, 5, 8-12]). One of the crucial researches in this field was carried out by Hornberger and Johnson [ 8 ], which is cited in recent LPP researches.

This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of China's major research project on philosophy and social sciences, "Construction and Comparative Research on the Comprehensive Resource Bank of World Language Policy" (Project No. 15JZD047), and "Disciplinary Innovation and Talent Introducing Program" (111 Project B20081) of ...

e 1.1Kaplan and BaldaufThe exercise of language planning leads to, or is directed by, the promulgation of a language policy by government (or other author. -tative body or person). A language policy is a body of ideas, laws, regulations, rules and practices intended to achieve the planned language change in the so.

The field of language planning and policy (LPP) is concerned with the policies both explicit and implicit that influence what languages are spoken when, how, and by whom, as well as the values and rights associated with those languages. LPP scholars focus on understanding the development of both top-down and bottom-up language policies, but ...

Abstract. Following Spolsky's definition of language policy, this introductory paper offers a brief reflection on the three main lines of research that are represented in this special issue regarding the relationship between internationalisation and language policies in higher education: management and planning, practices, and beliefs.

Language policy is a set of decisions and app lications aimed at the languages spoken in a. political u nit, the ir areas, development and use. The main feature of language policy is the. presence ...

theory of policy formulation, LP and language t rea t ment' (Dua, 1985: 3). This was a popular view for much of t he history of LP, stimula t ing research in t o the nature of language problems.

Educational language policy—variously referred to as language education policy, language-in-education policy, and language policy in education (see discussion in Menken & García, 2010)—refers to a focus on educational contexts within language policy and planning (LPP) research, primarily in K-12 settings, but might also include informal educational activities and socialization in homes ...

language policy must pass'" (Hornberger & Johnson, 2007, p. 511). bringing schoolBy ... the research orientation of language policy and the action orientation of language planning, which includes mapping out ways of achieving "future social and linguistic goals" (p. 11). Corson (1999) also further differentiates the role of a language ...

Volume 20 February - November 2021. Issue 4 November 2021. Issue 3 September 2021. Thematic Issue: Gentrification of Bilingual, Immersion and Dual Language Education. Issue 2 May 2021. Issue 1 February 2021. Thematic Issue: Critical Ethnography of Language Policy in the Global South: Insights from Research in Timor-Leste.

Although open-access advocates and library groups support the move, opponents argue the new policy will limit researchers' ability to maintain control of their published work—and cut into the $19 billion academic publishing industry's profit margins. "Researchers should have the right to choose how and where they publish or communicate their research and should not be forced to ...

Human Research Ethics Committees (HRECs) are required to review research that involves the following methodologies: conducting surveys, interviews or focus groups; performing psychological, physiological or medical testing or treatment; observational studies ; accessing personal documents or other materials of research participants

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Resume vs Cover Letter: How They're Different

8 min read · Updated on January 25, 2024

Knowing how a resume and cover letter work together can increase your chances of standing out

A resume and cover letter are essential job marketing tools that allow you to grab the attention of prospective employers and make a solid first impression. Where a resume provides an objective and concise overview of your work history, knowledge, skills, and overall qualifications, a cover letter formally introduces you to the employer and summarizes your work experiences related to your resume. It also discusses why you're interested in the position and why you're a suitable candidate. 

These two complementary documents are similar in a few ways and very different in others. In this post, we'll cover the following to provide clarity around cover letters vs resumes:

Cover letter vs resume: what are the similarities?

Cover letter vs resume: what are the differences?

What can a cover letter convey that a resume can't?

What's the difference between a cover letter, a resume, and an application letter? 

Cover letter vs resume: what are the similarities? 

As noted, a cover letter and resume are both career marketing tools, provided to prospective employers, that give the opportunity to make a strong first impression. Here are a few additional similarities between the two:

Both are meant to sell your skills and experience to entice employers to bring you in for an interview

The heading and contact information provided in a cover letter should match what's provided in a resume

When both a cover letter and resume are submitted as part of a job application, they're submitted together

Each document should use a similar style in terms of colors, font type , and font size to provide a cohesive package

Both documents should be tailored to each job you apply to

Both your cover letter and resume should include keywords from the job description.

These few points are where the similarities between a cover letter and a resume end. 

When considering a cover letter vs resume, there are five significant differences between them. They are

Layout and structure

Tonality , tense and orientation.

A resume is a requirement and necessity for virtually all job applications. A cover letter, on the other hand, is highly recommended but isn't necessarily required unless the job application specifically requests the inclusion of a cover letter. It's also possible to come across some job postings that specifically ask you not to include a cover letter. If you come across such an instance, even if you're tempted, don't include it unless you want to risk immediately going into the “no” pile. 

Unless specifically asked not to, in most instances it's in your best interest to include a cover letter with your resume. It shows you care about the position and can help to make your application stand out from the competition. 

The purpose of a resume is to provide the employer with a concise overview of your relevant work history, skills, and other qualifications. It focuses on your past and how it applies to your potential to succeed in a new job. 

Your cover letter should focus only on the job you're applying to - it serves as an introduction to you and your resume. With your cover letter, you have the opportunity to showcase a bit of your personality, further summarize your resume, and emphasize why you're interested in, and the right fit for, the job. 

In a nutshell, a resume shows the employer how your experience fits the role and a cover letter tells them why it does. 

Another main difference between a cover letter vs resume is the layout and structure of each. A resume typically uses bullet points without paragraphs or large chunks of text. There are also standard resume formats to choose from. A cover letter is written in paragraph form, with a layout similar to any professional business letter you might write.

Resume layout and structure

A resume uses one of three resume formats - reverse chronological, functional, or hybrid - with specific sections that are required within each format. The most commonly used is the chronological format, which includes the following sections:

Contact Information

Resume Headline

Resume Summary

Core Competencies

Work Experience 

Additional optional sections sometimes included on a resume are IT Skills, Volunteer Experience, Special Projects, Certifications, Training, Awards, Publications, and Hobbies & Interests. 

For more tips on how to write an effective resume with several resume examples to review, refer to “ How to Make a Resume: Beginner's Writing Guide with Examples .”

Cover letter layout and structure

A cover letter ranges from 300 to 500 words and should be written using the same format as any professional business letter. The key sections of a cover letter include:

The header with the date, the employer's address, and your contact information

A salutation directed to a specific individual when possible

An introduction paragraph where you introduce yourself, share why you're interested, and emphasize why you're an ideal candidate

The body paragraphs - the most crucial section of your cover letter - where you summarize your qualifications and how they make you an ideal candidate to meet the job requirements and demands, in one to two paragraphs

A conclusion paragraph , where you'll conclude with appreciation and a call to action

The closing , with a professional closing salutation and your name

For more detailed information on how to write a cover letter with a cover letter example, refer to “ How to Write a Cover Letter (With Example) .” 

Your cover letter, unlike your resume, addresses the employer directly and with a tone that's more personable than a resume. The exact tone you go with for your cover letter should reflect the industry and organization to which you're applying, though it's still good to showcase some personality. When doing so, ensure you still keep it professional and don't be too personal to the point that it distracts from the letter's overall goal and ability to leave a positive impression. 

The tone of a resume is straightforward and objective. It offers the reader specific details about your past work history, key qualifications, and skills. 

A resume is mostly past-oriented, meaning that it focuses largely on your past work history and experiences. Much of a resume is written in the past tense, as well. 

A cover letter is written primarily in the present tense. The focus of a cover letter is more on the present and future, including mentioning current and future objectives. 

What can a cover letter explain that a resume cannot?

As noted, where a resume shows how you're a good fit for the job, a cover letter can discuss why you're a good fit. Also, a cover letter can explain details about your resume that you might not have had space for on the resume. For example, if you listed a work experience bullet point with a great accomplishment, yet you weren't able to highlight the challenges you overcame for that significant achievement, that might be something to include in the cover letter if it adds value and is relevant. 

Cover letter vs resume vs application letter

In addition to a cover letter and resume being part of your arsenal of career marketing tools, you might also be wondering where an application letter fits in - especially since some confuse an application letter with a cover letter. 

What is the difference between a resume and an application letter?

As mentioned, a resume is a document required for job applications and provides a succinct overview of your work history and credentials. An application letter provides a detailed overview of your work history and credentials in a letter format and is typically not used in conjunction with a resume.

What is the difference between a cover letter and an application letter?

Though a cover letter and application letter share similar features, they're different in content and purpose. A cover letter complements a resume and provides an introduction to yourself and an overview as to why your qualifications make you a good fit for the job. It's sent with the resume as part of the application process. 

An application letter is more detailed and dives deeper into an applicant's work history and qualifications. It's common to send an application letter to an employer of interest, even if they don't have any job openings at the time. In other words, it's sent outside of the application process and often expresses interest in working for the organization. 

The structure is similar to a cover letter, because they're both professional business letters. However, since the intent of a cover letter and application letter differs, the content focus is different between the two. 

Cover letter vs resume: yes, you need both (with rare exceptions)

Now you know the similarities and differences between a cover letter vs resume and the purpose of each. You also know that, in most instances, it's best to submit a cover letter with your resume when applying for jobs. Including both helps you to set yourself apart from others in a tough job market and make a positive first impression on hiring teams! 

Wondering if your resume and cover letter complement each other the way they should? Our team of TopResume experts can help you to ensure that both showcase the correct elements to help you land the interviews you desire. You can even submit your resume for a free review   to get started!

Recommended reading: 

How to List Certifications on a Resume (with Examples)

How to Start a Cover Letter that Grabs Attention

How to Include Relevant Coursework on a Resume (with Examples)

Related Articles:

Do Hiring Managers Actually Read Cover Letters?

How to Create a Resume With No Education

Why You Lose When You Lie on Your Resume: Learning From Mina Chang

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The differences between a resume and cover letter There are three main differences between resumes and cover letters: 1. Format Your cover letter is a professional communication structured in full paragraphs, while your resume should have sections with bullet points that convey specific details like dates of employment and job duties.

A cover letter is a short introduction to you that concisely communicates your interest in a job opportunity along with your top skills and relevant experience. It's important to customize your cover letter for each role to demonstrate that you've researched the organization's mission and values. — Genevieve Northup, MBA, SHRM-CP, HCI-SPTD.

The difference between a cover letter and a resume. There are four key differences between a cover letter and a resume: 1. Importance. Resumes are a requirement when you apply for work. On the other hand, cover letters are often necessary, but optional when a company specifically says to not include one.

A cover letter is a one-page document included in your job application (along with your resume). When written well, your cover letter provides employers with important context that isn't covered in your resume. Build My Cover Letter Now. Written By Ida Pettersson Career Coach and Resume Expert. Reviewed By Conrad Benz Content Manager.

What is a cover letter? A cover letter, also known as an application letter, is a three- to four-paragraph memo to employers explaining your interest in the job and company and your fitness for the role.It's typically submitted along with your resume in a job application. This letter should highlight your skills, experience and achievements concerning the position you seek.

A resume is mostly past-oriented, meaning that it focuses largely on your past work history and experiences. Much of a resume is written in the past tense, as well. A cover letter is written primarily in the present tense. The focus of a cover letter is more on the present and future, including mentioning current and future objectives.

Your cover letter enhances your resume by adding color and personality. Resumes list qualifications—cover letters describe them. A resume is a formalized document; a cover letter has a more personal touch. Cover letters complement resumes and are still expected by most hiring managers.

If you're ready to jump in, follow these seven simple steps to make a cover letter that leaves a lasting impression on employers: 2. List your contact details. Underneath your name in your cover letter header, list the following contact information: Email address. Phone number. Mailing address (optional)

Resumes contain more unchanging content, while a cover letter's content can vary depending on the job requirements of the position. While an individual can customize some parts of the resume, the candidate's employment history and educational details remain the same. For example, a recent graduate in clinical science might apply to two jobs ...

How to Write the Perfect Cover Letter #1. Choose the Right Cover Letter Template #2. Put Contact Information in the Header #3. Address the Hiring Manager #4. Write an Eye-Catching Introduction #5. Use the Cover Letter Body for Details #6. Wrap It Up and Sign It Cover Letter Writing Checklist 15 Cover Letter Tips 15+ Cover Letter Examples 5 ...

A cover letter is a type of letter you include in your job application. Its main role is to let the reader know what motivated you to apply, and what you can offer. A cover letter is not synonymous with a resume or CV. Typically, a cover letter's main body consists of three paragraphs, each for a different purpose.

A cover letter is a better vehicle than a resume to convey more subjective information like the basis of your interest in a position, how your values motivate you to pursue a job, or why the culture of a company appeals to you.

The cover letter is a tool to help introduce yourself in a memorable, personal way during a job application. A well-crafted cover letter goes over information on your resume and expands this information for the reader, taking them on a guided journey of some of your greatest career and life achievements.. Its purpose is to elaborate on the information contained in your resume while infusing ...

A cover letter is an additional document, first and foremost. Unlike a resume, it is often optional, though some applications require an attached cover letter. It is a letter in which you provide detailed descriptions of your skills and previous work experience and explain why they make you the perfect fit for the position.

A cover letter will use paragraphs, and the tone is much more personal than a resume. It's great to let your personality shine through, and you should focus on how you can meet the employer's needs. You should to select the most relevant, persuasive parts of your resume, emphasize them and provide additional detail.

Here are the three key differences between a resume versus a cover letter: 1. Format. Your cover letter is a professional communication structured in full paragraphs, while your resume has sections with bullet points that convey specific details, like dates of employment and job duties.

Consultant Cover Letter Example #10. Digital Marketing Cover Letter Example #11. Graphic Designer Cover Letter Example #12. Administrative Assistant Cover Letter Example #13. Front Desk Cover Letter Example #14. Human Resources Cover Letter Example #15. Sales Agent Cover Letter Example #16.

A cover letter is a letter of introduction accompanying your resume that paints why you are the best person for the job, what you bring to the table, and how you can help move the company forward.. Is the cover letter dead? No! In fact, a recent study by ResumeLab revealed that 64% of job vacancies still require that you include a cover letter in your application and 83% of HR pros said that ...

A cover letter is a professional document that candidates provide to employers in combination with their resume and other details for a job application. Cover letters act as an extension of your resume and provide employers or hiring managers with more in-depth information about how your qualifications align with the job in question.

Cover letters can help you stand out among a sea of applicants or explain difficult job situations—so in most cases, it's helpful to include one with your resume.

Vague cover letters which could be sent to multiple employers without editing are not effective and do not help you stand out as a candidate. Take a few extra moments to personalize the cover letter, research the company, and target the information to the job and position in which you are interested.

Discover 3 tips for including your internship experience in a cover letter to stand out as a recent graduate. Learn to highlight key skills and be honest about your role.

Resume Template. Take a look at the CVC's resume template as a starting point to draft your own. Keep scrolling for formatting tips and more sample resumes. Main Resume Template. Cover Letter Template. Download a copy of the CVC's cover letter template as a starting point for your own. CVC Cover Letter Template. More Resume Resources

Research the hiring manager or recruiter to address your letter to a specific person. Use keywords from the position description. Design the document using the same style and formatting as your resume. Keep your cover letter less than one page. Use correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

Resumes & Cover Letters - August 27 at 6:00-7:00PM in BRNG 2280 (West Lafayette) Need help to prepare your first collegiate resume or cover letter to prepare for the upcoming Career Fairs? Come learn about what to include, how to market your skillset, and services offered by the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO). ...

1. The professional cover letter. In this great cover letter example, the applicant landed an IT project management job by proving they had the required project management skills and experience while providing highlights from their career: Include hard numbers in your cover letter to impress the employer.

Related: Action Verbs List for Resumes and Cover Letters 7. Add awards, achievements and additional information Consider any additional information that may improve your application and show the admissions professionals that you are well-suited for the programme. This can include awards, achievements or work experience if it applies to the area ...

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A well-crafted cover letter complements your resume and gives you a chance to highlight your qualifications and enthusiasm for the role. Here's how to write an effective cover letter for a cybersecurity position: Tailor your cover letter to the job: Each cover letter should be customized for the specific job you're applying to. Mention the ...

A great cover letter uses a logical progression of ideas to advertise your skills. There are seven sections that every cover letter should include to fit employer expectations and highlight your best qualities: 1. Header. All cover letters start with a header that includes your contact information. People often use the same header for their ...

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