美国外语政策和汉语国际推广策略——美国诺曼学区法语项目起落的个案研究

US Foreign Language Policy and Chinese International Promotion Strategy: A Case Study of the Rise and Fall of the French Project in the Norman Public School District

中国的语言政策研究一向注重国别研究,其中美国的语言政策得到诸多关注.在有关美国外语政策的文献中,学者们多关注美国联邦政府颁布的外语教育政策,结论多为“美国有强大的外语政策”“以国家安全为导向的美国语言政策”“美国缺少硬性语言政策”等.研究鲜少涉及具体的语言生活实践以及在语言生活实践中发挥作用的语言政策及其运作机制.文章以美国俄克拉荷马州诺曼学区中的法语沉浸式项目为研究对象,通过对新闻、公开发布的文件的梳理以及对知情人士的访谈等,展示一个特定的外语项目在美国的运行机制,分析项目设立和关闭的关键因素.微观剖析个案的研究有助于具体了解美国的语言政策及其实践,纠正当前有关美国语言政策研究中片面的观点,为汉语国际传播研究和政策制定提供参考.

Chinese scholars in language policy area has paid great attention on country-specific language policy research,and there has been a great amount of literatures focus on the US foreign language policy. In the literature on language policy in the United States,scholars pay more attention to the foreign language laws and policies promulgated by the US federal government. The main conclusions include: "The United States has a strong foreign language policy""The US language policy is national security oriented"and"The US is lack of explicit language policy"et al..The practice of specific language policies rarely been studied.Based on the relevant news articles,public documents and interviews with the local educators,this paper describes the development of the French immersion project in the Norman Public School District in Oklahoma,analyzes the key factors which impacting the rise and fall of the project and the operating mechanism of a specific foreign language project in the United States.This micro-analysis case study rectifies several misunderstandings in previous research literatures on the US foreign language polices,which can help to understand the US language policy and its practice,and provide reference for Chinese international promotion strategy.