Zhang Chen, Zhao Ronghui, Huang Yan
Center for Grenadian Studies, School of Foreign Languages, Ningbo University of Technology, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China.
China Center for Language Planning and Policy Studies, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China.
PLoS One. 2025 Jan 27;20(1):e0315076. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315076. eCollection 2025.
Language policy plays a pivotal role in sustaining language behaviors and transforming language ideologies into practices. While the analysis of language policies in international organizations has received increasing attention, the evolution of language policies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been understudied. Existing research on ASEAN's language policies has concentrated on its official language, often overlooking the language practices and ideologies embedded within these policies. This study seeks to investigate the evolution of ASEAN's language policy by examining its official documents and website. We employed the Wayback Machine to trace the development of the ASEAN official website and adopted a corpus-based approach, utilizing tools such as AntConc and Sketch Engine, to analyze the Chairman's Statements of the ASEAN Summit (CSAS). The study reveals three key insights: 1) The evolution of the ASEAN official website can be categorized into three distinct stages. 2) A consistent use of the collective pronoun "we" in the statements highlights the emphasis on cooperation and progress across economic and political-security domains. 3) The ASEAN community has persistently upheld its values, fostering an ASEAN identity and a genuine ASEAN community throughout its development. This diachronic analysis clarifies the characteristics of ASEAN's language policy, deepening our understanding of the intricate relationship between language practices and ideology, and their implications for regional cooperation and integration.
语言政策在维持语言行为以及将语言意识形态转化为实际行动方面发挥着关键作用。尽管对国际组织语言政策的分析已受到越来越多的关注，但东南亚国家联盟（东盟）语言政策的演变却未得到充分研究。现有的关于东盟语言政策的研究主要集中在其官方语言上，常常忽视这些政策中所蕴含的语言实践和意识形态。本研究旨在通过审视东盟的官方文件和网站来探究其语言政策的演变。我们利用时光机来追溯东盟官方网站的发展历程，并采用基于语料库的方法，运用诸如AntConc和Sketch Engine等工具来分析东盟峰会主席声明（CSAS）。该研究揭示了三个关键要点：1）东盟官方网站的演变可分为三个不同阶段。2）声明中持续使用集体代词“我们”突出了对经济和政治安全领域合作与进步的强调。3）东盟共同体在其发展过程中始终坚守自身价值观，培育了一种东盟身份认同以及一个真正的东盟共同体。这种历时性分析阐明了东盟语言政策的特点，加深了我们对语言实践与意识形态之间复杂关系及其对区域合作与一体化影响的理解。
