Language policy is an issue of critical importance in the world today. In this 2003 introduction Bernard Spolsky explores many debates at the forefront of language policy: ideas of correctness & bad language; bilingualism & multilingualism; language death & efforts to preserve endangered languages; language choice as a human & civil right; & language education policy. Through looking at the language practices beliefs & management of social groups from families to supra-national organizations he develops a theory of modern national language policy & the major forces controlling it such as the demands for efficient communication the pressure for national identity the attractions of (and resistance to) English as a global language & the growing concern for human & civil rights as they impinge on language. Two central questions asked in this wide-ranging survey are of how to recognize language policies & whether or not language can be managed at all.