This 9th edition of the Studies in Language Policy in South Africa series follows on the 2012 MIDP Symposium, Multilingualism for empowerment, held on the QwaQwa campus of the University of the Free State on 11 12 September 2012. It includes the proceedings of a selection of papers, both from local and international scholars. The objective of the symposium was to draw together scholars from different fields and countries that work in the broad area of language in South Africa or study multilingual policies and practices that fit the conference theme in other regions or countries. The South African legislative framework for language provides for a mixed approach towards institutionalised multilingualism. It is becoming increasingly obvious that the required language legislation, policies and regulations are not efficiently implemented as English is fast becoming the de facto official and national language. Nevertheless, studies on language practices at grass-roots level in South Africa do point to empowering policy-making initiatives that take cognisance of societal multilingualism and that benefit citizens. It is the contention of the contributors to this book that from a language interventionist perspective these local solutions are often not taken into account when top-down policies are formulated and approaches to language regulation developed. It may be argued that a more coherent approach to institutionalised multilingualism will contribute to the empowerment of citizens at grass-roots level and to the broadening of democracy. This book presents important insights into language issues in education (both on school and tertiary level), service delivery, language ideology and politics, onomastics and legal aspects of language. Scholars in the field will find it useful and the insights offered stimulating.

Whether the winds of globalisation, localisation and regionalisation of the last decades have led to more linguistic diversity or not, is a matter of on-going dispute - one reason being the changeable language-ideological ways in which language practice is categorised and essentialised into countable linguistic units. In contrast, it is less controversial that they have led to an increased visibility and diversity - in short, to a growing number (and a wider range) of meaning-ascribing discourses surrounding multilingualism. The papers included in this book aim to draw attention to the fact that such discourses do not invariably reflect on, or give rise to, realities of societal integration and emancipation. In practice, they often follow, and are followed by, the mechanisms and effects of exclusion at different levels of society. Multilingualism and Exclusion: Policy, Practice and Prospects resulted from the First International MIDP Symposium, "Multilingualism and Exclusion" - hosted jointly by the University of the Free , the University of Antwerp and the University of Ghent - which was held in Bloemfontein from 24 to 26 April 2006. The symposium comprised part of the MIDP colloquia series sponsored by the Province of Antwerp, and brought together several scholars from Africa, America and Europe, as well as from South Africa. The selected papers included in this, the sixth volume in the Van Schaik series, "Studies in Language Policy in South Africa", critically reflect on themes such as multilingualism as an obvious, simple and superior option in all cases; the individual language user's experience; the management of multilingualism, etc. The diversity of the contributions to this volume underscores the fact that exclusion in language, like any other type of exclusion, is based on difference. Not surprisingly, various "tools" have been mobilised to effectuate such exclusion, forced monolingualism being an obvious one. Far more intriguing, however, is one of the findings made in this book - namely, that inclusion through multilingualism does not offer a simple and straightforward way to proceed. With Multilingualism and Exclusion: Policy, Practice and Prospects , the editors hope to evoke further discussion on the themes covered in this volume, as well as the opinions expressed by its contributors. The book is particularly directed at readers interested in the intricate relations between language and society; but it can also be used effectively as an important reference work in courses in language policy and language planning with a South African or African focus.