On language status from the bottom-up and top-down on the example of Croatian in Slovakia

Jezična politika provodi se na različitim razinama od međunarodnih i vladinih institucija preko lokalnih tijela do samih pojedinaca koji također donose određene odluke o jeziku. U višejezičnim sredinama pitanja jezične politike postaju znatno kompleksnijima i osjetljivijima. U europskom kontekstu odnosi među pojedinim jezicima, te posebno položaj, status, ali i sama uporaba manjinskih jezika regulirani su raznim zakonima, poveljama i dokumentima. No, svakako je važno istaknuti da se uporaba (u određenim situacijama i zaštita pojedinih jezika) ne regulira isključivo zakonskim aktima i dokumentima, nego je ona pod snažnim utjecajem lokalnih i pojedinačnih praksi, jezičnih stavova i ideologija same zajednice (Spolsky 2009). Stoga jezične politike trebaju uključivati i propitivanje statusa i upotrebe jezika na razini zajednice i na razini pojedinca. Propitivanje stavova i ideja koje o jeziku, njegovoj uporabi, statusu i položaju u zajednici imaju sami govornici, odnosno emska, insajderska perspektiva čini važan dio istraživanja predstavljenoga u ovom radu. Cilj je utvrditi odgovara li jezičnopolitička praksa stvarnome stanju, odnosno potvrđuju li iskustva, stavovi i percepcije ispitanika službenu politiku institucija. U radu se analiziraju metalingvistički diskursi dobiveni intervjuiranjem.Language policy is conducted at various levels, from international and governmental institutions through local governmental bodies to the individuals who are making decisions regarding language usage. In multilingual environments language policy issues become much more complex and more sensitive. In such environments two and/or more languages are in a direct contact and are often used alternately, making the domains of their usage very restricted. In the European context the relationship between particular languages, especially the position, status and the usage of minority languages are regulated by various laws, treaties and similar documents. It should be pointed out that the language usage is not regulated exclusively by legal acts and documents; it is rather under the strong influence of local and individual practices, language attitudes and ideologies of the community in question (Spolsky 2009). Language policies and language management should therefore include an examination of language status and language usage in a community and on an individual level. The examination of attitudes and ideas about language and its usage, status and position in the community of the speakers, i.e. emic or insider perspective, is an important part of this research. Main goal was to detect whether the language and political practice is in accordance with the real situation, i.e. whether the experience, attitudes and perceptions of our informants confirm the official institutional policy. The metalinguistic discourses gained through interviews are analysed