PERSPECTIVES ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE POLICY: STUDIES IN HONOUR OFTHEO VAN ELS.Theo Bongaerts and Kees de Bot (Eds.). Amsterdam:Benjamins, 1997. Pp. vi + 223. $54.00 cloth.

Abstract

All too often, the festschrift consists of a disparate and uneven collection of papers on a range of subjects that often only vaguely intersect with the interests of the individual whose work is being honored by the volume. This is a festschrift with a difference. It consists of a coherent collection of original papers addressing an area of applied linguistics in which Van Els made his most outstanding contribution, that of foreign language policy. The collection is given added coherence by the fact that most contributors relate their papers to the work carried out by Van Els and his team on the Dutch National Action Programme on Foreign Languages. Although the majority of the papers describe initiatives in the Netherlands, there are also contributions from researchers working in a range of other contexts including Israel, the United States, and Finland. As the editors of the volume point out, the contributions from abroad highlight the international impact of Van Els's work on language policy.