Language ideologies in the era of multilingualism: Implications for the update of language policy guidelines in Latvia

Focusing on Latvian context and using descriptive and comparative methods, the article explores the intricate and dynamic landscape of languages in the increasingly interconnected modern world with multiple languages coexisting and intersecting in unprecedented ways. Until a few decades ago, disregarding the boundaries of languages and their varieties had been considered socially undesirable and evaluated mainly from a normative point of view. The results of the research demonstrate that nowadays superdiversity has significant implications for everyday communication as well as for perception of language situation and language policy in all its aspects. These conclusions challenge conventional views of linguistic identity and stereotypes of “proper” language in a wider society. Moreover, the findings of the study indicate insufficiency of the traditional concepts for the analysis of the present language situation and language use and the necessity of adaptation and development of new concepts and terms