The thesis deals with how individuals and organizations behave toward or treat bilingualism in the situation in which the community is moving from the use of one language to that of another. In particular, the study focuses on several selected aspects of the current linguistic situation in Belarus: (1) the geosemiotics and the management of language shift on signs in public space, (2) the management of language problems with the focus on education and (3) efforts at a reverse language shift to Belarusian.
At the same time, attention is paid to the correspondence between the language management carried out by citizens and by governmental or other public organizations. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the linguistic situation in Belarus as well as to elaborate on some sociolinguistic concepts, such as, in particular, language shift and the language problem.
The study applies the Language Management Theory as a general model of language shift and as an instrument for the diagnosis of language problems.