Language planning is official, government-level activity concerning the selection and promotion of a unified administrative language or languages. Language planning initiatives arise in response to sociopolitical needs and attempt to meet those needs by reducing linguistic diversity. Several stages occur in the language planning process. The first stage, needs analysis, involves the selection of the language or language variety. The next stages are called "status planning" and include codification and standardization. Fine-tuning the selected language or language variety is called "corpus planning" and includes elaboration and cultivation. Specific areas of language use that are affected by language planning decisions include writing systems, lexicon, and syntax. Responses from educational systems to language planning decisions include monolingual instructional programs, transitional bilingual education programs, language maintenance programs, and immersion programs. Many different groups of people are involved in language planning initiatives, including sociologists, political scientists, educators, linguists, writers, and national language academies. The status of language planning in the United States is described. (DJD)