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This article calls language-learning the demand for a language in a certain social situation, while teaching refers to its supply. Both learning and teaching policies and strategies, whether of individuals, groups, or organized bodies like the state and dissident language activists, are ultimately connected with power. Individuals and groups generally learn the language of the domains of power because they want to empower themselves through employment. Sometimes, however, groups (ethnic, nationalistic etc.) may challenge the dominant language and teach the one they regard as a group identity symbol in a bid to change the prevalent power relations in a society. This is called resistance or ethnic language-teaching. Then there is ideological language-teaching by the state. Its purpose is to create legitimacy for the ruling elite and its ideology within the country so as to reduce resistance and to disseminate that ideology abroad as part of the projection of state power. These three major motivations for learning and teaching languages are predominantly rational, though extrarational elements are part of the motivation of actors in undeterminable ways.
Learning a language for pleasure or other emotional reasons, not apparently connected with power, falls into the realm of the predominantly extrarational realm, which is not explored in this article.
