diff --git a/api/current.txt b/api/current.txt
index d6d1732fd9707..0c71009cb109d 100644
--- a/api/current.txt
+++ b/api/current.txt
@@ -22503,6 +22503,17 @@ package android.text.style {
     method public abstract void chooseHeight(java.lang.CharSequence, int, int, int, int, android.graphics.Paint.FontMetricsInt, android.text.TextPaint);
   }
 
+  public class LocaleSpan extends android.text.style.MetricAffectingSpan implements android.text.ParcelableSpan {
+    ctor public LocaleSpan(java.util.Locale);
+    ctor public LocaleSpan(android.os.Parcel);
+    method public int describeContents();
+    method public java.util.Locale getLocale();
+    method public int getSpanTypeId();
+    method public void updateDrawState(android.text.TextPaint);
+    method public void updateMeasureState(android.text.TextPaint);
+    method public void writeToParcel(android.os.Parcel, int);
+  }
+
   public class MaskFilterSpan extends android.text.style.CharacterStyle implements android.text.style.UpdateAppearance {
     ctor public MaskFilterSpan(android.graphics.MaskFilter);
     method public android.graphics.MaskFilter getMaskFilter();
@@ -29303,6 +29314,7 @@ package android.widget {
     method public static int getTextColor(android.content.Context, android.content.res.TypedArray, int);
     method public final android.content.res.ColorStateList getTextColors();
     method public static android.content.res.ColorStateList getTextColors(android.content.Context, android.content.res.TypedArray);
+    method public java.util.Locale getTextLocale();
     method public float getTextScaleX();
     method public float getTextSize();
     method public int getTotalPaddingBottom();
@@ -29405,6 +29417,7 @@ package android.widget {
     method public void setTextIsSelectable(boolean);
     method public final void setTextKeepState(java.lang.CharSequence);
     method public final void setTextKeepState(java.lang.CharSequence, android.widget.TextView.BufferType);
+    method public void setTextLocale(java.util.Locale);
     method public void setTextScaleX(float);
     method public void setTextSize(float);
     method public void setTextSize(int, float);
diff --git a/core/java/android/text/TextUtils.java b/core/java/android/text/TextUtils.java
index 83a70f3fce0d0..987062ab08a24 100644
--- a/core/java/android/text/TextUtils.java
+++ b/core/java/android/text/TextUtils.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ import android.text.style.CharacterStyle;
 import android.text.style.EasyEditSpan;
 import android.text.style.ForegroundColorSpan;
 import android.text.style.LeadingMarginSpan;
+import android.text.style.LocaleSpan;
 import android.text.style.MetricAffectingSpan;
 import android.text.style.QuoteSpan;
 import android.text.style.RelativeSizeSpan;
@@ -587,6 +588,8 @@ public class TextUtils {
     public static final int SUGGESTION_RANGE_SPAN = 21;
     /** @hide */
     public static final int EASY_EDIT_SPAN = 22;
+    /** @hide */
+    public static final int LOCALE_SPAN = 23;
 
     /**
      * Flatten a CharSequence and whatever styles can be copied across processes
@@ -754,6 +757,10 @@ public class TextUtils {
                     readSpan(p, sp, new EasyEditSpan());
                     break;
 
+                case LOCALE_SPAN:
+                    readSpan(p, sp, new LocaleSpan(p));
+                    break;
+
                 default:
                     throw new RuntimeException("bogus span encoding " + kind);
                 }
diff --git a/core/java/android/text/style/LocaleSpan.java b/core/java/android/text/style/LocaleSpan.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a12c42fadb166
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/java/android/text/style/LocaleSpan.java
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2012 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package android.text.style;
+
+import android.graphics.Paint;
+import android.os.Parcel;
+import android.text.ParcelableSpan;
+import android.text.TextPaint;
+import android.text.TextUtils;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+/**
+ * Changes the {@link Locale} of the text to which the span is attached.
+ */
+public class LocaleSpan extends MetricAffectingSpan implements ParcelableSpan {
+    private final Locale mLocale;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a LocaleSpan.
+     * @param locale The {@link Locale} of the text to which the span is
+     * attached.
+     */
+    public LocaleSpan(Locale locale) {
+        mLocale = locale;
+    }
+
+    public LocaleSpan(Parcel src) {
+        mLocale = new Locale(src.readString(), src.readString(), src.readString());
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int getSpanTypeId() {
+        return TextUtils.LOCALE_SPAN;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int describeContents() {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void writeToParcel(Parcel dest, int flags) {
+        dest.writeString(mLocale.getLanguage());
+        dest.writeString(mLocale.getCountry());
+        dest.writeString(mLocale.getVariant());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the {@link Locale}.
+     *
+     * @return The {@link Locale} for this span.
+     */
+    public Locale getLocale() {
+        return mLocale;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void updateDrawState(TextPaint ds) {
+        apply(ds, mLocale);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void updateMeasureState(TextPaint paint) {
+        apply(paint, mLocale);
+    }
+
+    private static void apply(Paint paint, Locale locale) {
+        paint.setTextLocale(locale);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java b/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
index 5be9899f29bc8..f502de450c74d 100644
--- a/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
+++ b/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
@@ -2202,6 +2202,27 @@ public class TextView extends View implements ViewTreeObserver.OnPreDrawListener
         appearance.recycle();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the default {@link Locale} of the text in this TextView.
+     * @return the default {@link Locale} of the text in this TextView.
+     */
+    public Locale getTextLocale() {
+        return mTextPaint.getTextLocale();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Set the default {@link Locale} of the text in this TextView to the given value. This value
+     * is used to choose appropriate typefaces for ambiguous characters. Typically used for CJK
+     * locales to disambiguate Hanzi/Kanji/Hanja characters.
+     *
+     * @param locale the {@link Locale} for drawing text, must not be null.
+     *
+     * @see Paint#setTextLocale
+     */
+    public void setTextLocale(Locale locale) {
+        mTextPaint.setTextLocale(locale);
+    }
+
     /**
      * @return the size (in pixels) of the default text size in this TextView.
      */