A fundamental requirement of language assessments which is underresearched in computerized assessments is impartiality (fairness) or equal treatment of test takers regardless of background. The present study aimed to evaluate fairness in the Pearson Test of English (PTE) Academic Reading test, which is a computerized reading assessment, by…

While the idea of a named language as a separate and discrete identity is a political and social construct, in the cases of Sardinian and Asturian doubts over their respective 'languageness' have real material consequences, particularly in relation to language policy decisions at the state level. The Asturian example highlights how its lack of…

Linguistic ideologies that are left unquestioned and unexplored, especially as reflected and produced in marginalized language communities, can contribute to inequality made real in decisions about languages and the people who use them. One of the primary bodies of knowledge guiding international language policy is the International Organization…

Contact between languages often leads to linguistic changes. Although the social factors and the typological characteristics of the languages influence the change process, the interaction between these factors is not well-known. This is partially due to the fact that the long-term and short-term effects of language contact are rarely brought…

This dissertation is a description of Xinaliq, a Northeast (Nakh-Daghestanian) Caucasian language spoken primarily in the village also called Xinaliq, which lies at an elevation of 7,000 feet in the Kuba district of Azerbaijan, near the border with Daghestan. Currently there are approximately 1,500 residents in the village. Most of them are…

This paper views Nigeria as a multilingual country with diverse languages and cultures to the extent that the total number of languages spoken right now in Nigeria is about 500 (See Adegbite 2010). This linguistic diversity in the country has occasioned the development and the spread of the concepts of bilingualism, multilingualism, diglossia and…