Discusses the independent Namibian government's goal of making English (currently the mother tongue of less than 5 percent of the population) the official language to unite various race and speech communities into one national entity, and proposes a systems approach to enable language planners to see the relationships between plans and other…

In response to a previous article, this article expresses reservations about the status, development, and future of English as an International language. takes issue with the changing role and nature of the English language as a result of the project of creating a unified Europe. (Author/VWL)

Discusses language planning in modern Spain in terms of policy formation and implementation. The article argues that the elevation of Castilian to a position of linguistic supremacy is closely connected with the history of the development of a Spanish centralized state. It is concluded that whereas linguistic pluralism exists in theory, social…

This article discusses, from an African perspective, the two dimensions associable with the question of the globalisation of communication: the promotion of the learning of some international languages (the quantitative dimension) and the teaching and learning of communication skills (the qualitative dimension). It suggests that the time is ripe…

The issue of language attitudes has become important in view of the regular formation and growth of multi-lingual societies. The individuals are under constant pressure to learn more than one language because of pragmatic/cultural/political reasons. The languages in such situations compete and often generate linguistic controversies about the…

Despite its multilingual heritage, the USA has a history of linguistic intolerance. Arizona, in the country's desert Southwest, is decidedly anti-bilingual although it has significant non-English-speaking groups, especially Spanish-speaking Mexicans/Mexican-Americans and indigenous groups such as the Navajo, Hopi and Yaqui tribes, among many…

This study examined the relationships between temperament and ecological context among Yucatec Mayan children based on the assumption that maternal ethnotheories act as mediators and are related to world view. Since the latter is related to ecological context, its transformation may result in variations in ethnotheories and, therefore, temperament…

The Arabization of sciences, and especially of the language of the sciences, poses problems because of poor coordination among institutions and countries and because of the Arabic language itself. Instruction in French is still the best solution while Arabization becomes established. (MSE)

This paper mainly discusses the issue of whether the English language should be attached the same importance in education as it was before in post-1997 Hong Kong. The status of English before 1997 in Hong Kong has been carefully compared from the sociolinguistic perspectives with that after Hong Kong returned to China in 1997. Both political and…

Discusses bilingualism in Canada in terms of rationale, demographic trends and reactions, and government action. Argues for a positive view of cultural diversity and for tolerance and understanding of linguistic differences. (Author/MJL)

Reviews the history of language legislation in Quebec, specifically regarding the relationship between French and English. It is suggested that English be taught as a "foreign" rather than a "second" language in Quebec. (AM)

Discusses the historical development of Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of the Republic of Indonesia, and Bahasa Malaysia, the official language of the Federation of Malaysia. (30 references) (Author/CK)

Identifies the stages in the development of language policy in Australia and notes that language issues are no longer considered central to a multicultural society. Argues that the underlying rationale for language policy has moved to the economic sphere and that policymakers must understand the nature of language learning. (19 references)…

Examines the place of Portuguese in Portugal's former African Colonies. Characterizes the postcolonial position of Portuguese in Africa as a complex relationship between Portuguese as the official language and the other languages of these countries. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the development and progress of an international corpus of English (ICE) containing a regional corpora sampling of the standard varieties of English in countries where it is a first language, and the national varieties in countries where it is an official additional language. (GLR)