A national language is useful as one means of creating social cohesion at the level of the whole country. It is also a symbol of national identity and of a nation's distinction from other countries. Probably no nation will ever be fully satisfied with a language that is a national language in the symbolic sense only, but the symbolic function of a…

Research on education in Canada, the United States, the Philippines, and Ireland suggests that bilingual education of a pluralist character neither depresses nor enhances performance in English or in non-language subjects. Decisions to promote bilingual education are often based on social demands. (f=fiche numbers). (CP)

Argues that there is no pressure to make Irish an official language in Northern Ireland because the sociolinguistic preconditions for bilingualism do not exist. The article demonstrates that those Irish who do not speak or learn Irish have no less a sense of having an Irish identity than do fluent speakers or those learning Irish. (26 references)…