Recommendations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (33rd ordinary session) concerning minority languages and dialects in Western Europe are outlined. One recommendation is that governments adopt the policies of educating preschool children in their own dialects and of bilingual instruction from primary through higher education.…

This paper examines efforts to save rapidly declining indigenous languages around the world. The entire process of language preservation and revitalization is a massive undertaking that requires immense long-term planning and support. These problems extend well beyond the linguistic concerns of the language itself. Language policy is inherently…

Presents Catalan as a substantial culture and looks at the present social situation of the Catalan language. Topics addressed include legal provisions; the educational system; the influence of mass media and information technology, including computer technology and applied linguistics; the audiovisual field; second-language learning; and future…

As part of a symposium on issues related to diversity and American education reform in the context of Goal 3 of the National Education Goals, this paper addresses public attitudes about languages that are different from official or national languages. It is noted that the use of a native language as the medium of instruction to rebuild historical…

After Papua New Guinea (PNG), Fiji is the second largest island nation in the South-west Pacific and the hub of the region. Nearly all Fiji Islanders have either Fijian or Fiji Hindi as their first language, in roughly equal numbers, while the former colonial language, English, with very few native speakers, has retained an important role,…