Reviews the history of Catalonia, its language policy, and strategies/methods by which the Catalan language was introduced into the educational system (e.g., by educating the teaching staff, using Catalan in instruction and educational administration, developing Catalan-language teaching materials, and developing immersion programs in Catalan for…

Describes the institution of Bahasa Indonesia as the state language of Indonesia. Discusses the use of Indonesian, 400+ vernaculars, and foreign languages in the country; the implementation of state language policy through formal and nonformal language education; and the rise of bilingualism in Indonesia. (DMM)

The history and conditions of the use of English and French in the exercise of justice in Quebec are outlined in the context of the problems, sociopolitical realities, and procedural impact of language usage. The history is chronicled in six segments: 1760-1764, a period of British military government and political standoff between British and…

This book surveys situations in which language contact arises and focuses on what happens to the languages themselves: sometimes nothing, sometimes the incorporation of new words, sometimes the spread of new sounds and sentence structures across many languages and wide swathes of territory. It outlines the origins and results of contact-induced…

This report describes the development and approval of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. After discussing the expression of consent to the European Charter, the report focuses on the ratification process of and obligations assumed by Spain. Although Spain was one of the first signatories in 1992, the ratification was not…

This paper describes the impact of the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in the United Kingdom, examining the history and current demographic and social position of the various languages to which the Charter applies. The first section, "Linguistic Minorities in the United Kingdom: Historical Development…

Notwithstanding the barriers posed by multiplicity of languages, inherited colonial policies, and negative state and citizen attitudes, West African experience supports a policy of using the mother tongue rather than a foreign language as the medium of instruction in schools at all levels. (Author/MJL)

Argues that the most fundamental aspect of language rights is the freedom of choice to use a language for a given purpose to realize one's interests. Discusses how the legitimate interests of the state and the individual, particularly the speaker of a minority language, do not always coincide. (nine references) (Author/CK)

Notes that the Maori Language Commission of New Zealand promoted 1995 as a year to celebrate that language. Points out that the Commission endeavored to encourage the Maori people to use their language; to celebrate the historical status of the language; and to generate goodwill toward the language among the general populace. (seven references)…

Overviews the Ivory Coast's sociolinguistic situation. Standard French, restricted to the elite, is threatened by the local lingua franca. The spread and functional allocations of Dyula and Popular French support the point that the pervasive use of a language does not always lead to its adoption as a national language. (CB)

When the movement for "English Only" began some years ago, the author told participants at a bilingual education workshop that he was against it. He was rendered momentarily mute because he had thought that the English Only proponents could not curtail the freedom of expression guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The way he understood…

Pidgin and creole languages are spoken by more than 75 million people, but the vast majority of their speakers acquire literacy in another language--usually the language of a former colonial power. This paper looks at the origins of pidgins and creoles and explores some of the reasons for their lack of use in formal education. Then it describes…

The debate in Hong Kong over which language (Cantonese, Mandarin or English) should be used as the teaching medium in publicly funded educational institutions predates the city's transition from colony to Special Administrative Region in 1997. In the past nine years it has been presented as the cornerstone of the ongoing educational reform…

A report is presented of work in syllabus construction and language planning in Finland from the middle of the 1960s to the present. An introductory chapter describes Finland's parallel educational systems, which provide for speakers of the two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, and for instruction in the other national language as well as…

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982) brought to the Canadian education system the right to instruction in the minority language. However, it is the province that must establish the appropriate school structures for exercise of that right. The study reported here outlines the current situation in the Canadian provinces and territories…