This guide, provided by a partisan education policy public interest group, seeks to answer the most frequently asked questions about teaching, designing, and evaluating an English immersion classroom and the research underpinnings in favor of English immersion. This guide aims to help teachers and policymakers better understand what English…

Puerto Ricans have been largely ignored in the current debate over English as a national language. Once the rhetoric of language restrictionists is discarded, the real issue becomes that of the political empowerment of Puerto Ricans. The history of language policy in relation to Puerto Ricans is also reviewed. (SLD)

This study presents the theories that contribute to what the author has called geolinguistics, a discipline that deals with the external fate of languages as they are distributed over the face of the globe. Such a study is relevant in terms of official language planning when legislators seek to impose a given language on people of varied…

This paper analyzes the demographic, sociolinguistic, and educational status of Basque in the whole of the Basque country: the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC), Navarre in Spain, and the Northern Basque Country in France. It also discusses English as a third language within the bilingual educational system in the BAC. In terms of demography, 22%…

This issue of The Journal of Social Issues is devoted to nine articles on the topic of bilingualism written by authorities in the fields of linguistics, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and education. The authors and their topics are: (1) Dell Hymes, "Models of the Interaction between Language and Social Setting," (2) Joshua A. Fishman,…

During early settlement of the New World, schools were conducted in the community's native language. Concern over an official language for the United States can be traced to Benjamin Franklin and John Adams. While British immigrants were in the minority, their influence predominated. English-only laws appeared but were largely ignored. In 1900,…

This publication provides information on programs of study in Canada under the following headings: (1) the language of the minority group (French in nine of the provinces, English in Quebec) as a subject of study, showing grade enrollments and participation rates; (2) the language of the minority qroup as a first language (designed for French…

The present state of language programs in Australia, the lack of a coherent language policy, important considerations for developing a national language policy, and long-term outcomes of a language policy are considered. Australia needs to consider the role of languages in society and the society's need for language skills. Among the present…

This volume contains six major papers on the following topics: (1) the concept of linguistic minority; (2) juridical approaches in linguistics; (3) a typology of interventions in the public sector; (4) a typology of interventions in education; (5) the use of language in private enterprise; and (6) the concept of ethnic group. The necessity of…

Documents opinions of educators in Quebec, Canada, on Bill 101, which made French the official language of instruction in the province. Describes educational situations, practices, and programs that pertain to language and to education for Protestants, Catholics, other religious groups, minority groups, and the disadvantaged. (MJL)

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.…

Examination of the historical facts surrounding the American linguistic heritage and application of theories of language policy and planning may help to clarify possible future directions for the role of language not only in the classroom but in the pluralistic cultures of the United States and the world. The need to revitalize the bilingual…

These proceedings are the result of a recommendation of the Royal Commission on bilingualism and biculturalism in Canada that in second language education in Canada the emphasis should be on the Canadian milieu, not on the foreign language aspect of French and English. The following papers are presented here: (1) "Realite culturelle au Canada…

The special issue of the journal is devoted to a variety of historical, educational, and policy issues arising in the debate over establishing English as the single official language of the United States. Articles on this topic include: "Bilingual Education and English-Only: A Language Planning Framework" (Nancy H. Hornberger);…

This report is concerned with the current Welsh cultural resurgence, with the focus of this resurgence on the Welsh language as a chief determinant of ethnicity, and with the efforts of the Welsh to obtain from those that govern them institutional supports for their language in schools, courts of law, and similar public and official…