This paper is grounded in the evolution of our reflection on the relationship between plurilingualism, plurilingual speech and language learning. That is, it refers to research on the construction of plurilingual repertoires, over a period of more than thirty years, as documented in Lüdi and Py (1986 [2009]. "To Be or Not to Be … a…

The article gives a brief analytical survey of multilingualism practices, its consequences, its benefits in education and discussions on the appropriate ways towards its achievement in education. Multilingualism refers to speaking more than one language competently. Generally there are both the official and unofficial multilingualism practices. A…

This paper derives from an ethnographically oriented study of the emergence of English in innovative disciplinary speech events at a French-German bilingual university in Switzerland. From the outside viewed as dissent from the university's brand bilingualism, the use of English as a lingua franca enabled the multilingual "agents of…

This paper explores the implications of new patterns of migration (temporary, circular) for national and regional language policies in officially bilingual areas. Contrasting urban and rural sites in the UK (Wales), Spain (Valencia) and Switzerland (Grisons), it examines the dominant discourses regarding "national" (both in the formal…

The 13 articles in this serial issue are as follows (with all titles translated into English); "Swiss Sociolinguistics--Sociolinguistics in Switzerland" (Iwar Werlen); "Public Space, Medias, and Identities of Language. Reference Points for an Analysis of the Swiss Imaginary Collective"; (Jean Widmer); "Anthropological and…

An overview of the economic policy, political structure, and four official languages of Switzerland is presented. The following topics are discussed: (1) economic expansion without natural resources, (2) linguistic diversity, (3) Swiss-German, and (4) politics and governmental organization. (PMP)

This book examines the ways in which people belonging to different language and cultural communities live together in the same political community, and how political and structural tensions arise to divide them along language lines. It analyzes the historical background and recent controversy over language in the United States, then compares the…

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…

Chapters in this volume include the following: "Co-Constructing School Safetime: Safetalk Practices in Peruvian and South African Classrooms" (Nancy H. Hornberger, J. Keith Chick); "Codeswitching and Collusion: Classroom Interaction in Botswana Primary Schools" (Jo Arthur); "Language and Educational Inequality in Primary…