This book for young readers explores the controversy surrounding the use of languages other than English in education and social settings in the United States. Supporters of the "Official English," or "U.S. English," movement believe that the government and schools should do anything they can to get all Americans to use English…

The impact of Puerto Rico's and Quebec's laws on official bilingualism of translation and interpreting services is examined. In the case of Puerto Rico, public policy concerning the use of Spanish and English since 1899 is reviewed, focusing on early laws and those passed since 1991. The status of the translation profession is discussed, and it is…

The volume is one of a series of six listing language-related legislation around the world. It contains the texts of federal and provincial/territorial laws of Canada, in French when both French and English versions were available, and in English when an English version was the only one available. The laws are presented in this order: federal;…

Two basic approaches to language treatment have been defined, the policy approach and the cultivation approach. The former deals with the selection of a national language, standardization, literacy, orthography, and the stratification of code varieties, and is a macro approach. The latter concerns correctness, efficiency, specialized functions,…

This volume, published on the occasion of the American Bicentennial, is based on a revision of a 1963 German-language publication describing and analyzing the phenomenon of cultural and linguistic pluralism in American society. It is part of a series on bilingual education, intended to inform the public about how people have used bilingual…

As stated in Part 1 of this discussion, Canada is a hybrid, making use of both the macro, or policy, model and the micro, or cultivation, model of language treatment. Some concrete measures are taking place in language status and corpus planning on the inter-federal-provincial level and the provincial level, particularly in Quebec. One such…

The basic language issues in Canada are two-fold: (1) French-Canadians are making serious attempts to maintain their native language and culture, and a move towards French unilingualism is apparent; (2) English-Canadians are showing increasing interest in becoming bilingual, mainly because they are not threatened by native language loss or by…

Language is defined here as a means of social control, a viewpoint by which language restrictions can be seen as a method of discriminating against speakers of minority languages. A government designates an official language to restrict access to economic and political power. This view of language is substantiated by an analysis of the United…

This report outlines the symposium held on the teaching and learning of the mother tongue and of other modern languages. The aims were: (1) to examine the general connections between the teaching and learning of the mother tongue and of other modern languages in mono-, bi-, and multilingual communities in Europe; (2) to consider the bearing of…

Discusses the teaching of European languages and less commonly taught languages at all educational levels in Australia. Reference is made to multilingualism and language instruction in other countries. (AM)

Compares efforts to support minority languages in the developed, industrialized countries of the north and the developing countries of the southern hemisphere. The article examines whether comparable principles are being applied to minority language planning, and if not, what the underlying reasons for the differences are. (33 references)…

Summarizes current theoretical and practical issues of second-language learning and teaching in the national curricula of Singapore, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. Postcolonial developments in each country influence the theory and practice of first- and second-language acquisition. Of importance also are the attitudes and expectations of…

While the Official Languages Act of Canada mandates the governmental use of English and French, it is up to regions, localities, and individuals to develop the attitudes and policies which will safeguard the rights of language minorities (including English speakers in francophone areas) and discourage the cultural isolation of language groups. A…

There are at least 6,000--7,000 languages spoken in the world today, with over half of them endangered. And 61 percent of the endangered languages are within the Asia and Pacific Region. The publication is a report derived from the Regional (Asia and Pacific Region) Workshop on Mother Tongue/Bilingual Literacy Programs for Ethnic Minorities, held…

Examines factors contributing to the Puerto Rican conflict between Spanish and English. These include American heavy-handedness, party politics, socioeconomic tensions and the educational bureaucracy. The article notes how language planning could defuse the conflict and specifies concrete planning roles for English language professionals. (25…