This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of Europe--Malta. Aspects that are addressed include features of the education system, recent educational policies, main actors, legal arrangements, and support structures, as well as…

This study investigated degrees of mutual intelligibility among 3 structurally related languages in South Africa: Sepedi, Sesotho, and Setswana. To compare reading proficiency of mother-tongue speakers who enrolled for freshman courses at the University of Limpopo, 4 reading experimental conditions, in the 3 languages and 1 in a harmonized text,…

Few studies have focused on practitioners' perspectives on and interpretations of official language policies in schools and how such policies shape their practices. Teachers are an integral part of the process of policy appropriations that occur within and across policy levels (state, district, school, and teacher). Through interviews with…

The European Community is facing the dilemma of respecting and maintaining Europe's traditional national languages and cultures while facilitating communication. This objective can be met by expecting all citizens to speak in their native languages but understand several others, placing emphasis on comprehension in second-language instruction.…

Most East African nations have adopted the colonial languages of English or French as the medium of communication and education. One notable exception is Tanzania where, while each ethnic group has its own language, Kiswahili serves as an effective lingua franca. (RM)

Filipinos speak more than a hundred different languages, 10 to 15 of which are major. In addition, the Philippines was occupied by two foreign powers, each speaking a different language, i.e., Spanish and English. This situation has resulted in a number of different language policies throughout the country's history. These policies are discussed.…

Singapore's language policy must balance the wishes of the various ethnic groups, the political situation in the regions, and the needs of economic development. Malay, Mandarin Chinese, English, and Tamil are all recognized as official languages. Malay has special symbolic status as the national language. (RM)

Historical, political, and sociolinguistic aspects of the teaching of English as a Second Language (ESL) in Puerto Rico are examined. It is suggested that the apparent failure of ESL instruction is in reality a motivated failure: a society's successful resolution of a conflict between government planning for bilingualism and social pressure for…

There are more than 100 ethnic groups or nationalities in the Soviet Union. Many of these still speak their own native language. To accelerate mass education, these native languages are used in K-12 schools; however, the Russian language is promoted as the main language of science, technology, and international discourse. (RM)

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--the South of France. Details are provided about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies, divisions of responsibilities, main actors, legal…

This paper evaluates the language policy of India and its implementation with a special focus on English language teaching (ELT). In the first part of the paper, India's language policy is chronicled from the pre-independence period through the nationalist movement and post-independence era, with attention to the language policies of the…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--the southwestern part of France, also known as the North Basque country. Details are provided about the features of the educational system, recent educational…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific country of the European Union--Finland. Details are provided about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies, divisions of responsibilities, main actors, legal…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--the Basque country of northern Spain. Details are provided about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies, divisions of responsibilities,…

Volume 19 of the newsletter of the National Association for Bilingual Education, which spans the period from September 1995 to August 1996, contains a variety of articles on issues and developments in bilingual education policy and programs, including: two way bilingual education; language information from the 1990 Census; cultural influence and…