The Linguistic Human Rights (LHRs) paradigm is motivated by the desire to combat linguistic discrimination, where speakers of discriminated languages find themselves unable to use their preferred language in society at large. However, in an increasingly globalised world where speakers may feel the need or the desire to travel across state…

The introduction and spread of "Ms" as the courtesy address title for women is a cornerstone of feminist linguistic planning for English. Its introduction aimed to eradicate the discriminatory inequity in the address system that exposed women through their (non)marital relationship with men. The understanding, use and impact of the courtesy title…

Presents the data from a study of the Valdotan community in northern Italy which examined, according to Smelser's model of social and cultural change, the Valdotans' level of ethnolinguistic identification. Re-interprets this data according to Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor's theory of the interaction between the ethnolinguistic vitality and the…

Examines the supposed "Gender Paradox" proposed by Labov (1990, 2001), which suggests women are both sometimes conversative and sometimes innovative in terms of linguistic variation and change. Explores the paradox from two perspectives: its applicability to multilingual as opposed to multidialectal communities and whether it is…

Postmodern globalization requires that students strive for competence in a repertoire of English varieties as they shuttle between multilingual communities. From this perspective, the current debate becomes irrelevant regarding whether local varieties or dominant varieties (British/American) be used in international proficiency tests. Because it…

What are the effects of globalisation on patterns of language use in the domain of media in Singapore? Rather than only cultural imperialism of hegemonic English, which is no doubt the case, the use of languages in the "mediascap" also shows the consumption of non-English languages and cultures. Though English may be the main language of…

This study evaluates translations from a European into a Nigerian language. By taking a close look at the Nigerian language translations of Radio Nigeria, the manner in which the Nigerian mass media copes with the problem of multilingualism is addressed. Specifically, the translation of English into Yoruba, one of the major languages of Nigeria,…

The revival, spread, and modernization of Hebrew, the maintenance of other languages, and variation within modern Hebrew are discussed. Courses in sociolinguistics are described, followed by a bibliography of sociolinguistics in Israel. (RM)

Ferguson's concept of diglossia and its later extension and coupling with bilingualism is developed further into the concept of polyglossia with multilingualism by a discussion of various speech communities where these phenomena are in evidence. (Author/HP)

A discussion of disappearing and no longer used languages in anthropomorphic metaphors "language death" and "language suicide." Three stages in the disappearance of several specific languages are described. Ultimately, the direct cause of "language suicide" is not disappearance of rules but disappearance of speakers;…

English is the most widely used language for commerce, industrial expansion, diplomacy, science, and other fields. As speakers of other languages adapt it to their purposes, educators must adjust their perceptions of how the language is used. This idea, and related ones, are discussed in this article. (JL)

This book presents a collection of papers resulting from a gathering of a mixed group of translators and language researchers to investigate multilingual translation with a view to seeking consensus and identifying priorities for moving forward. There are 14 papers in 3 parts. Part 1, "Overviews of Languages and Cultures in Contact,"…

Shows how educational policies have been used to try to bring about a sense of unity while favoring a particular ethnic group in a culturally plural society. An historical account of colonial immigration and educational policies is given. It is argued that educational policy alone cannot elicit racial or cultural harmony. (Author/PJM)

Cameroon, a central African state is one of the few countries in the world where, in addition to a very rich linguistically diverse landscape (a little below 300 identified indigenous languages) there is English and French (all vestiges of colonial legacy) used as official languages. Coupled with this, there is pidgin English which plays the role…

Survey supported by the Social Science Research Council in London, the Ford Foundation, the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris, and the Universities of York and Strasbourg. (VM)