Review of research on multilingualism in England examines recent responses to multilingualism within the national education system and growing tension between education policy and research. Notes research weaknesses in 1980s (inadequate study of language pedagogy, over-reliance on self-report data, treating Caribbean languages separately) and…

Provides a brief account and explanation of the phenomenon of language use among the Baba community, which uses Hokkien, Malay, and English in the process of code selection and code mixing/switching. Data are drawn from recordings of conversation of the Babas and Nyonyas. (Author/OD)

Examines two variables affecting multicultural schools: teachers' attitudes and professional knowledge about students' languages and cultures; and the linguistic/cultural diversity of the children. Compares bilingual schooling and school organization for second-language teaching in multicultural contexts. Describes successful practices, including…

The present paper concentrates on several issues relevant to research into multilingualism in Estonia. It is argued that a macrosociolinguistic approach is insufficient when not counterbalanced with microsociolinguistic studies (case studies of actual linguistic behaviour, linguistic creativity, mechanisms and practices of multilingual…

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…

The belief that bilinguals are an asset to their country is not held by most bilinguals today, much less the general public. This paper describes on-going research into the discovery that many bilinguals conceal their linguistic skill in the home language when in an English-speaking environment, passing as English-speaking monolinguals. Data are…

Language contact and the resulting interference has long been diagnosed as one of the primary forces behind language change. In cases of multilingual contact within geographically restricted areas, converging changes of the languages in contact have been uncovered and described. The geographic areas characterized by such linguistic situations came…

Of the approximately 40 languages in Uganda, some are very similar to one another and may be to some extent mutually intelligible. Because no one knows how to measure degrees of mutual intelligibility, the authors are attempting to establish reliable techniques which would be not only of practical value for the study of language problems in…

The conference was held to alert teachers and other interested persons to the complexities of linguistic diversity in Australia, with attention focused on the immigrant child. This report includes the individual conference papers, presented by Marta Rado, Bert Townsend, Michael Clyne, Alan Matheson, and Rede Lar, and the comments of symposium and…

This paper is a study in language acculturation with special reference to the Indianization of the English language. It briefly traces the history of the diffusion of bilingualism in English on the culturally and linguistically pluralistic Indian subcontinent. The functional roles of English are discussed and the formal influences of Indian…

A communicativity index (Index I) is described that measures the potential communication function performed by a given language in a designated communication situation. Significant sociolinguistic contrasts between the language situations of West Malaysia and Singapore are revealed by applying this index. (PMJ)

Presents details of the language shifts among the various sections of the Chinese-speaking population in Hong Kong and analyzes patterns of allegiance. Notes that complex social, economic, and political pressures will affect future language in Hong Kong and that, within the domains of family, work, and others, the use of Modern Standard Chinese is…

Examines how code switching and mixing are used as communication strategies in multilingual communities and discusses how to establish solidarity and rapport in multilingual discourse. Examples from the main languages spoken in Singapore--English, Mandarin, Hokkien, and Teochew--are used. (Author/OD)

Shows how both macro- and microsociolinguistic perspectives are necessary to explain national language management. Macrolevel language planning is motivated by tasks of national consolidation by the state, notably in Singapore's case tasks of socio-ethnic integration and economic development. Microlevel language management pertains to individuals'…

Illustrates the impromptu use of German among adolescents in a multilingual school in inner London, where the aesthetics of performance play a significant role in the negotiation of identities and in the repositioning of an official code at school. (Author/VWL)