The need to develop and encourage the use of local, national and official linguistic codes in Nigeria for both domestic and international usage cannot be overemphasised. In order to achieve a rapid political, economic and sociocultural change in the country, all academic and specialised institutions and corporate organisations in the local and…

A discussion of the choice of official languages in Nigeria first gives an overview of the current language situation in Nigeria, particularly of indigenous language usage, sketches the history of English, French, and Anglo-Nigerian Pidgin (ANP) both before and after independence, outlines the main proposals for language planning, and draws some…

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)

Research on Canadian bilingualism, multiculturalism, and language policy is reviewed, including the recent history of public policy, the challenge of implementing official bilingualism/multiculturalism, assimilation and language demographics, status of non-official languages, French immersion and francophone schooling, Quebec's unilingualism and…

Offers a sociolinguistic appraisal of the representation of languages (as "languages" or "dialects") in the Indian census, with special reference to the status of Maithili. Classifying Maithili as an independent language threatens the homogeneity of the "Hindi belt"; conversely, treating it as a Hindi dialect might…

Discusses major issues pending in the Second Session of the 104th Congress, noting the impact on language education and focusing on educational reform agendas, recissions, the budget process, appropriations, and English as the official U.S. government language. Individuals in related professional organizations are urged to take steps to influence…

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;…

The historical background and the current status of Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania, where it is designated as the national language, and in Uganda, where it has assumed a less prominent role, are described. Major factors contributing to the selection of national languages in the region are presented. The ways both linguistic and sociopolitical…

A discussion of language policy in India's educational system identifies substantive issues of both theoretical and comparative interest; presents a detailed account of the issues associated with policy-making for language in education in the Indian socio-political context; and discusses the current status of implementation of these policies, with…

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,…

Language must meet the social, economic, political, and psychological needs of the time, and it necessarily changes with new ways of thinking. Political ideology is one factor that can influence linguistic change. A dramatic example of this process can be found in the People's Republic of China, where major political forces have brought about…

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…

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…

The national re-emergence of Scotland is accompanied by the desire for cultural and linguistic autonomy and identity. Issues at hand include language standardization, bilingual education, the language problems of immigrants, the role of Gaelic as compared to the continuum of linguistic varieties that go from Standard English to Scots, the adoption…