Examination of the historical facts surrounding the American linguistic heritage and application of theories of language policy and planning may help to clarify possible future directions for the role of language not only in the classroom but in the pluralistic cultures of the United States and the world. The need to revitalize the bilingual…

The special issue of the journal is devoted to a variety of historical, educational, and policy issues arising in the debate over establishing English as the single official language of the United States. Articles on this topic include: "Bilingual Education and English-Only: A Language Planning Framework" (Nancy H. Hornberger);…

A survey of the status of language usage in Morocco begins with an overview of the distribution and usage of Arabic, the official language, the Berber dialects, and French, an unofficial second language. The continuing high status and widespread use of French despite arabization efforts is discussed. A matrix follows that rates these languages and…

A survey of the status of language usage in Somalia begins with an overview of the usage patterns of Somali, the official language, and three languages previously used officially: English, Italian, and Arabic. The cultural context that for many years has supported the usage of a single native language for communication and administration is also…

This report is the first in a series of four intended to study language attitudes and language maintenance among whites in the Republic of South Africa. The series is based on data provided by a large-scale survey conducted during 1973-1974. The present report deals with attitudes toward English and Afrikaans as official languages, about…

This bibliography on Canadian bilingualism includes a very large number of useful resources, including newspaper articles. Each chapter has two sections: an introduction presenting the problems related to the particular topic of the chapter, and a bibliographic section. A general introduction defines the object of the research and presents the…

This paper examines efforts to save rapidly declining indigenous languages around the world. The entire process of language preservation and revitalization is a massive undertaking that requires immense long-term planning and support. These problems extend well beyond the linguistic concerns of the language itself. Language policy is inherently…

Israel is fertile ground for research in multilingualism. Revitalization of Hebrew resulted in a tendency for ideological and instrumentally-motivated monolingualism to replace earlier multilingual patterns, even in the context of pressure for language shift by Arabic, Russian, Yiddish, and other languages, and Hebrew's competition with English in…

A survey of the status of language usage in Singapore begins with an overview of patterns of usage of Malay, English, Mandarin Chinese, and Tamil. The function of English as a primary language along with the official language, Malay, is discussed, along with the history of the dominance of English since Singapore's role as a British colony despite…

A survey of the status of language usage in Zimbabwe begins with an overview of the use patterns of English, Shona, and Ndebele, focusing on communication between ethnic and language groups, the decline in native English speakers and increase in English usage, political issues, educational requirements for languages, illiteracy, and the media. A…

Chapters in this volume include the following: "Co-Constructing School Safetime: Safetalk Practices in Peruvian and South African Classrooms" (Nancy H. Hornberger, J. Keith Chick); "Codeswitching and Collusion: Classroom Interaction in Botswana Primary Schools" (Jo Arthur); "Language and Educational Inequality in Primary…

Argues that democratisation, localization, and national identity are indivisible in Taiwan. Explains that social pressure groups, teachers, and parents are empowered in policy making processes, while the power of school officials to respond to these groups is limited. Discusses the role of school curriculum in promoting ethnic cultures and…

A survey of the language usage patterns in Zaire begins with an overview of usage of French as the official language and Swahili, Lingala, Ciluba, and Kikongo as the four national languages used both in their respective regions and as part of the mixture of languages used for official and unofficial communication purposes. The systematic study of…

A survey of the status of language usage in South Africa begins with an overview of the distribution among the population of the official languages, Afrikaans and English, and the principle languages of the Black majority: Zulu, Xhosa, Tswana, Nothern Sotho (Pedi), Southern Sotho, Tsonga, Swazi, and Venda. The influence of apartheid policy on…

Acute intercultural communication problems posed by multilingualism in Papua New Guinea are discussed, and ways in which they are being addressed are examined. An introductory section outlines the language situation in Melanesia. It is noted that the area's language diversity and colonization and missionary activity have resulted in the emergence…