This review covers the status of languages and literacy in the countries of southern Africa, policies of literacy promotion, and the emerging symbioses among spoken languages and among literacies in mother tongues, national or official languages, and metropolitan languages. Five statistical tables are included. (66 references) (LB)

Traces the development of Ecuador's program of indigenous bilingual intercultural education. Describes the acceptance of a common alphabet for all indigenous languages; the "Macac" educational model; and the creation of bilingual primary and secondary schools and teacher training colleges. Stresses the importance of intercultural…

Discusses possibility of losing 90% of the existing 6,000 modern languages and importance of preserving languages and cultures. Government policies, including those of the United States, have contributed to this loss by imposing state languages to peoples and forbidding and punishing the use of native languages. Of the 207 native languages of…

English-only proponents cite linguistic divisions in Canada and Belgium as reason to avoid bilingualism. Data on language shift, language demographics, and language prestige indicate that the situations in these two countries are not comparable to the United States. A better lesson to draw from these two countries' experiences is that coercive…

Discusses attempts in the United States to make English the only official language and the motives underlying these activities. The article argues that the present mood of nativism poses a serious threat to English-as-a-Second-Language professionals and discusses the role of U.S. English, Inc., the major organization advocating language…

Examines the use of English as the "lingua franca" in Fiji and analyzes the reasons for the rapid growth of the manufacturing industry there. The article reviews publications discussing adult literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL), and communication on the island. It is concluded that the manufacturing industry will see the benefit…

Language planning for literacy has typically focused on models of provision of print-based literacy programmes in order to develop widespread literate capabilities in reading and writing. This paper argues that contemporary literacy planning needs to consider more than models of delivery and engage with issues related to defining the nature of…

This monograph will cover the language situation in Mexico; a linguistically very complex country with 62 recognised indigenous languages, the "de facto" official language, Spanish, and some immigrant languages of lesser importance. Throughout the monograph, we will concentrate on three distinct challenges which we consider relevant for…

This graphic overview uses 28 bar and pie graphs to illustrate Canada's ethnic and linguistic diversity. Information was drawn primarily from 1986 census figures. The following categories are examined: (1) ethnic origin; (2) language; (3) visible minorities (nonwhites); (4) aboriginal peoples; and (5) immigration. Information is reported for the…

This plenary opening address on cultural and language rights emphasizes both the opportunities and constraints facing selected European minorities in their struggle both to reproduce their culture and to have their efforts recognized as a permanent, legitimate, and democratic contribution to modern society. The central thesis is that although the…

A discussion of the role of Swahili in Tanzania looks at its elaboration as an indigenous language, involving both internal modification of the written language and the extension of its institutionalized domains of use. Because of its role as the lingua franca of the independence movement, Swahili became a vehicle for national political…

Each African nation-state has a number of language domains which together constitute a national language space. The proportion in which this space is filled by territorial languages, regional languages, or one of several nationwide languages and the exolect (foreign language that serves as the official language) varies with each country. But in…

Based on interviews with 150 persons in departments of education and in national, provincial, and territorial education organizations in Canada's major capital cities, this paper discusses seven vital issues in Canadian education and briefly states seven others. The seven major issues needing resolution concern: (1) the appropriate balance between…

Conjectural outcomes of the passage of a recently proposed constitutional amendment to make English the official language of Texas may be compared to the actual linguistic situation in Belgium. Following the revolt led by French-speaking Walloons in 1830, French was used for all national laws and decrees in Belgium as well as for secondary and…

Despite the fact that the twentieth-century ecumenical movement was coeval with the beginning of a "language revolution" and the "theology of crisis," it was only at the beginning of the present decade that the problem of unity in verbal formulations reached the agenda of the World Council of Churches (WCC). At that time the…