Examines the historical and socioeconomic context of classroom code switching in Hong Kong. Empirical analyses of actual instances of classroom code switching reveal this action to be the teachers' and students' local pragmatic response to the symbolic domination of English. The article concludes with a cost-benefit analysis of the Hong Kong…

Examines language practices in secondary classrooms in Malta, showing how teachers and students switch between Maltese and English to construct knowledge, interact with monolingual English texts, and interrelate. The article places these practices against the island's historical and social background to reveal that teachers use English to appear…

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…

Suggests that Dunn's genetic explanation for low Hispanic academic achievement is flawed, racist, and scientifically unfounded. Reviews historical efforts to suppress foreign language use and instruction in the United States. Calls for a reexamination of the implications of IQ test results in light of socioeconomic and cultural differences.…

Voters in five states approved referenda making English their official language. The vote is used to assess racial, ethnic, economic, political, and cultural hypotheses. The racial and cultural hypotheses are not validated; the ethnic and class ones are partially supported; and the political hypothesis offers the most compelling explanation. (26…

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…

Assesses Nigeria's efforts to achieve mother-tongue literacy for its citizens. Describes Nigeria's complicated sociolinguistic landscape, national language policies, and the Ife experimental project, studying the use of the mother tongue in primary schools. Points to nonlinguistic factors in educational success, including parental background,…

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…

As a heritage from the Soviet period (1945-1991) about 500,000-700,000 (mostly Russophone) persons (military persons, workers and others) lived in Latvia with little or no command of Latvian. During the same period, the Russian language had replaced Latvian in the public administration. Following the restitution of independence in 1991, one of the…

In many Southern countries, there are multiple and conflicting perspectives regarding the central role of language, particularly in relation to educational and developmental issues. A great number of multilingual, multicultural and multi-ethnic Southern countries are using "English" or some other dominant tongue as their only…

This paper reports on the pairing of Spanish-speaking in-service teachers and Turkish-speaking pre-service teachers in a telecollaborative intercultural project in which English was used as a lingua franca. The authors of this paper were the course leaders. Participants' discourses were examined to understand how they communicated their cultures…

This paper reports on a study done with Anglos and Hispanics in Texas, focusing on the pending English Only legislation and their awareness of and attitudes towards it and what biases these attitudes were based upon. A 1-page, 2-sided, questionnaire was distributed to 328 Anglo and Hispanic subjects in a predominantly Hispanic city. Forty-seven…

This book for young readers explores the controversy surrounding the use of languages other than English in education and social settings in the United States. Supporters of the "Official English," or "U.S. English," movement believe that the government and schools should do anything they can to get all Americans to use English…

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;…