Investigates the role of the three major languages in Hong Kong by looking in depth at one secondary school where Putonghua has official status rather than English or Cantonese. Motivation for code choice is investigated through interviews and questionnaires. While Putongua has a special role in the school, the use of Cantonese was found to…

In Paraguay, a majority of the population speaks Guarani, an indigenous language. Guarani is a co-official language along with Spanish and bilingual education has been implemented. Despite these positive measures, literacy education in Guarani is limited to urban areas. The challenge is how to find the political will and economic resources to…

Using the Arizona 5% Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) from the 2000 U.S. Census, we compare language-related figures for the Mexican-origin population with those for the total population. Additionally, we compare place of birth and educational attainment data for Mexican-origin persons who speak Spanish at home with those who speak English-only…

In multilingual societies such as Botswana, language use is an extremely complex matter, further compounded by the fact that the languages involved are themselves dynamic phenomena that often elude the planned outcomes of policies which try to shape and constrain them. The paper describes the functional distribution of the national language…

Language contact is traditionally associated with language communities having a long and close association with a second language--through an existing official language, or extensive use of the language spoken by past colonial rulers, or both. Japan neither falls directly into these categories, nor is it considered a country with a strong…

As an official language of newly-independent East Timor, the public role of Tetun has increased markedly since 1999. Its use is, however, hampered by a shortage of agreed, well-understood, technical terminology. This paper reports on a project by the Independent Electoral Commission and the United Nations Development Programme to develop a…

Language policy and language usage trends in Nigerian education are examined, particularly as they concern the role of Anglo-Nigerian Pidgin (ANP), an inter-ethnic lingua franca. Language policy and practice for official and native languages both before and since Nigerian independence are chronicled. Results of a survey of 240 individuals in six…

Multilayered, this book presents as a narrative, a first-person scholarly (but not academic) account of the political and educational conflicts surrounding the question of the development of language and thought. It follows a group of South African graduate students, black and white, including teachers who live in Soweto, as they struggle to…

A November 1992 conference on multilingualism and the role of language in European-American communications and trade is summarized in a series of brief essays. After a foreword from the president of the Commission of the European Communities, these articles are presented: an introduction (Jacqueline Grapin); "Towards Transatlantic Linguistic…

Noting that the English-Only movement (which advocates that English be the official and only language used in the United States) dramatically influences the lives of language minority children, this Digest first examines the ideologies undergirding the English-Only movement. It then reviews the consequences of imposing this legislation on the…

This document, in English and French, provides a graphic overview of statistical data on aging and ethnicity in Canada. Most of the information was drawn from 1981 and 1986 census figures and immigration statistics. Part 1, "Multicultural Canada," provides background information on the multicultural nature of the population. One map and…

The present status and position of the Catalan language are assessed, and the language planning activities being carried out in Catalonia to promote it are examined. The historical development of Catalan is outlined, and the current situation in Catalonia is described, focusing on its uses among immigrants and in modern mass communications. The…

To examine the process of language shift (bilingualization) in an area where there is a local dialect equivalent to a "language of solidarity" and a national language equivalent to a "language of power," language interactions in the impoverished village of San Marcos in the highlands of Guatemala were examined. Although Spanish…

A discussion of the movement to make English the only official language in the United States' multilingual society examines the nature and scope of the movement and draws instructional and language policy implications for teaching situations involving language-minority populations. It draws a relationship between the politics of language diversity…

Both Ireland and Canada are officially bilingual countries. There are similarities between the two countries and differences with regard to numbers of speakers and purposes for which speakers use Irish or French. Yet, a comparison of language policy in the two countries is possible, one which would focus on demographic, economic, social, cultural,…