Traces the development of two innovative and successful in-service teacher education programs to prepare teachers to incorporate bilingual instruction (Castilian-Catalan) in Catalonia. Both of the short-term, transitory programs have reinforced the importance of regional language as well as provided an intermediate solution to the long-term need…

Explores the problems and procedures of producing test norms for bilingual populations. The difficulty encountered in defining subpopulations for separate test norm production and empirical classification is considered, and four practical solutions are detailed: school classification, person classification, test score classification, and language…

Discusses how linguistic and ethnological investigation have been key factors in the establishment of an indigenous bilingual education program with the Karaja Amerindians in Brazil. Program elements described include study of both Karaja and Portuguese with indigenous bilingual teachers; production of culturally and linguistically appropriate…

Explores three major problems related to the use of Kiswahili as the language of instruction in Tanzania teacher training colleges, including the lack of a clear Kiswahili academic register; inadequately prepared tutors; and problems in the dissemination of terminologies. (19 references) (Author/CB)

Presents an approach to a typological outline for categorizing minority-language situations in such areas as speaker, language, and setting juxtaposed with dimensions including sociology, linguistics, and psychology. (36 references) (Author/CB)

Describes a developmental project in Maori, designed to investigate the feasibility and reliability of teacher-based assessment of the oral component of a national examination of Maori language in New Zealand. Particular focus is on the development of a culturally appropriate assessment style that respects Maori traditions of knowledge, learning,…

Discusses accounts of events and pressures influencing the British government's Welsh Office to set up the "Council for the Welsh Language," and reviews the council's composition, tasks, and achievements. Findings indicate that the council was even-handed in its promotion of activities to support Welsh and satisfied the middle ground of…

Presents a demographic approach to the study of linguistic minorities, focusing on major analytical issues, particular data needs, and research possibilities. The approach's potential in the study of second-language acquisition, language maintenance, and shift pertaining to linguistic minorities is illustrated. (40 references) (Author/CB)

Notes that the Maori Language Commission of New Zealand promoted 1995 as a year to celebrate that language. Points out that the Commission endeavored to encourage the Maori people to use their language; to celebrate the historical status of the language; and to generate goodwill toward the language among the general populace. (seven references)…

Controversies surrounding approaches to language revival could be reduced if a clear distinction were recognized between two possible goals of language revival: the process of restoration and the process of transformation. A survey of methods adopted by various revivalists supports the conclusion that achieving transformation is more likely.…

Describes a survey in and around Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, which focused on the steady trickle of speakers of Xhosa into English-medium schools in the area. Examined the underlying reasons to send Xhosa children to these schools and the subsequent socio-psychological effects of the move on children. (Author/VWL)

The consequences of migration for the position of the Frisian language in the Netherlands are analyzed. An annual model is presented that can estimate the effect of extraprovincial migration on the number of people speaking Frisian at home. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/LB)

Discusses challenges to policymakers stemming from the recent change to the use of Arabic as a medium of instruction at colleges and universities in Arabic-speaking countries, including implementation plans and attitude surveys about Arabicization. It is argued that there is a need for a long-term plan for gradual implementation of the…

Speech material gathered from Dutch-English bilinguals in Australia questioned in 1971 and 1987 was analyzed, showing no evidence of attrition in Dutch. It is concluded that first-language attrition does not necessarily occur in an immigrant setting and that immigrants who maintain their language in the first years of their stay will likely remain…

Because Yugoslavia is a multinational, culturally pluralistic, and multilingual society, one of its educational aims is to develop the motivation for the equal use of its languages, so that the languages of national minorities/nationalities become appropriate instruments for communication in public and social life and are not restricted to usage…