Indigenous communities working to reclaim their languages have called for a shift from the traditional research paradigm of language documentation and description, in which outsider scholars set the agenda, to one in which community language workers take on leadership roles at every stage of the process, possibly with secondary support from…

The lives of Kala people are deeply intertwined with marine and riparian environments on which their livelihoods depend. To document linguistic and environmental knowledge in these communities, as part of our community-based, collaborative language documentation project, we utilized three main interdisciplinary documentation methods: (1) River…

This article presents selected research on applied linguistics published in New Zealand, following "Language Teaching's" commitment to showcase more broadly local research that would not otherwise be easily accessible to an international audience. It covers research conducted and published in New Zealand from 2013 to 2017, following on…

Immersion programs have long been considered the gold standard for school-based language revitalization, but surprisingly little attention has been paid to the quantity and quality of the input that they provide to young language learners. Drawing on new data from three such programs (Kaqchikel, Western Subanon, and Maori), each with its own…

In this article I explore ethical issues in relation to the topic of Aboriginal students who speak a dialect of English. Taking the form of a retrospective inquiry, I draw on data from an earlier study that examined Aboriginal English in the broader context of Aboriginal language loss and revival. Three interrelated ethical issues are discussed:…

Studies the English-speaking and French-speaking populations of the Gaspe, focusing on socioeconomic status, mother tongue retention and bilingualism rates. This is followed by a detailed study of a small, linguistically mixed community in Gaspe East, reconstructing the community as it was in 1925 and describing it as it was in 1970. (Author/RM)

Examines bilingual women and their discourses of identities, language choice, and language maintenance in light of new research on gender and language contact. Presents a view of value, roles, and directions of past and present research about gender and language contact and provides an example for future directions through examination of the…

The role of the home and family/caregivers is commonly acknowledged as being central to securing the intergenerational socialisation of minority languages. Research evidence demonstrates that the survival or demise of minority languages crucially depends upon the extent to which the language is passed on from one generation to the next within the…

The alleged persistence of first-language dominance for arithmetic operations in bilinguals was investigated. Thirty-two Japanese-English bilinguals aged, 19-58, years solved arithmetic problems presented auditorily. Reaction time varied for short-term and long-term U.S. residents. (16 references) (Author/LB)

Discusses the history of the Spanish language in America and notes the influence of Caribbean languages, Nahuatl, and English on Spanish. Describes the archaisms in lexicon, phonology, and grammar of the Spanish of New Mexico and Colorado. Discusses Spanish language maintenance in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the United States. (SB)

Analysis of phonological data from two Athapaskan languages demonstrated that underlying the apparent degeneration of their phonological systems was an orderly progression which could be viewed as a retarded process of language acquisition, indicating that dying languages mirror the successive stages of ontogenesis. (35 references) (Author/CB)

Over the last four generations, the language patterns in Maine's bilingual Franco-American communities have undergone a shift characterized by a widespread adoption of English and a decline of the ethnic language. The younger generations generally are unable or unwilling to use the French language and they express negative attitudes towards that…

Properties of maintenance and loss of Spanish/English bilingualism were investigated in 308 high school students of Mexican background. Key variables investigated included: (1) actual and self-reported proficiencies in Spanish and English; (2) self-reported language choice behavior in various settings; and (3) language attitude. The biggest…

Discussion of languages in Australia looks at the multicultural makeup of the society, the role of English, dynamics of language contact situations (community language change, intergenerational language shift, other factors in maintenance and shift), societal and individual multilingualism, and support for multilingualism (language policies,…

This book examines language attitudes, focusing on individual attitudes toward majority and minority languages and bilingualism. Special emphasis is placed on research conducted on language attitudes in Wales toward the Welsh and English languages. Six chapters address the following: (1) the nature, definition, and measurement of language…