Background: An important issue in the discourse on language rights is the degree to which they influence the development and implementation of language policies or perpetuate inequalities in many language situations. Skutnabb-Kangas (1996, 2002a, 2002b) and May (2000), for example, have argued that language rights offer a reasonable framework for…

This article explores language assessments and policies that Latino students and others from immigrant backgrounds face as they graduate from high school and attempt to enter community colleges. Focusing on California, the authors examine the assumptions that underlie these assessments and policies. They argue that the policies signal different…

This paper explores the social and cultural knowledge embedded in the textbooks for language and literacy education in a Chinese heritage language school, the Zhonguo School, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It examines how Chinese language arts textbooks introduce the child reader to cultural knowledge considered legitimate and valued in China as…

The ideology of a monolingual and monoracial Japan is being challenged by increasing language diversity in communities where Ainu, Ryukyuan, Chinese, English, Japanese Sign Language, Korean, and other languages are spoken. Government policies and school textbooks still resist the notion of a multilingual Japan. (SK)

Describes recent research on language maintenance to provide broad, worldwide coverage of different language contact situations. Surveys various countries in which research within ethnic and minority language communities illuminates language maintenance or shift, or revitalization, for that group. (Author/VWL)

Traces the effects on Australian language policy of a changing sociolinguistic situation--increasing multilingualism--and a weakening of a monolingual ideology. Analyzes the country' s emergence from an assimilationist past to its embracement of a more multicultural approach with special reference to young Cambodian-Australian's educational…

Juxtaposes postmodernist discourses on language, identity, and cultural power with historical forms of language inequalities grounded in the nation-state. Focuses on mixed legacies of language-state relations within the pluralist nation state, colonial and post-colonial language policies. Examines the concept of linguistic minority rights beyond…

Discusses the Asmara Declaration, a declaration about linguistic rights of African languages and their speakers drafted by African scholars and writers at a conference in Asmara, Eritrea. Suggests that there is a problem in the quality of much of the work committed to language rights. (Author/VWL)

This article is a summary of findings from an extensive review of literature of research on educational reform originating at or being supported by various systemic levels. The goal of this review was to gain a better understanding of the factors influencing the improvement of education for racially and linguistic minority youth. We report…

This paper investigates the Irish-language adscape through an analysis of the profile of two Irish-language newspapers, "Foinse," published in the Republic of Ireland, and "La," published in Northern Ireland. The advertising in both papers is analysed in terms of products and services advertised, advertisers represented and…

The Center for School Success (CSS) at New Visions for Public Schools was founded in 1999 to document and disseminate innovative educational practices demonstrated by New Visions' schools that hold promise for increasing student achievement throughout New York City. Over the first year, CSS concentrated its initial documentation efforts on…

Background/Context: As a case study in minority language restriction, the German example provides a useful historical counterpoint to more recent debates regarding the place of non-English languages in American schools. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study and Research Design: This historical analysis examines the role of education…

This paper deals with European language policy and its contribution to the formation of a European identity. The realisation of the "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages" in Germany and the United Kingdom is discussed and evaluated. (Contains 1 table and 5 notes.)

From a legal and institutional point of view, the current situation of the different languages in Spain has a double basis: the fact that the Spanish Constitution acknowledges the country's multilingual and multicultural character, and the country's organisation into Autonomous Communities. Such a constitutional framework has made it possible for…

This paper provides a historical account of post-war state language policy within education in France, examining in particular the position and status of Corsican, one of the country's regional heritage languages. This paper outlines the treatment of Corsican by the French State and how this language management impacted upon the language beliefs…