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)…

Presents the case study involving a fictitious company's English-only policy and threats of legal action based on that policy. Includes the following responses: "Legal Issues Posed in the Language Dilemma" (Gregory S. Walden); "English Only: A Workplace Dilemma" (Alan Pakiela); "Problems with English-Only Policies" (Barbara Lynn Speicher); and…

Examines two approaches to official bilingual programs in Canada, personality and territorial, applying economic analysis to language planning. Territoriality is suggested as a means of protecting threatened linguistic minorities and assisting them in retaining their cultural identity. (Author/OD)

Surveys administered to 823 Chinese in Taiwan to measure the extent of language maintenance of mother dialects and shift toward use of Mandarin revealed a substantial shift toward the use of Mandarin. Successive family generations increasingly used Mandarin, and Mandarin was generally recognized as a common language for intergroup communication.…

Overviews the Ivory Coast's sociolinguistic situation. Standard French, restricted to the elite, is threatened by the local lingua franca. The spread and functional allocations of Dyula and Popular French support the point that the pervasive use of a language does not always lead to its adoption as a national language. (CB)

Reflects on the process of "normalization" that is gaining prestige in Majorca (Spain) as it restores Catalan to the role of official language. The outcome of the process of normalization in Spain may positively influence the possible approaches for the newly created multilingual states of post-Soviet Eastern Europe as they seek to…

The European Community is facing the dilemma of respecting and maintaining Europe's traditional national languages and cultures while facilitating communication. This objective can be met by expecting all citizens to speak in their native languages but understand several others, placing emphasis on comprehension in second-language instruction.…

Reasons why Kiswahili has not been officially established as the language of instruction in Tanzania are explored. Language background, sociocultural and pedagogical arguments, and comparisons with the use of French Immersion programs in Canada are discussed. Political interests are identified as the primary reason for retaining English. (34…

Necessary facilities for a successful implementation of bilingual education policy in a country like Nigeria are discussed. It is argued that the policy adopted there was too ambitious and unrealistic and that certain fundamental issues were ignored. Difficulties may lead to a total demise of the policy. (Contains 18 references.) (Author/LB)

Discusses the official system of trilingualism and the dual-language education system in Vanuatu, suggesting that these place enormous strains on Vanuatu's infrastructure. Appropriate multilingual development for the future requires that fundamental issues of constitutional interpretation and definition of language policy be resolved. (Author/VWL)

Clarifies the history and status of Macedonian in the various areas where it is spoken by providing a summary account of its history as a language of instruction in primary education in the Balkans from the nineteenth century to the present. (Author/VWL)

Draws on policy documents and interviews with educational policymakers and leading figures in the field of Kweyol to document changes in the status of the language in official and popular domains in St. Lucia. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that the teaching of English worldwide is tied to native speaker norms. Argues that although this orientation is often recognized as inappropriate and counter-productive, it persists because discussions about global English on the meta-level have not been accompanied by a necessary reorientation in linguistic research. (Author/VWL)

This qualitative study explores how francophone mothers describe barriers to and supports for maintaining their mother tongue. It focuses on the experiences of women who have the primary responsibility for teaching French to their pre-school-aged children. The findings, based on data collected in semi-structured interviews with women residing in…

When the movement for "English Only" began some years ago, the author told participants at a bilingual education workshop that he was against it. He was rendered momentarily mute because he had thought that the English Only proponents could not curtail the freedom of expression guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The way he understood…