From 1949 to 1957, the Chinese Communist Party's language policy took a pluralistic approach. A Chinese-monopolistic language policy was dominant, 1958-77. A pluralistic approach was again adopted from 1977 to the present. The Chinese experience illustrates how language minorities everywhere must balance maintaining their home language with…

This article looks into how masculinities are constructed in a mother tongue fifth grade reading classroom in Rio de Janeiro by focusing on the stories pupils tell one another in this context. The article follows a socio-constructionist view of discourse and social identities, such that stories are taken as resources used in the construction of…

Kuot is a language in a critical situation. Most adults of lower middle age and older are full speakers but children are not learning it. In other words, it will become extinct in a few decades if nothing is done; but it is not too late if the community decides to turn it around, and do so fast. Thus far, the community has shown little interest.…

This preliminary study provides an interpretive reading of focus group interviews of four Korean American children in the Phoenix metropolitan area. It examines how these Korean American children are negotiating their ethnic identity as Korean Americans while learning Korean as a heritage language. It shows that maintaining heritage language is…

The paper addresses a key issue in language planning of the third world countries, specifically Pakistan, a country that remained under the shackles of Colonialism till 1947. But, still the country does not have a clear cut language policy. Being richly multilingual and multicultural, it had to cope with the problem of a second language, the…

A significant amount of research treats students who speak a language other than English at home, or language-minority students, as a single demographic group and compares them to students who speak only English at home. If important disparities in early school experiences among language-minority students have been overlooked, then policies aimed…

The present study examines the role of a Vietnamese heritage language school in cross-cultural adaptation, as operationalised by the confluence of two independent variables, language competence and integrated cultural identity. To characterise the students' language competencies and degree of integrated cultural identities, interview…

The indigenisation and internationalisation of Taiwan emerged as issues of national concern as a result of the democratisation of politics in the late 1980s which profoundly changed the sociopolitical and economic climate. One manifestation of these changes was "new" language-in-education policies. These were the…

This paper addresses questions and concerns of Head Start staff who strive to develop and implement programs to meet the needs of preschoolers who are linguistically and culturally different. The first concern addressed is the educational rights of children whose primary language is not English, and the nature of language assistance programs…

Collectively, Pakistanis, Indians, and Bangladeshis form the largest ethnic minority group (4,129) in Edinburgh, Scotland (43% according to 1991 Census figures). Current local provision of education for adult members of the three communities was reviewed. Needs and preferences in terms of educational content, approach, and location were identified…

This publication, a Spanish translation of "Right at Home," is a family involvement program in the form of easy-to-read cartoon-style letters to be used at home by parents or other family members with their preschool or kindergarten-age children. The book is designed to be used independently by parents, or to be reproduced and distributed to…

School District 52 (Prince Rupert, British Columbia) is committed to providing support for the renewal of Sm'algyax, the language of the Tsimshian Nation. However, the Tsimshian Nation must provide guidance and establish a positive direction for Sm'algyax language programs. This paper examines language renewal issues and options as a basis for…

This report summarizes two joint sessions held by the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education to hear testimony on educational issues related to Native American language and culture. Educators, students, parents, and tribal officials made presentations concerning: the importance for academic success…

This Senate hearing received testimony expressing the concern that Alaska Native languages are dying, and suggesting ways to stimulate and improve Native language instruction in schools and community settings. The director of the Alaska Native Language Center (University of Alaska, Fairbanks) provided information about the history of suppression…

This study, originally published in German in 1983, describes results of a comparative evaluation of Commission of the European Communities projects for migrant children's education in four countries (Belgium, England, France, and the Netherlands). The report begins with a discussion of the European Communities' 1970 directive on the teaching of…