Intended to help teachers of English, language arts, and other subjects interpret "English Only" language issues for students, parents, and school communities, this book addresses various aspects of the controversy. Articles, listed with their authors, are as follows: (1) "The Roots of Language Protectionism" (Harvey A.…

Most East African nations have adopted the colonial languages of English or French as the medium of communication and education. One notable exception is Tanzania where, while each ethnic group has its own language, Kiswahili serves as an effective lingua franca. (RM)

Filipinos speak more than a hundred different languages, 10 to 15 of which are major. In addition, the Philippines was occupied by two foreign powers, each speaking a different language, i.e., Spanish and English. This situation has resulted in a number of different language policies throughout the country's history. These policies are discussed.…

Singapore's language policy must balance the wishes of the various ethnic groups, the political situation in the regions, and the needs of economic development. Malay, Mandarin Chinese, English, and Tamil are all recognized as official languages. Malay has special symbolic status as the national language. (RM)

Recent activation of a 1940 Italian law allowing equal amounts of elementary school subject area instruction in French and Italian in the Valle D'Aosta (Italy) are described. The plan uses paired bilingual teachers who alternate both languages and grades during the school day. Extension of the program to higher grades is discussed. (six…

Multilayered, this book presents as a narrative, a first-person scholarly (but not academic) account of the political and educational conflicts surrounding the question of the development of language and thought. It follows a group of South African graduate students, black and white, including teachers who live in Soweto, as they struggle to…

Canada, a nation of 25 million people, uses two official languages, English and French, to recognize the country's two founding groups. In addition to an official bilingual policy, Canada has a policy of multiculturalism that encourages ethnic languages and cultures. (RM)

To help resolve the language of instruction dilemma in Hong Kong schools, this paper examines the hypothetical effect of government, business, and university language policy and practice on individuals' choice of intructional medium. While government policy has always allowed schools and students to choose either Chinese or English, most have…

Bahasa Malaysia (the Malay language) was chosen as the national language to unite the linguistically diverse groups in Malaysia in the mid-1950s. This choice brought about a total change in education policy, whereby Bahasa Malaysia became the medium of instruction for all subjects (other than English) in public schools. The decision saw a complete…

There are more than 100 ethnic groups or nationalities in the Soviet Union. Many of these still speak their own native language. To accelerate mass education, these native languages are used in K-12 schools; however, the Russian language is promoted as the main language of science, technology, and international discourse. (RM)

There are at least 6,000--7,000 languages spoken in the world today, with over half of them endangered. And 61 percent of the endangered languages are within the Asia and Pacific Region. The publication is a report derived from the Regional (Asia and Pacific Region) Workshop on Mother Tongue/Bilingual Literacy Programs for Ethnic Minorities, held…

This paper evaluates the language policy of India and its implementation with a special focus on English language teaching (ELT). In the first part of the paper, India's language policy is chronicled from the pre-independence period through the nationalist movement and post-independence era, with attention to the language policies of the…

Reports on an ethnographic study of primary level science classes in Kenya where English is the government-mandated language of instruction. Finds that important ideas were conveyed more easily when teachers did not adhere to the policy of English-only instruction. Concludes that the importance of sociolinguistics in instructional processes should…