The present study contributes to the field of bilingual and trilingual language acquisition by analysing four multilingual families. In each family, at least one parent is bilingual. Following research questions will be addressed: (A) "How relevant are the (amount of) input and the (kind of) parental language strategies for language…

The present position paper claims that language education policy in Europe regarding immigrant minority languages is far from reaching satisfactory results. Despite a tradition of language diversity and foreign language teaching, there are no general distinct policies on fostering and maintaining those languages that cannot be subsumed under the…

Breton (Brittany, France) and Lower Sorbian (Brandenburg, Germany) are two of the many endangered minority languages currently undergoing revitalization. In their cases, given that intergenerational transmission in a family setting has mostly ceased, language revitalization takes the form of educational initiatives, such as the immersion program…

This paper provides insights into online language practices among bilingual teenagers who speak and learn a lesser-used language. Regarding language diversity, the internet is seen to pose both challenges to and opportunities for smaller languages. Focusing on German-Upper Sorbian adolescents, this study enquires to what extent new media and…

The article studies minority language policy in the situation of an internal division within a speech community. It is based on the example of the Upper Sorbs -- a Slavic minority in Germany. The division within this community is based on language use, the level of assimilation and religion. The Catholic Upper Sorbs have maintained…

Social networking sites have become ubiquitous in our daily communicative exchanges, which has brought about new platforms of identification and opened possibilities that were out of reach for many minoritized communities. As they represent an increasing percentage of the media we consume, these sites have been considered crucial for…

Through a comparison of France and Germany, this article investigates why the overall conception of multilingualism promoted by the education systems of the two countries favours the teaching of "useful" European standard languages over that of minority and migrant languages that are conceived in merely cultural terms. Adopting a…

Trilingual families need language support if they wish to maintain three languages. Most studies on trilingualism have paid little attention to the influence of grandparents as an affective factor. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the impact of the extended family, particularly grandparents, on trilingual families' language maintenance.…

This article deals with language contact between a dominant standard language--German--and a lesser-used variety--Low German--in a situation in which the minoritised language is threatened by language shift and language loss. It analyses the application of Low German in forms of public language display and the self-presentation of the community in…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union-- Alsace, a part of France along the German border. Details about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies, divisions of responsibilities,…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union--the northwestern part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Details are provided about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies,…

This book focuses on the minority languages of Europe, those other than the national languages of European Union member states, by looking at the demographic, sociolinguistic, and educational aspects of both regional and immigrant languages. Empirical evidence for the status of these other languages of multicultural Europe is brought together in a…

This document contains 26 issues (the entire output for the 1990s) of this publication dedicated to the study and preservation of Europe's less spoken languages. Some issues are only in French, and a number are in both French and English. Each issue has articles dealing with minority languages and groups in Europe, with a focus on those in…

About 10 million inhabitants of Germany are of non-German origin and use German and one or more other languages in their everyday life. The number of foreign students in German schools is constantly growing. About 25 percent of Germany's foreign population are citizens of other European Union states. The largest group of minority language speakers…

On the basis of detailed analyses of 10 threatened language-in-society constellations and three formerly endangered but now secure constellations, this book develops a closely argued theory of worldwide efforts on behalf of reversing language shift (RLS). It also applies this same line of reasoning to the problems of maintaining the…