A response to an argument that Canadian language policy prevents the self-defense of minority languages through exclusive territorial control (LaPonce, 1984) addresses the relative neglect of research concerning language and territoriality in the European context and contrasts the contemporary multilingual situations in Spain and Switzerland to…

Two policy documents supporting education for ethnolinguistic or socioeconomic minorities in Catalonia are examined, identifying underlying assumptions and the views of cultural diversity implicit in them. It is concluded that the policy is formulated vaguely, incorporates contradictory statements, and neglects learners' first languages. Further…

A study of popular attitudes toward and use of Catalan and Castilian Spanish sought to clarify the prestige level of the languages in different areas in Spain. The study focused on the degree to which Catalan has undergone linguistic normalization by extension to all social levels and situations. (Author/MSE)

Catalan, although a minority language within Spain, enjoys great prestige within Catalonia. This article attempts to explain how conflicts in Europe, national and Catalan election politics, educational policies, and the "cold war" waged against the Catalan government together affected a change in public opinion toward a reluctance to…

Examines effects of policies implemented by Basque Autonomous Community to reverse decline of the Basque language of Euskara and to restore its use throughout the Basque community on Rioja Alavesa, a borderland zone where Euskara has not been spoken since the middle ages. This case demonstrates the utility of a borderland context, where identities…

Examines "linguistic normalization" (of Catalan in the Catalonia region of Spain) from a game-theory perspective, in which strategic interaction determines language shift. The linguistic assimilation of non-Catalan-speaking immigrants is less of a problem than is currently believed, although the conflict of interest among the…

Interviews with Catalan- or Castilian-speaking children of parents from each of those linguistic backgrounds found that there were fewer "mixed" families than previously suggested by research and that association with one dialect frequently depended on such diverse factors as type of school attended, neighborhood, and desire for social…