In the immediate aftermath of Indian Independence in 1947, there was a palpable attempt to replace English with Hindi and other Indian languages to unleash the processes of decolonisation. English was castigated as the language of the British Empire and was seen to be the basis of power and privilege for a handful of English-educated elites. A new…

Pahari speakers form one of the largest ethnic non-European diasporas in Britain. Despite their size and over 60 years of settlement on British shores, the diaspora is shrouded by confusion regarding official and unofficial categorisations, remaining largely misunderstood as a collective with a shared ethnolinguistic memory. This has had…

August 21, 2009, marks the 50th anniversary of the entry of the 50th state into the United States of America. All the states have their stories, but as a string of islands in the vast Pacific Ocean, more than 2,000 miles from any other land mass, Hawai'i has a story that is unique in many ways. Consider, for example, that Hawai'i has two official…

The Han sphere, including Vietnam, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China, adopted Han characters and classical Han writing as the official written language before the 20th century. However, great changes came with the advent of the 20th century. After World War II, Han characters in Vietnam and Korea were officially replaced by the romanised "Chu…

The Canadian Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism raises questions about a social situation which involves claims to special status, principally in school curricula, for a number of languages spoken by Canadian subpopulations. This paper examines the specific circumstances and expression of these claims to the Commission. (Author)

Analyzes the issues at stake in the debate over official language legislation in the United States, focusing on the agenda of U.S. ENGLISH, an organization promoting the legislation of English as the official language of the United States. The article argues that restricting language rights can lead to social segregation and that people speak…

A theoretical framework for conceptualizing different kinds of language rights and for construing the nature of the tension between them is discussed. Differences between individual and communal language rights are examined, and the latter are suggested to have sound moral foundations. Examples are drawn from Canada. (19 references) (Author/LB)

A controversial April 1991 proclamation made Spanish the sole official language of Puerto Rico, replacing a 1902 law declaring English and Spanish as the languages of government. This paper discusses the emotional debate and suggests that the law resulted from a powerful group opposed to U.S. statehood. (27 references) (Author/LB)

It is argued that African countries need both local and foreign languages and that the roles of these languages are complementary. An African language can become official and national, and a medium of instruction; the choice is determined by political and socioeconomic factors. (21 references) (Author/LB)

In science and in all other domains that require communication across borders, we need one lingua franca, and this lingua franca will be English. The adoption of the native language of some as everyone's lingua franca unavoidably raises a problem of justice in various senses. One of these is cooperative justice, the fair distribution of the cost…

Explores the moral and political issues involved in the concept of language rights. Examines language diversity as well as insights into the relationship among language, human existence, and culture; elaborates the concept of language rights; and discusses the moral and political philosophy of language rights. (34 references) (Author/CK)

Focuses on an exploration of an alternative space adjacent to postmodernist work in language rights. There are numerous different positions on language rights. Extends a politicized version of language rights that proposes that these rights are subordinate to the structure of power and domination and that language policy is a form of covert state…

Discusses accounts of events and pressures influencing the British government's Welsh Office to set up the "Council for the Welsh Language," and reviews the council's composition, tasks, and achievements. Findings indicate that the council was even-handed in its promotion of activities to support Welsh and satisfied the middle ground of…

Focuses on the question of how language rights can be subjected to legal provisions. Argues that, because language has social and individual aspects, working out solutions for specific situations is more important than universal principles. Argues against the idea that languages are objects deserving of legal protection. (14 references) (Author/CK)

Debates about language and literacy in Uganda were renewed with publication in 1992 of a government white paper. Most likely this paper will conclude that the English language will continue to command the highest profile at the national level, with the local languages struggling, with diverse levels of success, to follow suit. (Contains 13…