Globalization presents Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with opportunities for economic growth and transformation, as many of these nations face economic challenges such as the need for a diversified knowledge-based economy because of the finite resource of hydrocarbons. This requires the development of human capital providing workers with…

This paper examines the language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman with emphasis on the planning of Arabic, English, French and German, and their choice and spread in serving different interests and purposes. The paper explores the historical, social, political, and ideological processes and complexities of the language policy and…

The present paper analyzes the challenges of literacy development in cases of classical diglossia and bilingualism. The main argument is that the diverse levels of proficiency in the varieties present in a given linguistic market have implications for and are shaped by processes of literacy development, feelings of linguistic insecurity, and the…

This paper examines educational practices in Spain and in particular Madrid. With this contextual frame as the starting point the following issues are discussed: the "official" conceptualization of cultural diversity, educational policies and resolutions related to cultural diversity, and school programs and resources facilitated by…

In light of a growing body of research on language death, this paper examines the situation of Judeo-Arabic, an ethnolect of Jews from Arabic-speaking countries with various written and spoken forms. More specifically, the fate of the Iraqi variety of Judeo-Arabic is discussed, particularly in the context of Montreal, Canada. Educational…

In this paper we examine the language situation among the Gypsies of Jordan within the framework of previous theories on language maintenance and shift as proposed by Le Page, Fishman, Dorian and Kelman. The study investigates language and cultural maintenance among the Gypsies of Jordan to permit comparison of the relative influences of various…

This paper compares two sets of data from the same year, 2001--the numbers of students taking languages other than English at primary and secondary level, and census statistics for the home use of languages other than English. The data draws attention to languages that are taught principally in day schools and those taken mainly in after hours…