On the island of Santa Cruz in the Solomon Islands, the Engdewu language is facing imminent language shift because of the increasing use of the lingua franca Solomon Islands Pijin in the community. In this article, I argue that this language shift is occurring because of changes to the social structure in Baemawz, one of the villages where Engdewu…

Transnational and multilingual families have become commonplace in the twenty-first century. Yet relatively few attempts have been made from applied and socio-linguistic perspectives to understand what is going on "within" such families; how their transnational and multilingual experiences impact on the family dynamics and their everyday…

This study covers two issues: (1) the language shift process relating to two highly endangered aboriginal languages of Taiwan and (2) the correlations between some variables and their language shift. Both Kanakanavu and Saaroa peoples underwent two waves of migration: (1) a massive in-migration of another Formosan ethnic group (Bunun people) in…

The Belfast Agreement (1998) contains a clause on respect and tolerance for linguistic diversity in Northern Ireland (NI). It is unsurprising that this clause was included given the role of Irish--and Ulster Scots--in identity politics in the region. The call for respect for NI's languages can therefore be seen as a type of conflict management.…

Based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out in Toronto, Ontario, this article examines the schooling behaviour of parents who have migrated from France to Canada. The population under study, engaged in a "northern" kind of migration, generally benefits from an education acquired in the pre-migration period and from the legitimacy of…