Explores the problems and procedures of producing test norms for bilingual populations. The difficulty encountered in defining subpopulations for separate test norm production and empirical classification is considered, and four practical solutions are detailed: school classification, person classification, test score classification, and language…

Provides information on the educational system in the Basque Country and insight into the Basque Country and Basque language and the reverse language shift efforts made to date. Suggests that the effects of bilingualism and immersion programs are beneficial in the Basque context. (Author/VWL)

Drawing on sociolinguistic research, points out that some patterns of socially appropriate language use in Indonesia actually involve Indonesian only to the extent that those interacting wish to maintain social distance, while regional languages are used to promote closer social ties. Suggests Indonesian programs require some rethinking in view of…

Reports on a large-scale longitudinal study into the development of language proficiency of Dutch primary school children aged 7-10. Data on language proficiency and a range of background variables were analyzed. Results suggest that while immigrant children develop their language skill in Dutch considerably over 2 years, they are nonetheless…

Discusses an attempt to establish a Dakota-language immersion preschool on an Indian reservation in Minnesota. Outlines the historical experience of the Dakota and contrasts the educational success of the preschool program. Describes the final crisis that led to the resignation of the director and to the program's demise. (Author/VWL)

Focuses on issues raised in the late 1990's by the debate about the second major piece of language legislation in Catalonia. Catalonia is a region where devolution and language policies in favor of regional language may have reached limits that are not so much imposed by the national state as by demographic developments within Catalonia itself and…

Suggests that in light of the state of many of the minority languages within the European Union, there are numerous policy imperatives and implications that needs to be addressed in relation to further development of European language policy. Outlines briefly what these might involve by highlighting key principles and discussing these from a…

Examines language use and language preference of children aged 6 to 15 and their parents at the University of Botswana. Results indicate that the majority of the children speak Setswana and English, despite the fact that they come from different language groups. Language preferences of children differ from that of parents. Shows the growth of…

Determined language proficiency among multilingual Indo-Fijian primary school children who have the languages, Fiji-Hindi, Standard Hindi, Urdu, English, Fijian, and Fijian English in their speech repertoire. Identifies the variables that affect multilingual proficiency in this group and determines whether classroom practice reflects educational…

Analyzes the official (Kuomintang) language policy in Taiwan, which had exalted Mandarin and suppressed other local languages, and the efforts during the last decade to revive Tai-yu, a major language in the post-war period. The dynamics of the Tai-yu language movement reveal a pressing problem facing Taiwan: how to balance national cohesion with…

Examines the provision of Catalan and the use of Catalan as a medium of instruction in Catalonia's education system at all levels. A discussion focuses on whether resources and the support from the community are sufficient, and whether the policy favors Catalan aggressively enough to prevent Castilian remaining always the dominant partner. (22…

Assessed and compared the development of receptive and productive Dutch and Turkish vocabulary of 31 Turkish immigrant preschool children. Using multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measurements, main and interaction effects of group (Turkish, Dutch working class, and Dutch middle class) and time were tested. Results are interpreted…

Offers a typology of bilingual education in Malaysia, identifying four main types of transfer varieties (initial transfer, retransfer, circular transfer, and gradual transfer) of bilingual education and presenting an overview of bilingual education choices in Malaysia's public schools. (Author/CB)

Brings together the Census data from 1891 to 1991 on the numbers of Irish, Manx, Scottish Gaelic and Welsh speakers in all part of the British Isles, with the exception of England. Concentrates on changes in the age structure of the Celtic-language-speaking populations as well as on the percentage of people speaking the language. (Author/JL)

Examined the effect of cross-cultural awareness training and explicit linguistic instruction on attitudes towards and comprehension of foreign-accented speech in three groups of students. Listening comprehension passages read in Vietnamese-accented speech before and after an 8-week instruction period revealed no cross-group differences. Attitude…