Places the activities of the National Setswana Language Council, a language-planning body in Botswana, into the current language-planning theory in order to understand language-planning problems in the Council. A brief theoretical framework is presented; a description of the origins, objectives, and language-planning problems of the Council are…

Since 1977, businesses in Quebec have been required to use French as their normal working language, and a process of "francization" has been initiated. Progress has been slowed by resistance from businesses, political hesitation, and bureaucracy. The Quebec case suggests that flexible implementation is necessary for a successful, working…

Under the 1986 Immigration Reform Act, illegal aliens could fulfill English, history, and civics knowledge requirements by attending instructional programs. Because the goal was to grant these aliens residency before foreign nationals applying under other programs, not to help individuals achieve English competency, the language policy has been…

Examines language planning and development in Suriname in reference to a Caribbean-wide phenomenon arising from movements of cultural nationalism in the region after the Second World War. During this period, people throughout the Caribbean began to question local supremacy of European languages and cultures and denigration of creole language and…

Argues that economic development as well as the lack of technical terms in Gaelic and decline in use of Gaelic in the home may adversely affect the language of a given area. Reports on a survey into the linguistic impact of three industrial enterprises in Western Ireland. (SED)

Discusses sign language use in South Africa and the deaf as an oppressed community. The following issues are addressed: language planning and sign language, the role of sign language as the vernacular of an oppressed linguistic community, and the implications of sign language for other cultural and social issues that divide South African society.…

Examination of a case of artificial language boundaries (Guere versus Wobe) supports arguments for a monolingual nucleus with multilingual satellites in the Ivory Coast. The Ivory Coast's multiple languages exaggerate linguistic heterogeneity. Integrating language attitude data into language classification could aid the language planning and…

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 the language policy of the East India Company and the first governor-general who attempted to govern by understanding Indian people, language, and culture. At first, the company's policies helped disseminate Indian vernaculars, but later English-language education reversed this trend. (Author/JL)

A comprehensive phraseological study of Esperanto, based on detailed test analyses, participant observation and surveys, reveals both similarities and differences in comparison to ethnic or national languages. Relatively high level of metalinguistic consciousness and creativity were observed, coupled with widely differing attitudes towards the…

Focuses on the communicative approach in plurilingual settings and analyzes data from Indian English in the light of the speaker/listener, the task, the context, and other negotiating factors that regulate speech in everyday life. Identifies the complementarity of grassroots English with other Indian languages and its emergence as one of the vital…

In the Ivory Coast, the official standard French has not been established as the language of the masses and is threatened by Dyula and a Popular French, two lingua francas that have potential as national languages even though the populations do not seem supportive of new language policy. (Author/MSE)

Evaluates the Turkish language reform in a language planning framework, showing the sociocultural, political, and linguistic reasons leading to this movement and describing the processes and the outcome of this undertaking, which changed the Turkish language and shaped its subsequent development. Special emphasis is given to the process of corpus…

Analyzes the major linguistic and sociopolitical factors responsible for the underdevelopment of written languages based on non-Mandarin dialects. Explores language planning efforts in Taiwan to standardize a written language based upon the local dominant dialect. Argues that the social and political costs of the success of dialect writings may be…

Examines creativity in Indian English and Singapore English. Highlights the differences between linguistic creativity and literary creativity in the two varieties and suggests that language planning policy and practice in the two countries are responsible for the differences found there. Implications for language planning are explored. (27…