Traces the history of Africans in Mexico and the Costa Chica and compares elements of the regional speech as described in a 1958 study with data collected on-site in 1991-1992. Findings indicate that the successful introduction of public education coupled with the ubiquity of the mass media have reduced or eliminated the more distinctively…

Evaluates the past performance of the tradition of language planning, in view of a theoretical, conceptual, and methodological improvement of future language planning studies. Sketches the historical development of these studies, discusses ideological features present in much traditional language planning work, and raises various issues related to…

Controversy lingers regarding the name of the language spoken in the Spanish autonomous province of Valencia. Although the variety of Catalan spoken there has long been called both "Catalan" and "Valencian," recent controversy has become bitter and often surrounded by violence. Despite the debate, the language is in danger of…