Recent studies have projected that by the end of this century between half and up to 95% of the linguistic diversity in the world will disappear or become severely endangered. In the last four decades, the Latin American region, home to more than 500 Indigenous languages, has introduced intercultural bilingual education policies aimed at…

My study aimed to explore the phenomenon of the deterioration of culture and language in an indigenous population due to the establishment of large development projects. I focused on the historical displacement and forced relocation faced by the Nubian population in Egypt as an example. My study highlighted the role of women in preserving the…

Generally, the academic disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic (STEM) is viewed as a gender-specific field of study, dominated primarily by white males. Similarly, women, immigrant minorities, people of color, and Hispanics have been underrepresented in these fields. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to…

In the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) (Appendix A), a remote region in the south-eastern corner of Bangladesh, children from indigenous mountain tribes are among the country's most illiterate and at the highest risk of dropping out of school (UNDP, 2009). Their school achievement and completion rate fall disastrously short when compared to the…

This thesis evaluates the curricula implemented in four mother-tongue based multilingual education programs in the Philippines, Thailand, East Timor, and Cameroon. The method for conducting research in this thesis is based on the five principles to enhance learning presented by the World Bank and the prism model developed by Thomas and Collier.…

In China, little research has been done regarding literacy in the minority languages. The Nuosu people, a thriving minority ethnic group in China, are proud of their language and its script. However, most Nuosu do not use Nuosu script in their daily lives. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and explain Nuosu people's…

Do assimilationist restrictions on a minority language lead to greater national unity or a more rebellious minority population? Under what conditions might short-term backlash to language assimilation evolve into greater national unity in the long term? While much of the literature on ethnic politics implicitly treats language simply as an…

Language shift happens when a group of people stops using one language in favor of another, such that subsequent generations no longer acquire the original language. Research on the sociolinguistics of language shift has tended to focus on languages in advanced states of endangerment, where most or all children in the community have already…

This dissertation addresses the issue of Slovene/German bilingualism in the province of Carinthia in southeastern Austria. The study examines the relationship between learning Slovene in the home and the ability to speak good German later in life; it is based on research conducted in the bilingual community of Bad Eisenkappel (Eisenkappel) in…

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is one of the most ethnically diverse territories in China, with the Muslim Uyghurs forming the largest minority group. Given its importance in national unity, stability and economic development, as well as its strategic role in the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese government enacted policies to…

Quechua language education and research has long been relegated to rural areas and elementary schools of the Andes. Nonetheless, current language policy in the southern Peruvian region of Cusco has opened new opportunities for Quechua, a minoritized Indigenous language, to be taught in cities and towns and in high schools. In this sociolinguistic…

Despite the growing sophistication of digital technologies, it appears they are contributing to language extinction on a par with devastating losses in biodiversity. With language extinction comes loss of identity, inter-generational cohesion, culture, and a global wealth of knowledge to address future problems facing humanity. Linguists estimate…

This dissertation describes the segmental and prosodic phonology of Fataluku (IPA [fataluku], ISO 639-3 ddg), a highly underdocumented Papuan language in East Timor (island Southeast Asia). Fataluku is classified as a member of the Timor-Alor-Pantar language (TAP) family, which currently includes approximately 25 members spread across Timor and…

The study of language contact epitomizes the dynamics of language as a system of human communication. The competing linguistic forces at work when speakers of different language varieties come into contact can be narrowed down to two basic concepts--convergence and divergence. Looking at linguistic areas using a macro approach, languages in…

The objective of this dissertation is to present a preliminary grammatical account of Asheninka Perene an endangered Arawak language of Southeastern Peru. The description and analysis of the language is based on the 29-week field research conducted in an area of the Southwest Amazonian high jungle. Interesting issues of Asheninka Perene grammar…