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 dissertation investigates a typologically rare linguistic phenomenon found in Irish from three different perspectives: how it challenges phonological theory, how it is used by contemporary speakers, and how its written representation affects its acquisition. Initial consonant mutation (ICM), as it appears in the Celtic languages, is known to…

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…

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…