In the new European higher education space, Universities in Europe are exhorted to cultivate and develop multilingualism. The European Commission's 2004-2006 action plan for promoting language learning and diversity speaks of the need to build an environment which is favourable to languages. Yet reality indicates that it is English which reigns…

English has become important in the Pacific island nations for four reasons: the status of English as the official or unofficial national language of many Pacific island nations; the number of indigenous language varieties; the need for a lingua franca; and the need for a language for wider communication with the outside world for diplomatic and…

Argues that attempts to revive Chamorro, the indigenous language of Guam, need to be based on an examination of the English language aspirations and behavior of the Chamorro people and on the ideology of English as it has developed in the past several decades in Guam. (Author/CB)

Examines the history of language issues and educational policies in the Marshall Islands. Discussion focuses on the administrative, financial, curricular, and staffing features of current language and educational programs, and an immersion model of bilingual Marshallese-English education is proposed to counteract some of the negative outcomes of…

Tok Pisin, New Guinea Pidgin English, is becoming increasingly important as a "lingua franca" in Papua New Guinea, even though English is the country's official language. Urban versus rural and spoken versus written varieties of the pidgin are examined, and the influence of English on Tok Pisin is investigated. 73 references. (Author/CB)

Although English shares official language status with French in Vanuatu, enrollments in English-language schools have increased dramatically at the expense of French-medium schools. Bislama, an English-derived pidgin, has become a compromise language between the two colonial languages that have divided the country. (Author/CB)

Describes the European Union's LINGUA program promoting foreign language competence as the result of political agenda-setting and European integration, finds it a form of language planning. Analyzes the five program priorities and attention given to promotion of the least widely used and taught languages, particularly in relation to English.…

Gives an overview of the current status and usage of English in Albania, outlining the sociolinguistic context in which changes in usage have taken place. Evidence is presented of increasing contact areas of English and standard Albanian under the new, post-communist sociopolitical and economic circumstances. Attention is drawn to need for more…

Examines the status of English second language instruction in Dutch-speaking Flanders (Belgium), particularly as concerns these areas: education (teacher education, language certification, types and intensity of English courses, materials and methods); Flemish society and daily life; its image and the quality of its use; and status in competition…