The article presents a comparative analysis of the subjective vitalities (SVs) of the minority groups of Latvia (Russian-speakers), Lithuania (Russian-speakers and Poles) and Mari El (Maris) in the Russian Federation, with a particular focus on the Mari case. The same extended version of the SV questionnaire was used in quantitative surveys in all…

This article discusses the usage of the Spanish language by Hispanic mothers with their children, their views on language maintenance and culture within their bilingual families and their opinions on the benefits of bilingualism in a globalised world. Drawing upon detailed case studies of 16 native Spanish-speaking mothers married to…

The transition to student-centred learning, advances in teleconferencing tools, and active international student exchange programmes have stimulated tandem learning in many parts of the world. This pedagogical model is based on a mutual language exchange between tandem partners, where each student is a native speaker in the language the…

Educational sojourns abroad are not only increasingly popular; it is also believed that they have many positive outcomes for students. The transformative potential of a study sojourn abroad has been claimed in linguistic and broader intercultural terms (e.g. Brown [2009] "The Transformative Power of the International Sojourn: An Ethnographic…

The focus of this paper is on the relationship between Albanian speakers' ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) perceptions and their language maintenance, language use and choice patterns. A subjective EV questionnaire, and a language usage questionnaire capturing domain-specific language use was completed by 200 Albanian immigrants of first and second…

This paper is based on research conducted in banks in the international banking centre of Luxembourg. Operating in the globalised context of international banking and multilingual Luxembourg, financial institutions are an ideal focal point for investigating policy and practices in complex multilingual and transnational work spaces. Two theoretical…

First-generation Bangladeshi grandparents in the UK have consciously taken on the role of maintaining the linguistic and cultural identity of their grandchildren. Through their life experiences, they have built up "funds of knowledge" and skills that they are able to use to promote learning using strategies that are personalised and…

Through observation, questionnaires and, particularly, ethnographic interviews with parents, pupils, teachers and community organisers associated with a Yemeni complementary school, this paper develops a portrait of language repertoires, practices and preferences in a Yemeni diasporic community in a northern English city. Also investigated are the…

Having been the scene of language planning for more than a century in relation to the two competing written standards of Norwegian, Norwegian language planners are now facing a new challenge: how to deal with what has been termed "domain loss" where Norwegian is perceived as losing out to English in important sectors of society,…

Seventy-eight native English speakers rated the foreign-accented speech (FAS) of 24 international students enrolled in an Intensive English programme at a public university in Texas on degree of accent, comprehensibility and communicative ability. Variables considered to potentially impact listeners' ratings were the sex of the speaker, the first…

Surveys 320 Japanese families residing temporarily in the United Kingdom about their language use and language needs and the priorities they attach to their children's learning of English and Japanese. Examines English and Japanese in the children's linguistic environment, including language used with parents, siblings, and care givers;…