The unstable linguistic situation in Algeria resulting from official "normalization" in a country in which French has strong colonial roots is discussed, as well as its effects on the status of French instruction. (MSE)

Language choice (LC) for literacy must consider mother tongue, language of first sight, local lingua francas, and any readily accessible world language. Common but false assumptions regarding LC are noted: multilingualism as a barrier to development, the necessity of a world language, and the permanance of language patterns. (Contains four…

Suggests that Haitian Creole is subject to decreolization, characterized by movement toward French forms. Linguistic conflict and ambivalence on the part of both the bilingual elite and monolingual creole-speaking masses are held responsible. Opposing trends in language standardization and their implications for education are discussed.…

Sociolinguistic data are presented in the form of sophisticated maps and tables in this pioneering study on the status of the Basque language. Based on information collected from the 1986 census, the major demographic characteristics of Basque are examined in order to ascertain the factors and processes that have contributed to its current status.…

Drawing from the study of efforts to revitalize Quichua in the Southern Ecuadorian Highlands, this article describes what may be some of the common language corpus and language status transformations that threatened languages undergo during the process of language revitalization. (Author/VWL)

This plenary opening address on cultural and language rights emphasizes both the opportunities and constraints facing selected European minorities in their struggle both to reproduce their culture and to have their efforts recognized as a permanent, legitimate, and democratic contribution to modern society. The central thesis is that although the…

Revitalization of the Nishinaabeg language started in 1998 with the development of language materials. A committee on Nishinaabemwin orthography advised on the development of the text and writing system. Teaching methods follow the four parts of Medicine Wheel teachings: spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental. An interactive hockey game and a…

It took 25 years to develop and arrive at a consensus for a standard orthography for the language of the Innu, or Montagnais, who live in Quebec and Labrador. The principal obstacle to standardization came from dialect diversity. An effort at standardizing the spelling system in the 1970s failed because speakers were not ready to let go of the…

A Federal Government Policy in Nigeria aimed at unifying the country through the use of three major languages (Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo) has been inhibited because there are no teachers. Resistance from speakers of other languages to the enforced learning of one of the major languages also seems likely. Maintenance of English is suggested as the…

The Indo-Fijian settlers, who speak Fiji Hindi, a preliterate language, migrated to New Zealand following the 1987 Fiji military coup. This article looks at the maintenance of Fiji Hindi among teenage Indi-Fijian immigrants and the factors contributing to a shift from Fiji Hindi to the use of English in all domains. (40 references) (LR)

The discussion of corpus planning for the Southern Quechua language variety of Peru examines issues of graphization, standardization, modernization, and renovation of Quechua in the face of increasing domination by the Spanish language. The efforts of three major groups of linguists and other scholars working on language planning in Peru, and the…

The Aboriginal Language Standardisation (ALS) Project's task is to develop quality literacy materials in order to help preserve aboriginal languages of Canada. The Canadian Assembly of First Nations, a group of tribal leaders, recently called for the establishment of standards for written and oral languages by approving terminology, developing…

A survey of the status of language usage in Tunisia begins with an overview of patterns of usage of Arabic, the official language, and its many dialects and forms, and French, spoken as a second language by half the population. A recent, official movement toward Arabization in official and other formal communication is outlined and the popular…

A survey of the status of language usage in Lebanon begins with an overview of the status and usage of Arabic, the official language, and three languages that are much less commonly used as native languages but are commercially and administratively significant: French, English, and Armenian. A matrix follows that rates these four languages on: (1)…

A survey of the status of language usage in Iran begins with an overview of the usage pattern of Persian, the official language spoken by just over half the population, and the competing languages of six ethnic and linguistic minorities: Azerbaijani, Kurdish, Arabic, Gilaki, Luri-Bakhtiari, and Mazandarani. The development of language policy…