This article investigates 90 Shanghainese participants' cross-generational use and knowledge of 140 English loanwords in Shanghainese which are deemed as an important part of Shanghai Regional Culture (SRC). The quantitative results reveal that the older participants use and know much more of English loanwords than the younger ones, and that many…

Histories of colonization conjointly with the current economic global climate have enabled English to become a dominant global language. The desire for citizens to attain English language proficiency on a nation-wide level is a common pursuit in developing countries, including the island nations of the South Pacific where English competency is…

On the French Guiana-Suriname border, a hybrid space, members of the same population groups engage in circular mobility but little is known about the practices of these transnational communities. We explore how traditional emic social distinctions, modern states' language ideologies and emerging discourses in the urban context shape Maroon's…

Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European…

This paper explores the implications of new patterns of migration (temporary, circular) for national and regional language policies in officially bilingual areas. Contrasting urban and rural sites in the UK (Wales), Spain (Valencia) and Switzerland (Grisons), it examines the dominant discourses regarding "national" (both in the formal…

Although Germany has experienced net in-migration for the past five decades, this fact has only recently been officially acknowledged. Furthermore, Germany is marked by a general monolingual self-concept very much attached to the idea of a nation-state with one homogeneous language. However, in large urban areas of Germany about 35 per cent of the…

My main contention in this article is that the nation-state paradigm for policies targeted at effecting development in sub-Saharan Africa is undermined by arbitrary colonial boundaries and porous borders and the challenges of transnationalism as part of the globalization phenomenon in late modernity. The nation-state paradigm is also the framework…

The report explores the situation of francophone minorities in Canada and outside Quebec, focusing on the concepts of assimilation and community vitality in language-minority communities. Chapter 1 looks at the concepts of assimilation and community vitality both in Canada and internationally. Chapter 2 gives a broad description of the policy…

The languages used in Madagascar are examined from the following perspectives: the linguistic varieties and functions socially recognized at the community level; the oppositions and complementarities that have become established between languages in contact; and the speakers' attitudes toward those varieties. The report focuses on the following…

The consequences of migration for the position of the Frisian language in the Netherlands are analyzed. An annual model is presented that can estimate the effect of extraprovincial migration on the number of people speaking Frisian at home. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/LB)

Describes a study of the economics of language competence in Switzerland and the efficacy of education systems undertaken to develop guidelines for language policy. This study was mandated by such issues as the reassertion of local identities, unprecedented migration flows, the emergence of the European Union, and the intensification of…

An analysis of the geographic distribution of native languages in Canada's provinces gives an overview of the distribution of three native speaker groups: English, French, and all other languages combined. The study gives particular emphasis to changes or trends appearing between 1971 and 1981, with 1971 data used as a baseline. A language…

This paper presents a historical commentary on some of the literature on the language predicament--and especially the kind of bilingual community--found in the Irish Gaeltacht. The Gaeltacht communities in Ireland constitute a residual minority of what was, until recent times, the major linguistic group on the island. Conquest and colonization…

This examination of the sociology of language in Canada focuses on the social or societal aspects of the relationship between languages and society rather than on linguistic aspects. The study is developed in seven sections: (1) an introductory discussion of language and communication systems, language acquisition, messages, and language…

Linguistic diversity in the Nordic countries has several dimensions. One main division is between what the majority group thinks it is about versus what the minority group thinks it is about. This paper examines the situation in Finland and Sweden, noting implications for linguistic diversity. Finland and Sweden contain five main varieties of…