The development of state/federal mandated curricula for schooling is a highly politicised process, and even more so for marginalised Indigenous groups who are simultaneously attempting to revitalise their traditional language and knowledge. An example of this is the ongoing struggles between the New Zealand State and Maori to develop curricula for…

The article studies minority language policy in the situation of an internal division within a speech community. It is based on the example of the Upper Sorbs -- a Slavic minority in Germany. The division within this community is based on language use, the level of assimilation and religion. The Catholic Upper Sorbs have maintained…

The present and future situation of the Celtic languages is intrinsically interesting. Two are moribund, while the other four possess varying degrees of strength and institutional support. From the weakest to the strongest, however, there are pressing concerns about stability and maintenance, to say nothing of possible revitalisation. All are…

This article examines some of the linguistic and ideological tensions resulting from language shift and subsequent revitalisation, using Breton as a case study. As a result of the opening up of ideological spaces in discourses on what it means to be a Breton speaker in the twenty-first century, the appearance of so-called "new" speakers…

Despite research evidence showing that home language maintenance is important both individually and societally, the task of managing and encouraging it has traditionally fallen to minority language communities and families, tending to lead to inter-generational language shift. Teachers' discourses about responsibilities for language maintenance,…

In response to globalisation, the United Arab Emirates has invested tremendous resources into their budding education system. Such investment has resulted in the increased use of a bilingual curriculum where Arabic and English are held in high regard. Unfortunately, such investment has not resulted in successful Arabic literacy among much of the…

In this article, we aim to explore the important role of future teachers in the revitalisation of minoritised languages. In the Spanish autonomous community of Galicia, language legislation stipulates that the minoritised language be supported in educational settings, yet this support has been weak at best, particularly for schools in urban areas.…

This paper looks at aspects of Maori language revitalisation since the passage of the Maori Language Act, 1987 which gave official status to the language. It is a sequel to an article on Maori language in education published in this journal the following year [Benton, R. A. (1988). "The Maori language in New Zealand education."…

The education system has played a crucial role in Welsh language maintenance, with Welsh-medium education providing a central locus of language transmission. However, language transmission through education is not without pitfalls. This paper discusses the impact of top-down minority language transmission and the growing issue of formal domain…

This article, part of a larger ethnographic study, examines how a family's affective ties to the country of origin and to relatives still residing there supported their Spanish language development and maintenance efforts in Vancouver, Canada. Drawing on data from participant observation and interviews, the article analyses the parents' diverse…

Hickey's (1991) article ["Leisure reading in a second language: An experiment with audio tapes." "Language, Culture and Curriculum," 4(2), 119-131. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07908319109525098] reported the benefits of audio-support for L2 reading of real books, showing gains in fluency and motivation among…

This paper examines issues related to the important impact of language policy in the Basque Country in recent decades. Basque, a minority language that was not allowed in the public space until the late 1970s, is an official language along with Spanish in the Basque Autonomous Community. The development of Basque has been most significant in…

The formulation of a languages-in-education policy (LEP) in Ireland illustrates some challenges at the macro- and micro-levels. A clamour for policy has reverberated through language education institutions in Ireland within the last decade. This paper explores and discusses: (1) the trajectory of an LEP in Ireland from initial formulation to…

Disparities emanating from South Africa's apartheid history still pose a number of challenges to the country, especially in education. Since the transition to democracy in 1994, the prescribed government school curriculum has undergone several revisions in an endeavour to set standards and provide instruction of a high quality. On the language…

This article provides a brief description of the linguistic features of African-American English (AAE) and reviews the positions that have been taken up about its role in American education, ranging from those in which AAE is seen as an obstacle to the education of black children to those in which it becomes a language that is different from…