In this paper, we present Singapore's language policy as a case of flexible responsiveness to demographic and societal shifts as a result of high migration. The particular need to accommodate the enhanced linguistic diversity among the linguistically heterogeneous Indians, previously served by Tamil, has led to the "semiofficial"…

Two social roles for language have been distinguished by Edwards--the communicative and the symbolic. Using data from a survey of public attitudes to Gaelic in Scotland, the article investigates the extent to which people's view of language may be characterised as relating to these roles. Respondents were grouped, using statistical cluster…

Focuses on issues raised in the late 1990's by the debate about the second major piece of language legislation in Catalonia. Catalonia is a region where devolution and language policies in favor of regional language may have reached limits that are not so much imposed by the national state as by demographic developments within Catalonia itself and…

This collection includes the following essays on language and politics in North America: "Respecting the Citizens: Reflections on Language Policy in Canada and the United States" (Colin H. Williams); "The Politics of Language in Canada and the United States: Explaining the Differences" (Ronald Schmidt, Sr.); "Demographic…