Discusses the popularization of Putonghua, the common language of the People's Republic of China, and the creation and popularization of a national phonetic alphabet. These two issues are related by the fact that romanization is seen as an important vehicle for the popularization of Putonghua. (CLK)

Based on travel to the People's Republic of China, language changes and reform are reported. New meanings of old expressions and new expressions are listed and discussed. Language reform consists of: popularization of Putonghua, simplification of the characters, and romanization of the Chinese Language. (SW)

Reviews the history and development of the Pinyin grapheme system for the transcription of Chinese, and contrasts Pinyin graphemes with those of several other systems for Chinese. It is argued that Pinyin should be accepted as the standard system for Chinese transcription. (JL)

Development of Somali literacy through romanization and a government campaign is described, as well as the parts played by educational reforms, Somali language modernization and expansion, government involvement, use of the mass media, use of poetry as artistic expression, and recognition of orthography as a key element in learning. (Author/MSE)