A model of language vitality is proposed that is a function of preferences for language choice, percentage of language-minority speakers, and the expectations-based adjustment to the observed change in language vitality. It shows that long-term survival with low demolinguistic figures is possible and suggests policy guidelines for reversing…

Argues that in Europe over several centuries, the relationship between democracy and language policy in multilingual countries has been complex, noting that Catalan has thrived in democratic periods where devolution has advanced, and the causes of most problems facing Catalan are nonlinguistic. The paper examines language and democracy, language…

Examines factors influencing language maintenance among secondary school students of Vietnamese ethnic background. Students' Vietnamese language ability and frequency of Vietnamese language use were evaluated and correlated with demographic, cultural, social, and attitudinal factors. Length of residence in Australia was more influential in…

The purpose of this study, which is based on a survey of 116 Hispanic organizations in the United States, is threefold: (1) to explore the organizational background characteristics that might distinguish linguistically retentive from non-retentive organizations; (2) to determine whether there is any differential/ non-differential interest in…

The book contains eight papers originally presented at a University of Chicago conference on October 27-28, 1978, to discuss the socio-political consequences of different policies toward the Spanish language in the United States. Each pair of papers is followed by the remarks of the official discussants. The papers and their authors are:…

A broad-bases study of the ways in which Hispanics in the United States are dealing with the English language is presented. The report analyzes the latest reliable language data collected by the U.S. census, including the 1980 national census, and finds a steady shift in language usage from Spanish to English among immigrants and native-born…

A survey of the status of language usage in Somalia begins with an overview of the usage patterns of Somali, the official language, and three languages previously used officially: English, Italian, and Arabic. The cultural context that for many years has supported the usage of a single native language for communication and administration is also…

The last in a series of reports on nine prominent foreign languages in Australia reviews the status of Spanish, particularly as it concerns public policy and second language teaching. The first chapter describes the research and survey methodologies that are the basis for this report. Subsequent chapters summarize the results and draw conclusions.…