Discussion of language planning focuses on a study that addressed the effects of the introduction of Portuguese as the official language by the newly independent government of Mozambique on a target audience that spoke eight various other languages. Relationships between national language policies and popular language usage are discussed. (37…

This volume is a selection of papers prepared for a conference on sociolinguistically oriented language surveys organized by the Center for Applied Linguistics and held in New York in September 1971. The purpose of the conference was to review the role and function of such language surveys in the light of surveys conducted in recent years. The…

Following its independence from France in 1956, Morocco declared Arabic its official language. Successive policies of Arabization have been devised with the aim of ultimately converting French language domains into Arabic ones. However, there are two kinds of problems with the way the Moroccan language situation has been described and analyzed for…

English is spreading throughout the world far more rapidly than any other language; however, the level of sentimental attachment or genuine liking for English falls far short of the level of necessity-based desire to learn it. There is a possibility that the spread of English is decreasing: given some rapid economic or military change around the…

The historical background and the current status of Swahili in Kenya and Tanzania, where it is designated as the national language, and in Uganda, where it has assumed a less prominent role, are described. Major factors contributing to the selection of national languages in the region are presented. The ways both linguistic and sociopolitical…

Modern Ethiopia has made progress that has altered the status and functions of its various languages. With modernization, the reasons for and means of interethnic contact have multiplied, creating the need for a common language. Amharic, once confined to a rather small area, has spread geographically and grown in status in the last thousand years,…

Analysis of the language policy in Kenya, including consideration of language in education, language of the press, and the politics of language, suggests that language policies cannot be successfully formulated without analysis of and extensive debate among those groups and complex social processes whose interests are reflected in specific…

This profile, in outline form, of the English language teaching situation in the Gambia discusses the role of English within Gambian society and within the educational system. The status of English as the only official language is noted, and its use as medium of instruction at the primary, secondary and teacher-training levels is examined. The…

Shows the acute dilemma facing a country with a widely spoken indigenous language, Kiswahili, in circumstances where a foreign language, English, has become the de facto language of instruction. Discusses the background of this policy and suggests an alternative, bilingual policy that gives equal weight to Kiswahili and English. (MJP)

The extent to which the language planning that has been pursued in many localities and in many periods has been guided by nationalism, that is, by "...the social movements, attitudes, and ideologies which characterize the behavior of nationalities engaged in the struggle to achieve, maintain or enhance their position in the world" (Wirth 1936) is…

Since independence, the government of Botswana has allowed only the use of English in government circles, excluding the other 26 languages represented in the country and allowing only limited use of the national language, Setswana. Since 1995, however, restrictions have been relaxed and non-government organizations are developing the use of other…

Acute intercultural communication problems posed by multilingualism in Papua New Guinea are discussed, and ways in which they are being addressed are examined. An introductory section outlines the language situation in Melanesia. It is noted that the area's language diversity and colonization and missionary activity have resulted in the emergence…