The medium of instruction (MOI) has been a contested issue in multilingual polities globally, as English medium of instruction (EMI) has seen unprecedented growth, threatening the use and sometimes very survival of local/indigenous and even national languages. While the struggles to address related issues have been well researched, how and why…

This article offers a grounded view of language shift as experienced by Native American youth across a range of early- to late-shift settings. Drawing on data from a long-term ethnographic study, we demonstrate that the linguistic ecologies in which youth language choices play out are more complex than a unidirectional notion of shift might…

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…

A paradox is discussed that underlies the aims of linguists who attempt to influence, deliberately and systematically, the linguistic behavior of a community, while trying to avoid charges of prescriptivism. A balance between promoting feasible economic units and preserving linguistic diversity is advocated. (57 references) (Author/LB)

A study was conducted in Ireland of the mechanisms of linguistic change and the effects of a politics of linguistic irredentism on the language behavior of the population. The objectives of the study were: (1) to discover the nature and the importance of people's attitudes toward the Irish language and its restoration, and (2) to ascertain the…

Fundamental issues in language policy and planning are discussed: language death, language survival, language change, language revival, language shift and expansion, language contact and pidginization or creolization, and literacy development. (Contains 21 references.) (LB)

Starting from the perspective that bilingualism is an asset, the book describes approaches and strategies for schools to adopt that support and develop the skills of bilingual learners. A theoretical framework and research on which it is based are outlined, and suggestions are made for classroom strategies and procedures. The first chapter…

A survey of the status of language usage in Malawi begins with an overview of the distribution and usage of English (the official language) and the native Bantu languages: Chichewa or Nyanja (Chinyanja), the language used by half the population; and three other Bantu languages also used there--Lomwe, Yao, and Tumbuka. The social situation favoring…

This report is the first in a series of four intended to study language attitudes and language maintenance among whites in the Republic of South Africa. The series is based on data provided by a large-scale survey conducted during 1973-1974. The present report deals with attitudes toward English and Afrikaans as official languages, about…