Inspired by Joshua Fishman's lifetime dedication to the revitalisation of minority languages, especially Yiddish, this paper presents my personal story of the loss of the Maori language in my family in New Zealand/Aotearoa and our attempts to reverse this decline over several generations. The paper includes a description of several policy reforms…

As a language, Irish is unique to Ireland and is, therefore, of crucial importance to the identity of the Irish people, to Irish culture and to world heritage. The Irish language however has had a turbulent and traumatic history and has endured a complex and varied relationship with the Irish people. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State,…

Greater China is used in this article to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Macao. While a holistic approach is adopted to present and compare the rapid spread of English and development in English language education in these geographically close, and sociopolitically, culturally and economically interrelated but hugely…

Discusses the Hawaiian-language-revitalization effort, which is the most developed of any indigenous-language revitalization in the United States. During the last 15 years, Hawaiian-language revitalization has centered around establishing indigenous-medium/immersion education and implementing the official status of the language of Hawaii.…

This paper examines the evidence on negative effects associated with Irish immersion programs and concludes that even in earlier immersion schools, which frequently lacked parental support, there is little evidence of detrimental academic effects. Many Irish immersion teachers emphasized the importance of parental commitment to immersion…

Considers the pedagogical validity of English immersion education in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Melanesian countries of the South Pacific. Questions the appropriateness of implementing a policy of English language immersion education in a postcolonial, multilingual Third World context where support for first language maintenance and second…

The basic language issues in Canada are two-fold: (1) French-Canadians are making serious attempts to maintain their native language and culture, and a move towards French unilingualism is apparent; (2) English-Canadians are showing increasing interest in becoming bilingual, mainly because they are not threatened by native language loss or by…

Papahana Kaiapuni is a K-12 indigenous language immersion program in selected public schools in the State of Hawai'i. Instruction in Kaiapuni classrooms is conducted in the Hawaiian language. Program goals include students' development of a high level of proficiency in both Hawaiian and English. For nearly a century, policy banning the Hawaiian…

This publication provides information on programs of study in Canada under the following headings: (1) the language of the minority group (French in nine of the provinces, English in Quebec) as a subject of study, showing grade enrollments and participation rates; (2) the language of the minority qroup as a first language (designed for French…

Documents opinions of educators in Quebec, Canada, on Bill 101, which made French the official language of instruction in the province. Describes educational situations, practices, and programs that pertain to language and to education for Protestants, Catholics, other religious groups, minority groups, and the disadvantaged. (MJL)

Current educational research and possible directions for the improvement of second language education in schools are discussed in the light of current Canadian political and economic influences. The Ontario Ministry of Education has proposed three levels of proficiency in French as reasonable objectives to be achieved by secondary schools in their…