This book sheds light on the role of mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE) as a means to enhance educational outcomes, creating a space for non-dominant languages alongside more dominant regional, national and international languages. It brings together a number of underlying concerns including the maintenance of non-dominant…

During the Spanish regimen, Puerto Rican education was limited and restricted to Spanish language as the medium of instruction. It was not until the U.S. colonization of the island that public education was introduced. As a result, English replaced Spanish as medium of instruction in the new educational system. Immediately after, Puerto Rican…

Spanish-speaking parents choose to enroll their children in either an English only or English-Spanish dual immersion program when presented with both choices. This ethnographic study explored parent's perceptions of the purpose, advantages, and disadvantages of learning in school in English only or in a dual English-Spanish. Through focus group…

During the past two decades, field linguists have expressed serious concerns over the unprecedented rapid loss of "indigenous languages", the endangerment of many others, and the implications of these processes for the education and economic development of "indigenous populations", among other matters. The book to which this article responds is a…

Background: An important issue in the discourse on language rights is the degree to which they influence the development and implementation of language policies or perpetuate inequalities in many language situations. Skutnabb-Kangas (1996, 2002a, 2002b) and May (2000), for example, have argued that language rights offer a reasonable framework for…

This article considers instances of biliterate educational practice in contexts of indigenous language revitalization involving Quechua in the South American Andes, Guarani in Paraguay, and Maori in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In these indigenous contexts of sociohistorical and sociolinguistic oppression, the implementation of multilingual language…

Patterns of French acquisition, use, and proficiency among Ontario anglophones are examined, and their implications for changes in both French native language instruction and French second language instruction to support the maintenance and use of French are examined. (MSE)

Argues against bilingual education in the United States, asserting that the English language binds together a multicultural people. Claims that the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 is divisive, and that immigrants now have greater difficulty assimilating to American life because they can avoid learning English. (MM)

A study investigated factors in Chinese language maintenance among balanced and pseudo-bilinguals who are second-generation Chinese-Americans. Subjects were 12 fifth-grade students in a Chinese-language school; half were balanced bilinguals (proficient in both languages) and half were pseudo-bilinguals (those in whom skills are more developed in…

Summarizes the results of a survey documenting language use among the rural and urban populations, educational levels, occupations, and ethnic groups of Kazakhstan. Reveals that efforts to promote Kazakh over Russian have largely failed. Includes a wealth of statistical information on groups and activities within Kazakhstan. (MJP)

Addresses the issue of language use by German bilingual pupils in a German minority school in South Jutland (Denmark). Fieldwork indicates that pupils experience difficulty with respect to competence in acquisition of standard Danish. Suggests application of model based upon English "Language Awareness" program as potential solution for…

In a question-and-answer format, the guide responds to common queries about bilingualism in children. The first section poses and answers questions about family issues and bilingualism, including family communication, support of language development, cultural and social context for language development, social integration, and parent language…

This book examines the impact of English in countries in which it is taken for granted--Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. It explores how the impact of English affects the development of national language policies, the maintenance of minority languages, the ability to provide services in other languages, the efforts…

This edited volume of conference papers contains the following titles: "Presentation: Realism and Idealism in Language Conflict and Their Resolution" (Douglas A. Kibbee); "Legal and Linguistic Perspectives on Language Legislation" (Douglas A. Kibbee); "The Linguistic Rights of Non-English Speaking Suspects, Witnesses,…