This paper explores the interaction between linguistic landscapes and language policies of the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam to investigate how legislated and de facto language policies come together to create lived monolingualism, multilingualism and hybridity in language displays in public spaces. Our research focuses on language policies as…

This paper forwards the notion that languages are an important resource for sustainable development for modern societies. Informed by theories from both sociolinguistics and language economics on the value of language skills, it is suggested that language(s) have different kinds of value in multilingual societies. Sociolinguists often emphasize…

Research on economic activity in Africa consistently ignores the importance of individuals' linguistic repertoires. We argue that an important contributing factor to the persistence of this lacuna is the lack of visibility of language in the social and economic data that is collected by governments through social surveys. We examine the specific…

In the last decades, the propagation of Mandarin has been carried out across the People's Republic of China as de facto language assimilation. It has achieved great success in that over 80 percent of the population can speak Mandarin, but it has also had devastating effects on minority language learning, maintenance, and use. Meanwhile, the…

The protection of language rights and linguistic groups is the cornerstone of the constitutional dispensation that Ethiopian has embarked upon almost two decades ago. The constitution declares that all Ethiopian language shall enjoy equal state recognition and allows for regional preference in language use. This article examines the laws and…

Over the past decades, the language management discourse in South Africa has focused on the development and intellectualization of the functional status of indigenous African languages in high-status domains. African languages are marginalized despite the existence of various empowering and restorative legislative provisions and policies of the…

Social dynamics of a developing country undergo constant changes because of the demand of economic growth and people's cater for social mobility. English has become important in all economic activities globally. Bangladesh was a British colony for almost 200 years. The legacy of English education still continues and it has not formulated any…

Based on a larger ethnography, this article explores intergenerational relationships between First-Generation Immigrants and Second-Generation youth and focuses on psychological damages (Piller, 2016), particularly "linguistic injuries," within a new "mainland" Chinese church in Canada. Specifically, I show why…

The purpose of the paper is to shed light on potential driving forces that guide principals' decisions on how to implement language policies in their schools in Kazan, Russia. Kazan is the capital of Tatarstan and home for the second biggest ethnic group in Russia, called Tatars, whose native language proficiency is gradually declining. After…

This paper examines the language planning situation in the Sultanate of Oman with emphasis on the planning of Arabic, English, French and German, and their choice and spread in serving different interests and purposes. The paper explores the historical, social, political, and ideological processes and complexities of the language policy and…

While skilled migrants make influential contributions to development through remitting cash and exchanging knowledge, we argue for greater scrutiny of the role of language in the so-called "migration-development nexus". Noting the transnational context within which the everyday life of many migrants proceeds, we develop a broader reading…

This paper explores the role that languages and literacy practices play in Ethiopian immigrant families transposed to Israel as part of Israel's family language policy, by examining parental perspectives on their respective L1 and L2 usages, in both parents' and children's lives, as well as by examining the home literacy provisions supporting…

The French law proposed in February 1994 concerning the proper use of the French language in France is discussed. The law's content, intent, and origins are described, including the history of legislation concerning regulation of French since 1539. Public opinion concerning regulation of the language is examined. (MSE)

Literature in the little-known field of the economics of multilingualism is reviewed, focusing on five major issues: defining language; language and earnings; language of work, consumption, and business; language dynamics (acquisition, maintenance, and shift); and language policies. An analytical framework integrating economic and language factors…

Examines the rationale and philosophical underpinnings of Australian public policy concerning language and culture. Argues the following points: (1) language has historically been an important public issue in migrant settlement; (2) hidden social theory assumptions influence language and culture policies; and (3) emerging social needs call for a…