Examines Muhlhausler's thesis that to understand the decline of small languages, one must comprehend ecological factors comprising each language's support system. Discusses the Harakmbut peoples of southeastern Peru, examining their concept of territory, which provides context for understanding environments that support Harakmbut and Spanish.…

Examines issues related to Cyprus's current sociolinguistic situation, where language is central in defining the identity of Greek Cypriots. Discusses linguistic practices of Cypriots described in various studies covering the diglossic situation in Cyprus, language and identity, attitudes toward dialect, language attitudes and how they affect…

Presents historical and political contexts for discussing language maintenance and development in Scotland, explaining that research findings rarely have an impact on policy. While good practice exists in the maintenance of Gaelic and British Sign Language, these is a significant lack of support for other languages, and provision for all community…

Explains why some community colleges are offering on-campus housing, and illustrates some of the challenges and issues they faced. New challenges addressed include student health and productivity, housing funding, and maintenance. (GR)

My response to Johnston's (2004) "W(h)ither the Deaf Community?" is theoretical in nature and sociological in perspective. I comment on how Johnston's particular concern for the possible demise of Australian Sign Language (Auslan) in Australia's currently transforming social and medical context surrounding childhood deafness is legitimate but…

The results of a survey of language attitudes of Estonian secondary school students, ages 15 to 18, are presented, and the implications for the practice of language maintenance are discussed. The survey revealed that Estonian is valued as a token of identity but not much as a commodity in the sense of linguistic economy. It is argued that…

In the early 1940s Dakota anthropologist Ella Deloria began talking to her mentor, feminist anthropologist Ruth Benedict, about the possibility of transforming her ethnographic research into a novel that would bring Plains Indian culture to life for the American reading public. In writing Waterlily, a historical novel that documented early…

A toy-play intervention program is described that was initially used in a research setting with 24 young Dutch children, using outcome measures and a 1-year follow-up assessment. The original intervention was successful. However, improvements were not maintained unless children continued to receive play support. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

When speakers repair speech errors, they plan the repair in the context of an abandoned word (the error) that is usually similar in meaning or form. Two picture-naming experiments tested whether the error's lexical representations influence repair planning. Context pictures were sometimes replaced with target pictures; the picture names were…

Sadly, technical support doesn't come cheap. One money-saving strategy that's gained popularity among school technicians is equipment and software standardization. When it works, standardization can be very effective. However, standardization has its drawbacks. This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of standardization.

In recent years, disrupting the supply of illicit drugs and injecting equipment inside Her Majesty's (HM) prisons has become an important focus for prison drug policy. This paper presents findings from qualitative research, which invited 24 drug injectors with prison experience to discuss the role and operation of illicit drug and injecting…

Australia, as far as Aboriginal languages are concerned, is not yet engaged in systematic language planning exercises. This is in contrast to other parts of the world where language planning is institutionalised and enforced. In this paper we chronicle some of the language planning exercises we have observed, been involved in, or have studied of…

The Touo language is a non-Austronesian language spoken on Rendova Island (Western Province, Solomon Islands). First language speakers of Touo are typically multilingual, and are likely to speak other (Austronesian) vernaculars, as well as Solomon Island Pijin and English. There is no institutional support of literacy in Touo: schools function in…

Fettes (2004) asserts that "politico-strategies" of languages are no longer viable frameworks for "national and community policy". Rather, he proposes the development of "geostrategies of interlingualism", i.e. linguistic strategies which promote international communication equitably and efficiently, whilst respecting…

The aim of this paper is to clarify some notions about image and prestige planning. Starting from the Welsh example of language policy aiming to revitalise a language in danger of further decreasing in number of speakers and in centrality to Welsh life, definitions of four related terms are explored: image, status, prestige and identity. Paired…