The Intertribal Wordpath Society is a nonprofit educational corporation formed to promote the teaching, status, awareness, and use of Oklahoma Indian languages. The Society produces "Wordpath," a weekly 30-minute public access television show about Oklahoma Indian languages and the people who are teaching and preserving them. The show…

This collection of papers focuses on individual bilingualism and societal and educational phenomena. After "Introduction and Overview" (Jean-Marc Dewaele, Alex Housen, and Li Wei), 12 papers include: (1) "Who is Afraid of Bilingualism?" (Hugo Baetens Beardsmore); (2) "The Importance of being Bilingual" (John Edwards);…

This report describes the development and approval of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. After discussing the expression of consent to the European Charter, the report focuses on the ratification process of and obligations assumed by Spain. Although Spain was one of the first signatories in 1992, the ratification was not…

Principles of rural sociology and interpersonal communication provide the foundation for a study of "Gullah" culture. The Gullahs are a group of African Americans living along the southwestern U.S. coastal territory. Gullah culture began to evolve with the enslavement of African people in the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia,…

This paper describes the impact of the ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in the United Kingdom, examining the history and current demographic and social position of the various languages to which the Charter applies. The first section, "Linguistic Minorities in the United Kingdom: Historical Development…

This book provides a novel approach to multilingual phenomena as discussed in psycholinguistic research, drawing together (second) language acquisition theory, bilingualism research, and dynamic systems theory. The focus of the book is theoretical, and the suggested model is intended to provide a framework for future research in general and…

This digest draws on a set of linguistic autobiographies written by Asian-American college students in classes at the University of California at Berkeley over the last several years, and examines the pattern of language shift that takes place in the young first- and second-generation student and why this shift takes place. It also looks at the…

An examination of language retention among the Mexican Americans and the factors involved in their language maintenance despite pressure from a dominant American society strongly supporting the use of the English Language. (JM)

Recent criticism of ethnolinguistic vitality and the Subjective Vitality Questionnaire developed to assess vitality perceptions is discussed and refuted. The concept of ethnolinguistic vitality emerged as an application of social psychology to ethnic intergroup relations and is proposed as a construct for various ethnic, social, and language…

Discusses the sociolinguistics of literacy with reference to three examples: the history of Jewish education and attitudes toward literacy, the Rock Point Community School bilingual program, and the Pacific Northwest Indian Reading Program. (EKN)

Describes the development since 1939 and the success of Ysgolion Cymraeg, bilingual schools in the anglicized areas of Wales which seek to revive and maintain the Welsh language by using it as the chief language of instruction up to age 7. (SJL)

Group bilingualism is typically the result of contact and assimilation between ethnic groups. The language shift is influenced by the origin of the contact, the degree of enclosure, and the control exerted by dominant groups. Bilingual education may have the goal of language maintenance or induced language shift. (Author/SJL)

Discusses the history of the Spanish language in America and notes the influence of Caribbean languages, Nahuatl, and English on Spanish. Describes the archaisms in lexicon, phonology, and grammar of the Spanish of New Mexico and Colorado. Discusses Spanish language maintenance in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the United States. (SB)

Two bilingual education systems in Canada are discussed in this consideration of what types of educational programs are likely to be most effective in developing a high level of functional bilingualism in majority language anglophone children on the one hand and minority language francophone children on the other. (JMF)

Describes the birth of a French immersion program in a Newfoundland primary school, attended by French-speaking, English-speaking, monolingual, and bilingual students. It is designed especially for the French-speaking minority in danger of losing its native language and culture to assimilation processes. (AM)