The theory and practice of assistance to speech communities whose native languages are threatened are examined. The discussion focuses on why most efforts to reverse language shift are unsuccessful or even harmful, diagnosing difficulties and prescribing alternatives based on a combination of ethnolinguistic, sociocultural, and econotechnical…

The future of endangered languages is discussed, drawing on experiences in development of an atlas of language. Issues in the debate over language maintenance are examined, including the emotion-laden concept of ethnicity and relative youth of the concepts of human rights and linguistic geography. The fact that the atlas in question indicates only…

This study examined the language and cultural attitudes of 45 bilingual Spanish/English adolescents of Spanish, Peruvian, and Chilean background enrolled in Saturday Spanish programs in Sydney, Australia. Each student had at least one parent whose first language was Spanish. A 60-item questionnaire designed to elicit information on factors…

A study of the heritage language programs (HL) offered by four Ontario (Canada) school districts is reported. Through surveys and interviews of 3 program administrators and 42 teachers, it investigated effective current practices and needs for additional support. Administrators were asked about the scope and delivery of programs and their…

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…

A discussion of the current status and future of Celtic languages in the United Kingdom looks at the social and linguistic history of the languages, problems facing the community of Celtic language users, specific tensions and relationships, implications for reform of social policy, and the role of formal language planning, legislation, and key…

The core of the case for bilingual education is that the principles underlying successful bilingual education emphasize the same factors that underlie successful language acquisition in general: understanding messages and obtaining comprehensible input; using background knowledge; and the development of literacy. The importance of the first…

Distance education in second languages in the United States has grown in a piecemeal, uncoordinated fashion, and it remains marginal to both distance education more generally and to the bulk of foreign language instruction throughout the country. One handicap, arising from very limited demand in business for foreign language skills, is lack of…

The 1982 American Indian Language Development Institute, sponsored by the Center of Indian Education and Bilingual Education Service Center at Arizona State University, provided training for eight Title VII projects during the summer of 1982. Training included developing an orthography for nine tribal languages, establishing each language as a…

Before teachers begin to teach Standard American English (SAE), the schools must strive for a greater tolerance among the public and the school community toward Non-Standard American English (NSAE) dialects. Through the use of a number of motivational approaches, students retain the right to their own dialects and language while learning SAE as a…

This document comprises a report on the concerns of Hispanic Americans in Colorado. A sample of 606 people with Spanish surnames were interviewed by telephone in January 1989. The following sample characteristics are reported: (1) 48.7 percent were male; (2) the average was 43.3 years; (3) 67.3 percent were married; (4) average household size was…

Much information of interest to bilingual education policymakers has emerged from basic research on language learning, bilingualism, and cognition. Among the conclusions drawn from it are the following: (1) bilingual education is superior to submersion education in many contexts;(2) one major bilingual education goal should be development of the…

As part of the Spanish government's attempt to provide cultural and linguistic education for the sizable Spanish population in France, it organized the design of instructional materials especially suited to the 64,614 children of Spanish migrant workers living in rural and urban France. The materials were intended for use by primary and lower…

This annotated bibliography which includes all entries into the ERIC system dealing with language maintenance was compiled to show the type of information available to users of the system. The citations deal principally with bilingualism and bilingual education in the United States, Canada, Israel, Ireland, the Pacific islands and Southeast Asia.…

The purpose of this study, which is based on a survey of 116 Hispanic organizations in the United States, is threefold: (1) to explore the organizational background characteristics that might distinguish linguistically retentive from non-retentive organizations; (2) to determine whether there is any differential/ non-differential interest in…