Among Oklahoma's 2,636-member Wichita tribe, octogenarian Doris McLemore is the sole person who fluently speaks the native language. And Terri Parton, president of Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, says that makes her both a treasure and an imperiled, cultural linchpin. Developing a coterie of community-based American Indians who are restoring,…

This dissertation examines the linguistic practices of Tokelau people resettled on Hawai'i's island of O'ahu as they engage in the work of maintaining their heritage language. The focus of the research is on the community of practice that has developed around the language and culture school Te Lumanaki o Tokelau i Amelika ("The Future of…

Detailing a decade of life and language use in a remote Alaskan Yup'ik community, Youth Culture, Language Endangerment and Linguistic Survivance provides rare insight into young people's language brokering and Indigenous people's contemporary linguistic ecologies. This book examines how two consecutive groups of youth in a Yup'ik village…

Linguists have increased their documentation efforts in response to the sharp decline in the number of languages. Greater awareness and new sources of funding have led to an upsurge in language documentation. While individual languages make unique contributions to the world's linguistic heritage, language families, by virtue of their shared…

This article proposes that acculturation orientations are related to two sets of cultural values: utilitarianism (Ut) and traditionalism (Tr). While utilitarian values enhance assimilation, traditional values support language and identity maintenance. It is proposed that the propensity to either end of this value opposition can be measured by an…

This article examines the ways in which a group of first-generation Latino immigrants to the U.S. Midwest conceptualized their role in their children's bilingual development. Respondents were asked to identify the individuals or institutions on which their children's language and academic development depended, as well as household practices…

Purpose: The author investigated the language practices of 10 bilingual, Chinese/English-speaking, immigrant mothers with their children with autism spectrum disorders. The aim was to understand (a) the nature of the language practices, (b) their constraints, and (c) their impact. Method: The author employed in-depth phenomenological interviews…

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…

This annotated bibliography has been prepared to inform educators, tribal leaders, researchers,and policymakers about research-based efforts to identify promising practices related to reclaiming and revitalizing Native American language and culture at all stages of education, from early childhood to postsecondary education. The articles described…

In the past several decades the global village has witnessed a rapid decline in the number of indigenous languages. This study was a narrative inquiry within a qualitative methodology. Two research questions were used to analyze the narratives of Choctaw Nation Head Start teachers concerning technology usage for increasing, and revitalizing the…

This paper is part of a case study aimed at researching the multilingual repertoires of young people from a linguistic and cultural minority. Further, it analyzes the role of and the place given to heritage languages (HL) in the development of a multilingual and intercultural competence in schools. In the scope of the study mentioned above, a…

For many decades, Francophone regions in Canada have provided language study exchanges for French as a second language (FSL) learners within their own country. At the same time, FSL students and teachers in Canada continue to orient to a native speaker standard associated with European French. This Eurocentric orientation manifested itself in a…

Nation states increasingly assign the responsibility for meeting the global competitiveness agenda to the universities themselves [Cirius, 2009, "Mobilitetsstatistik for de videregaaende uddannelser 2007/08" [Mobility statistics for higher education 2007/08]]. In Denmark, universities that have introduced English as an instrument to…

Singapore's bilingual policy legitimises English not only as the language of governmental administration and interethnic communication, but also as the medium of instruction in all schools on all levels and across all subjects except mother tongues (MTs). As a result of these politics of language recognition, a visible shift has occurred in all…

Californians often take for granted a split between ethnic and linguistic identities, expecting immigrants to maintain strong ethnic identities while becoming monolingual in English. However, recent immigration has led to increasing diversity at California universities, with no majority ethnic group and many students bilingual. This study explores…