Since the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights in 1996, there is a tendency not only to maintain linguistic and cultural diversity worldwide, but also to ease universal access to quality education which should comprise the learning of other languages and cultures and the generation of intercultural relations. In this sense, this article…

Israeli students need to be multilingually literate to read academic texts, mainly in Hebrew, Arabic, Russian and English. In fact, little is known about students' reading habits despite a variety of university reading comprehension courses in different languages. The present study examines students' reading preferences and textual expectations,…

A major question in L2 reading research is whether L2 reading is a language or a reading problem. Existing research, mainly carried out in Western contexts, demonstrates that L2 reading is influenced by L1 reading and L2 proficiency. This study applied the L2 reading theory in a non-Western context (Eritrea, East Africa) with L1 reading acquired…

Establishing name authority files in such multilingual nations as Nigeria is complicated by the existence of some 400 languages and dialects, although only about 15 percent of these have been written or used in publications--English is used as the official language and the medium of intercommunication between tribes. Traditionally, Nigerians have…

Table of contents (TOC) practices of some 120 primary journals were analyzed. The journals were randomly selected. The method of randomization is described. The samples were selected from a university library with a holding of approximately 12,000 titles published worldwide. A questionnaire was designed. Purpose was to find uniformity and…

The present guidelines, preliminary in character, are an attempt to facilitate the development and application of a standardized method of multilingual thesaurus construction and to reduce the number of arbitrary variations in thesaurus techniques. In the preparation of these guidelines the approach has been theoretical rather than practical.…

Provides an afterword to this special issue of the journal on multilingual classroom ideologies, which focuses on interrelationships, interaction, and ideology. (Author/VWL)

Discusses the language situation in South Tyrol in Switzerland where Italian and German have coexisted for centuries. (Author/VWL)

The introduction of computational linguistics triggers a new space for communication, an electronic space for a simulated communication network, founded by the post-industrialized society. The language inaugurated by these electronic media is an electric language stripped of its signifier. The new language planning enterprise in cyberspace…

Provides a brief discussion of the historical use of language policy and language planning in the South African context and explores recent developments in South Africa with respect to language policy. Identifies and discusses possible lessons for efforts to promote linguistic diversity in multilingual settings. (Author/VWL)

The European Language Portfolio (ELP) was developed and piloted by the Language Policy Division of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, from 1998 to 2000. It was launched on a pan-European level during the European Year of Languages as a tool to support the development of plurilingualism and pluriculturalism…

The characteristics which were held to define the Chinese language within the Western intellectual tradition placed it for a time at the centre in discussions of the genealogy of mankind. The dominant premodern paradigm for the explanation of human linguistic diversity was Biblical exegesis, as discussed and elaborated within the framework of…

This paper investigates the foreign language management strategies of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Lazio, Italy. Based on empirical data from a questionnaire survey and ethnographic interviews, it also aims to validate the hypothesis that macro-level language planning (on a national scale) may not reflect language problems…

In 2002 in a special issue of "Perspectives in Education" on multilingual education, we outlined the thinking underlying a proposed dual-medium degree (in Sesotho sa Leboa and English) at the then University of the North. This article theorises the experience of teaching and learning since 2003 when the degree, BA in Contemporary English…

This paper deals with linguistic diversity as it occurs in a conversation over dinner between three young Turkish-Danish men living in Denmark. I argue that terms like "bilingual" or "multilingual" are inappropriate in order to describe this verbal interaction because these terms presuppose that linguistic production is divided…