Linguistic landscape (LL) refers to linguistic objects that mark the public space. This paper compares patterns of LL in a variety of homogeneous and mixed Israeli cities, and in East Jerusalem. The groups studied were Israeli Jews, Palestinian Israelis and non-Israeli Palestinians from East Jerusalem, of whom most are not Israeli citizens. The…

This monograph provides an overview of the language situation in Italy, within the framework of language policy and language planning. It presents an account of multilingualism, linguistic diversity, social variation, educational issues and phenomena of language contact both within and outside Italy. The four main threads are (1) the current…

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…

While the myth of ethnic and linguistic homogeneity prevails, Japan has always been a multiethnic and multilingual entity. The existence of ethnic minorities remained relatively invisible, and their activism to maintain their identities was not widely acknowledged in the public discourse. However, the influx of immigrants since the mid-1980s as a…

Multilingualism in classrooms is currently prompting debate and has significantly impacted on schooling in South Africa over the last decade. At present South African educators face the challenge of coping with and finding solutions to culturally and linguistically diverse urban school contexts which did not exist before. In many South African…

From an ethnographic and interaction analytical approach this paper examines how polylingual languaging is used by a group of young male Taekwondo fighters to construct an integrated streetwise and "schoolwise" persona as well as negotiate regional identities. The data discussed were collected in a Taekwondo club in a multicultural area…

China resumed its sovereignty over Hong Kong in 1997. Since then drastic changes in this former British colony have occurred. One of these changes is a shift in language policy, from bilingualism (Cantonese and English) to trilingualism (Cantonese, English and Putonghua). The present study is aimed at investigating tertiary students' use of…

The Multilingual/Multicultural Teacher Preparation Center (M/M Center), a teacher preparation program offered by the Bilingual/Multicultural Education Department (BMED) at California State University, Sacramento, is entering its third decade of operation. The M/M Center was established by a group of progressive teacher educators, most with a…

In this article, the authors first discuss the multi-tiered Indian education system. Then, they examine the challenges for special education in India, including: (1) the issues surrounding appropriate assessment in a multilingual country, which is enhanced by marked differences in children's socioeconomic status; (2) social stigma of disabilities…

Following Mozambique's independence from Portugal in 1975, and a prolonged civil war which ended in 1992, the ruling party FRELIMO has striven since 1993 to implement a bilingual educational system in the country. This paper addresses the reasons underlying the leaders' choice of this system and considers the problems involved in language planning…

In UK schools, as elsewhere, linguistic diversity is on the rise. Changing patterns of migration and settlement mean that schools in areas where once English was the only language spoken are encountering bilingual pupils for the first time, while schools with a long history of multilingualism are finding that the range of languages spoken by…

For several years children at Joyce Public School have been rewriting traditional stories from localized cultural and linguistic perspectives, creating innovative, individualized narrative forms with digital technology. Our experimental multiliteracies research project is a collaboration of school and university teachers and researchers following…

Several researchers have suggested that definitional skill explains academic success/failure (Gagne, 2004; Snow, 1987). The words used to investigate definitional skill have all been concrete words given in the first language (L1) and/or the second language (L2) of the participants. This paper reports a study investigating the quality of the…

What are the effects of globalisation on patterns of language use in the domain of media in Singapore? Rather than only cultural imperialism of hegemonic English, which is no doubt the case, the use of languages in the "mediascap" also shows the consumption of non-English languages and cultures. Though English may be the main language of…