Equal educational opportunity for English language learners (ELLs) has been a goal of the public educational system in the United States. Language policy reforms have increased accountability in order for schools to improve student achievement and measure the progress of ELLs. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires assessment and…

When Algeria opened its markets to foreign investment starting from the early 2000s, a technological boom occurred, including the expansion of mobile phone use. New technologies have had a considerable impact on the Algerian diglossic situation, in recent decades, and have contributed in the democratisation of the local dialects, which are being…

Contemporary humankind is witnessing the spread and impact of the English language on the global educational space. Such an influx is occurring irrespective of people's objective or subjective will. English has become a vital means for accessing and acquiring information and knowledge about the world. It promotes the reformation of language…

Fixation on language in language policy debates is not a natural given. In fact, it has to be re-examined. This paper argues that another effective way to look at language policy is to suspend talk on language, and instead first engage with social development issues where people are at the heart of the social landscape. It discusses three ways of…

This article offers a grounded view of language shift as experienced by Native American youth across a range of early- to late-shift settings. Drawing on data from a long-term ethnographic study, we demonstrate that the linguistic ecologies in which youth language choices play out are more complex than a unidirectional notion of shift might…

Video games are explored as a means of reviving dying indigenous languages. The design and production of the place-based United Sugpiaq Alutiiq (USA) video game prototype involved work across generations and across cultures. The video game is one part of a proposed digital environment where Sugcestun speakers in traditional Alaskan villages could…

President Bush's National Security Language Initiative focuses narrowly on gearing language education to security and military needs. English educators should work with their counterparts in foreign language departments to promote a broader view, one that encourages study of the multiple language groups that currently exist within the United…

Timor-Leste celebrated its formal political independence on 20th May 2002. The National Constitution of the new nation declared the endogenous lingua franca (Tetum) and the former colonial language (Portuguese) to be co-official. The remaining local languages were given the status of national languages. Indonesian and English were designated as…

This article qualitatively and quantitatively investigates the Quechua language attitudes and maintenance practices of the members of two non-profit, non-governmental agencies in Cuzco, Peru. Within their respective agency/community contexts, the members of both groups claim to have significantly more positive attitudes toward Quechua and exhibit…

This paper examines the response made by the University of Calgary to changes in Alberta's language policy in its language teacher education programme. The paper outlines recent policy changes in Alberta aimed at developing language education in schools and then examines how such changes have had an impact on planning for the delivery of education…

Arguments for bottom-up approaches in language planning are currently in vogue. Rarely, however, are such arguments supported by evidence demonstrating how such bottom-up planning leading to successful implementation can be achieved. This article presents evidence based on archival documentation in the form of annual reports and manuscripts…

In spite of the fact that Nigerian Pidgin (NP) is probably the language with the highest population of users in Nigeria, it does not enjoy official recognition and is excluded from the education system. It lacks prestige because it is seen by many Nigerians as a "bad" form of English and associated with a socially deprived set of people.…

This paper investigates the development of writing initiatives in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, an area where prior to 1989, writing in universities played a very minor role. Using data gathered from eight institutions that currently have writing programs of some sort, I identify three typical paths writing initiatives…

This study investigated how immigrant parents describe and explain their family language policy concerning their child's preschool bilingual development, and also explored the factors linked to the parents' choice of bilingual or monolingual kindergarten for their child. The study design was based on a comparison of 2 groups of parents: those who…

The theme for this year's College of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa was "Engaged Language Research and Practice," with the plenary speech given by Dr. Kathryn A. Davis. Following a preface from the editors and plenary speaker highlights, contents of these proceedings include: Section I:…