The language-related constitutional changes made in 10 of the former Soviet republics and in the central Soviet government since 1988 are analyzed from 3 perspectives: unilingualism vs. bilingualism; the relationship between economy and language; and immigration and territoriality as concerns language. Special attention is given to language of…

A solution to the employment problem in remote areas of Canada, where natives speak only indigenous dialects, is discussed as it relates to Inuktitut. Distributed Language Translation would permit remote employment with dialect data transmitted over distances and translated into the standard indigenous language and the country's official…

An examination of the cases of English in India and Malaysia and High German in Switzerland illustrates the many contradictions and difficulties in language policy and their effects on language status planning in terms of overt and covert language policies, linguistic register and repertoire, and the congruence between policy and polity. (34…

Although Kiswahili has been successfully promoted as the medium of primary and adult education in Tanzania, its position in secondary and tertiary levels is still precarious. Suggests that Kiswahili become the language of instruction in secondary schools, with English taught as a foreign language. (DMM)

Reviews the history of Catalonia, its language policy, and strategies/methods by which the Catalan language was introduced into the educational system (e.g., by educating the teaching staff, using Catalan in instruction and educational administration, developing Catalan-language teaching materials, and developing immersion programs in Catalan for…

Describes the institution of Bahasa Indonesia as the state language of Indonesia. Discusses the use of Indonesian, 400+ vernaculars, and foreign languages in the country; the implementation of state language policy through formal and nonformal language education; and the rise of bilingualism in Indonesia. (DMM)

Suggests the possibility of mapping each person's linguistic identity in two dimensions: the number of languages spoken and the situation-specific variants of each language. Discusses the academic disadvantages associated with particular socioeconomic variants, particularly low-class speech/accents. Advocates greater tolerance of variation and…

France's Minister of Education and Culture favors a governmental language policy to provide the French with genuine communicative competence in other languages. His plan relies on four "D's": diversification, development, decentralization, and dynamic policy. A chart summarizes the 20 essential measures to be undertaken. (CNP)

Describes the written language situation of China's minority groups, giving particular focus to script reforms and the creation of new scripts after the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. (17 references) (Author/CB)

Reviews the history and development of the Pinyin grapheme system for the transcription of Chinese, and contrasts Pinyin graphemes with those of several other systems for Chinese. It is argued that Pinyin should be accepted as the standard system for Chinese transcription. (JL)

A survey measuring native French speakers' preference for English words instead of the officially sanctioned French equivalents revealed that subjects had high passive recognition of French terms, concluding that the French terminological process reminded users that French had ample resources to create its own expressions without automatically…

Reports attitudes toward a 1994 South Africa language policy that declared 11 official languages. The decision had particular significance for the South African national defense force (SANDF). Special focus is on language practices at the Sixth South African Infantry Battalion in Eastern Cape Province. (Author/VWL)

Provides a language profile of the Philippines based on census data and sociolinguistic and historical literature on the languages in the country. Discusses the uses of languages in various domains, especially education, and gives a historical sketch of language planning from laws enacted and revised and policies implemented. (Author/VWL)

Presents a detailed study of the language planning situation in Sweden with particular emphasis on minority languages. Suggests Swedish language policies towards minorities have been nationalistic, reluctant, and directed towards assimilation. (Author/VWL)

EU accession negotiations have impacted on and generated ongoing interest in Baltic language and citizenship legislation. There is however no detailed knowledge of prevailing language attitudes amongst mainstream and minority populations in Lithuania. This paper investigates attitudes to minority language use and to the (officially reinstated)…