Surveys the sociolinguistic background to the recognition of Hong Kong English and considers the arguments in favor of a paradigm shift in approaches to these issues. Reviews the history of English in Hong Kong and language planning and language policies in the late colonial period. Makes the case for recognition of Hong Kong English with…

Discusses language planning in the domain of courts in Cyprus. Examines the dominant role of English in court from 1960 until 1988 as reflecting Cyprocentric state identity associations. Investigates the use of Greek after the enactment of a law that brought the reversal of the linguistic situation. (Author/VWL)

Highlights a language awareness project in a small primary school in the Mulhouse area of Alsace in France as an example of how languages of unequal status can be placed on an equal footing in a school context, how children can be educated to linguistic and cultural variety, and the teachers can be made aware of the linguistic and cultural wealth…

Presents a detailed study of the language planning situation in Taiwan. After a general account of the socio-historical context in which the planning activities have taken place, a brief review of what happened in terms of language planning in Mainland China under the Nationalist government between 1911 and 1945 is presented. (Author/VWL)

Drawing from the study of efforts to revitalize Quichua in the Southern Ecuadorian Highlands, this article describes what may be some of the common language corpus and language status transformations that threatened languages undergo during the process of language revitalization. (Author/VWL)

This article first reviews important issues of language, power, and testing. It then examines in critical fashion a particular instance of the use of language testing by the Hong Kong government, namely, the Language Proficiency Assessment for Teachers (LPAT). Treating the LPAT developments as a form of narrative rather than debate, it presents…

Drawing on observations and audio-recordings of classroom language use in two postcolonial societies, the Republic of Botswana in Africa and the Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam in south-east Asia, this study seeks to explore how teachers and pupils face the challenge of accomplishing teaching and learning using a language which is not their own. In…

Nationwide and statewide shifts and ambiguity in language education policy have created substantial instability for teachers. Through a cross-case study and analysis of bilingual teachers in two states, this article shows how these teachers participate in responding to and making decisions regarding language policy. This article shows how and why…

The paper presents the language policies being implemented in French primary schools under the present educational reform and considers how they tackle the question of sociocultural and linguistic pluralism. It questions the choice of teaching one foreign language from a very early age at kindergarten rather than opting for a model of language…

This monograph offers an overview of the background of and current language policy and planning matters related to the language situation in Northern Ireland with reference to the full range of linguistic diversity in the polity. Particular attention is paid to the Irish language, due to the size of the Irish-speaking community in the region and…

Economic factors that language policy makers must take into account include a recent trend toward financial globalisation. I first argue that, just as an earlier process of global integration ended in retreat, the current integrative process is not inexorable. Were it to intensify, however, it is likely that low-income countries will become more…

There are more than 6000 languages spoken by the 6 billion people in the world today--however, those languages are not evenly divided among the world's population--over 90% of people globally speak only about 300 majority languages--the remaining 5700 languages being termed "minority languages". These languages represent the…

In the American southwest, Pueblo Indian tribes have managed to retain their languages and cultures far longer than many American Indian tribes who have suffered complete language loss as a result of historical oppression, displacement and annihilation. In more recent times, however, Pueblo Indian tribes have faced tremendous pressures to abandon…

With reference to Kenya, the paper shows that although linguistic rights have been eloquently articulated in various charters and declarations, their implementation has been problematic. In Africa this has led to an imbalance of status between the former colonial languages and the indigenous ones. This imbalance is evident in the educational…

Tracing the effects of the "laissez-faire" postcolonial politics of language in the United States, which in fact enabled English to become the dominant language through cultural rather than institutional means, the essay then suggests how the linguistic memory that emerges from decolonization and nation building continues, often in…