This submission to the Australian Senate Standing Committee on Education and the Arts focuses on issues related to language and public policy. It discusses the diversified and international nature of Australian society, and considers language enrollments, the role of English as the dominant language and the one used for international…

This selection of papers presents perspectives on various issues in language policy and language planning. The following papers are included: (1) "Teachers of --What? A Global Look at the 'E' of TESOL," by P. Strevens; (2) "Pidgin English: Hawaii's Unique Resource," by R. R. Day; (3) "National Language Policy in Nigeria:…

The political and pedagogical issues arising from language legislation, language policy, and language planning in a bilingual country such as Canada are analyzed. The socio-historical context of bilingualism in Canada is reviewed, and Section 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (appended), which imposes a constitutional requirement…

A comparison of British and Australian experiences with language awareness curricula and the contexts in which they have been offered led to three conclusions: (1) language awareness courses are not a panacea for the problems of the second language teaching profession, and should not be designed both to contribute to the success of the foreign…

A discussion of the field of applied linguistics defines the scope of the discipline, outlines some of the regular publications and activities within it, and looks at four examples of its role in the field of education: language planning, refugee and immigrant issues, dialect issues, and varieties of English. It is emphasized that in these and…

A discussion of Esperanto in the modern world outlines the rationale for the use of an international language, the role of Esperanto in promoting international communication, Esperanto-related organizations and services, and the characteristics of the language that make it useful and easy to teach. Also included are a fact sheet describing the…

This paper develops the principles which underly the policy statement of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. The introductory material discusses the need to study foreign language in today's interdependent world, and particularly in Canada, an officially bilingual country. Also discussed are the enrollment trends in the provinces and the aims and…

The fifteen articles in this volume are generally concerned with the role of vernacular language in bilingual education on an international scale. They examine specific nations and how bilingualism affects their social milieu. The following articles are included: (1) "Bilingualism and the Vernacular," by Shana Poplack; (2) "The…

The implementation of a language policy is crucially associated with questions of methodology. This paper explores approaches to language policy, approaches to methodology and the impact that these have on language teaching practice. Language policies can influence decisions about teaching methodologies either directly, by making explicit…

This paper is an attempt to take stock of the politics of language as it has been playing out in Latin America, ever since the countries in this region were colonized by European powers, mainly Spain and Portugal. Linguistic imperialism is by no means a new phenomenon in this part of the world. In more recent times, the relentless advance of…

This issue deals with the problems of reviving the study of French in general, and the use of French in Louisiana in particular. "Rebirth of French in New Orleans" describes a conference on French language teaching held in New Orleans on December 26-30, 1975, and organized jointly by the American Association of Teachers of French (AATF),…

English is spreading throughout the world far more rapidly than any other language; however, the level of sentimental attachment or genuine liking for English falls far short of the level of necessity-based desire to learn it. There is a possibility that the spread of English is decreasing: given some rapid economic or military change around the…

This conference report of a UNESCO meeting concerns the aspects that are essential in planning and implementing a second language teaching program in a plurilingual context. The relevance of the following kinds of factors are described: (1) the variety of plurilingual contexts; (2) the specific didactic components of teaching a second language in…

English has by tradition been the major and official language used in Australia. Dependence upon Southern British norms of correctness has only gradually been eroded, and the establishment of Australian norms to replace them has been equally gradual. Agencies of language standardization do function in Australia and formulate on an ongoing basis…

A report of a round table meeting on Anthropology and Language Science in Educational Development (ALSED) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is presented. The purpose of the discussions was to develop national strategies to take advantage of the resources of anthropology and language science to improve the…