This paper summarises the key issues and challenges that have emerged from a recent major report by the authors on Maori-medium education in Aotearoa/New Zealand. The discussion is situated within a wider international analysis of bilingual/immersion programmes, including heritage language programmes for indigenous peoples. Key issues explored…

Globalisation is often viewed as a threat to cultural and linguistic diversity and therefore is a central concern of educational practices and policy. The present study challenges this common view by demonstrating that local communities can use global means to support and enhance their specific practices and policies. An historical exploration of…

Language ecology, a term developed by Haugen (2001), describes the relationship between languages and the environment in which they exist; that is, how they grow, change, interact and adapt in a Darwinian-like quest for survival. Of the 6000 or so languages in existence today, some are spoken by vast numbers of people, but others are used by very…

The Indigenous languages of southeast Australia have often been written off as a hopeless cause in current debates about language revitalization. In this paper we question this pessimism and report on some of the progress that has been made in recent years. It will be shown that revitalization is not only possible but contributes to the strength…

This paper describes the Niuean community and the evolving roles of Niuean language and identity in New Zealand, where the majority of Niueans now reside. As part of the Pasifika Languages of Manukau Project (PLMP), 30 New Zealand Niueans participated in detailed interviews on issues relating to language main-tenance. This paper considers their…

This monograph examines the language situation in Cameroon, a Central African country where fewer than 20 million people speak close to 250 languages. Specifically, the monograph addresses the issues of language use and spread, language policy and planning, and language maintenance and prospects. The study is divided into five parts. The…

Objective evidence indicates that despite public fears and the claims of those who would make English the official language of the United States, it is not English, but minority tongues that are threatened in this country today. In the last 5 years, educators have noticed a sharp decline in native language skills among Native American children.…

The study of language reference materials, particularly dictionaries and grammar works, for languages of Guam and Micronesia includes a brief history of their evolution and an annotated bibliography. An introductory section describes the geographic situation of Micronesia and chronicles numerous periods of foreign influence: Spanish Colonization…

This atlas of language vitality in China covers the majority Han (Mandarin) language and 59 officially recognized minority languages. The first section, on the Han language, gives a breakdown of its oral and written vitality overall and for eight domains (religion, schools, mass media, administration, courts, legislature, manufacturing industries,…

This paper examines efforts to reverse language shift in two indigenous communities in southern Ecuador. The ongoing decline and rapid pace of extinction of many of the world's languages have received increasing amounts of attention, but while processes of language loss and extinction have been extensively studied, relatively little work of…

This volume of conference papers examines issues and approaches in the revitalization of American Indian and other indigenous languages. Sections discuss obstacles and opportunities for language revitalization, language revitalization efforts and approaches, the role of writing in language revitalization, and using technology in language…

This plenary opening address on cultural and language rights emphasizes both the opportunities and constraints facing selected European minorities in their struggle both to reproduce their culture and to have their efforts recognized as a permanent, legitimate, and democratic contribution to modern society. The central thesis is that although the…

Since 1975, the United States has experienced the largest wave of immigration since the beginning of the century. This demographic fact holds important implications for education in the 1990s. First, because the birthrate among recent immigrants is relatively high, an increasing number of first generation Americans will enter the school system. As…

This study concerns the influence of native language instruction in grades one through six on bilingual Hispanics' high school achievement. A nationally representative sample of 58,000 high school sophomores and seniors (the High School and Beyond data set) was used as the data source. Path analytic techniques were used to determine the magnitude…

The fact that early immersion in a second language has led to bilingualism and academic success among majority language children has been used as an argument against mother tongue instruction for minority language children. However, for minority language children, immersion in a second language has often led to language loss and academic failure.…