Personal life experiences and metaphors illustrate how the Sto:lo people's world view is reflected in their Halq'emeylem language, in which identity, language, and place are inextricably interconnected. A brief comparison of Native and Western world views demonstrates how world views encompass people's understanding of time, history, self, and…

Concerns a study of the views of the bilingualism of a group of Asian children and youth. Within the context of a semi-structured interview, subjects reflected on the role of their languages in their lives. They noted their lack of proficiency in their Asian languages, their parents' efforts to support those languages, and the importance of these…

Provides an overview of the articles in this issue of the Tribal College Journal, which demonstrate how tribal colleges are gradually creating places where Native languages are safe. Asserts that a place where the language is honored is a place that education, too, becomes honored, and that recognizing Native languages leads to self-esteem and…

Mi'kmaq is a First Nations language spoken in Atlantic Canada and the north-eastern United States--and like most surviving indigenous languages in North America, it is at risk. The small community of Wagmatcook, Cape Breton, determined to see Mi'kmaq return from the brink of extinction, has implemented 2 initiatives that are changing the fate of…

Focuses on the Sisseton Wahpeton Community College, a "tribal college" of the Dakota Indians in Sisseton, South Dakota. Comments from college president William Harjo LoneFight regarding the philosophy of the institution and its integration of the Dakota language and tribal cultural values. Looks at various programs and institutions that…

This paper reports on the implementation of an ambitious bilingual instructional programme in the P'urhepecha-speaking region of Michoacan state in Mexico, the Meseta Tarasca. A curriculum of indigenous language preservation and cultural affirmation, overturning the previous Spanish-only programme, has been developed by a group of indigenous…

This article calls attention to the practices, policies, and procedures at the University of Hawai'i that infringe on the rights of Native Hawaiians to utilize the Hawaiian language in learning and teaching, and in the conduct and dissemination of research. Addressing these infringements, however, appears more easily said than done. The author's…

This study examines the process of Japanese language maintenance or shift among children who were exposed to Japanese and English through the "one parent-one language" approach in Melbourne. The aim was to identify factors that correlate with successful and unsuccessful cases of Japanese language maintenance of such children. The data…

The Northern Territory's bilingual education programmes, in which local Australian Aboriginal languages and English were used side by side in a minority of Aboriginal primary schools in remote northern Australia, came into being in 1973 under the broader federal government policy imprimatur of "self-determination" for Indigenous…

Nearly 20 years ago, the powerful motion picture The Mission, starring Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, was released, bringing worldwide exposure to the Guarani aboriginal people. Based on historical events from the 1700s and set in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina, the film was simultaneously moving and inspiring, yet also a disturbing…

This paper focuses on the electronic literacy practices of two Korean-American heritage language learners who manage Korean weblogs. Online users deliberately alter standard forms of written language and play with symbols, characters, and words to economize typing effort, mimic oral language, or convey qualities of their linguistic identity such…

Patterns of language maintenance among immigrants have been researched widely, and lie at the core of daily life for immigrant families. The present study reports on a questionnaire developed to assess various aspects of language maintenance, focusing on parent-child communication. Parents and children of 307 immigrant families living in Sydney,…

Language maintenance has been an issue debated whenever languages come into contact. This paper presents a detailed discussion of the reasons most often cited as to why languages should be maintained, with a specific focus on Australia because of the country's multilingual makeup. Australia currently has about 150 aboriginal and Torres Strait…

This study examined language maintenance through a sociology study of K'iche', a Mayan language of Guatemala, where a stable diglossic situation is eroding in the face of an increasing tide of bilingualism. Seven K'iche'-speaking communities were examined, including an analysis of socioeconomic, demographic, and political data. Quantified…

A collection of essays on European language policy, each by one or both of the authors, are: "Lessons for Europe from Language Policy in Australia"; "English Only Worldwide, or Language Ecology"; "Minority Workers or Minority Human Beings? A European Dilemma"; "Educational Language Choice--Multilingual Diversity…