Language skill attrition refers to the loss of any language or portion of a language whether it be the declining use of mother tongue skills, the replacement of one language by another in language contact situations, the deterioration of language in the neurologically impaired or elderly, or the death of whole languages. In this paper, language…

The determination of who shall receive bilingual education services is distributed among the federal, state, and local policy levels. This study explores how each level exercises that discretion. It examines targeting, identification, and assessment criteria set forth in federal and state legislation, and how a limited number of local districts…

Discusses language policy in the multilingual settings of Australia and the Philippines. Examines language policies, language curricula, government initiatives, language attitudes, and cultural maintenance in Australia. Studies language policies, national language development attempts, bilingual policies, viability of minority languages,…

A study, involving 119 interviews, obtained a demographic sketch of descendants of approximately 5,000 Puerto Ricans who emigrated to Hawaii as plantation laborers in the early 1900s, recorded some of their experiences in the archipelago, and noted areas in which Puerto Ricans have contributed to the Hawaiian cultural mosaic. (Author/MH)

There are at least 6,000--7,000 languages spoken in the world today, with over half of them endangered. And 61 percent of the endangered languages are within the Asia and Pacific Region. The publication is a report derived from the Regional (Asia and Pacific Region) Workshop on Mother Tongue/Bilingual Literacy Programs for Ethnic Minorities, held…

This collection of papers treats second language users in their own right rather than as failed native speakers, reflecting a new shift within the field of second language acquisition research. The 13 papers are: (1) "Background to the L2 User" (Vivian Cook); (2) "Lexical Representation and Lexical Processing in the L2 User"…

This paper is an overview of topics covered at two sessions of the Fourth Annual Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium, from the perspective of a native speaker of an indigenous language and member of a university academic community. The first section describes a Master's thesis on White Mountain Apache (WMA) language shift. Interviews with…

This study investigated language attitudes and Japanese language maintenance among a group of second-generation Japanese in Melbourne (Australia). Subjects were 66 Japanese high school students (second-generation) attending Japanese-language schools and 109 Japanese mothers (first-generation) self-identified as Japanese-identity,…

This regional dossier aims to provide concise, descriptive information and basic educational statistics about minority language education in a specific region of the European Union-- Alsace, a part of France along the German border. Details about the features of the educational system, recent educational policies, divisions of responsibilities,…

This journal is an international review for researchers and teachers of modern Celtic languages. This volume contains seven articles. There are three research articles: "Issues in the Design of Irish Credited Courses" (Thomas W. Ihde); "Learning Irish for Participation in the Irish Language Speech Community outside the…

Among the indigenous peoples of British Columbia are the Kwakwaka'wakw--at least 12 tribes that speak Kwak'wala, a language of the Kwakiutlian group of the Wakashan language family. This master's thesis reports on the condition of Kwak'wala, outlines a proposal for its revitalization, and describes an attempt to implement the proposal. Chapter 1…

Nanagusja is a Tsuut'ina (Sarcee) language development program designed to complement the Tsuut'ina community's endeavors to revive and maintain the Tsuut'ina language. It is also anticipated that Nanagusja will have a positive effect on the affective, cognitive, and psychomotor development of the Tsuut'ina youth who are exposed to this resource.…

The scope of this work has been indicated through the title. There were in New Netherland both Dutch and English settlements; the schools of the former only are included in the study. For a long time after the English took over the colony, the Dutch clung to their language and customs. The effort herein made is to trace the history of these Dutch…

Discusses the bilingual education-ESL (English as a Second Language) controversy, revealing similarities between accepted definitions of both approaches. Explains ESL theory and essential elements of bilingual education programs from an ESL viewpoint. Describes possible contributions to bilingual education programs from ESL teachers. Calls for…

Summarizes the results of a survey documenting language use among the rural and urban populations, educational levels, occupations, and ethnic groups of Kazakhstan. Reveals that efforts to promote Kazakh over Russian have largely failed. Includes a wealth of statistical information on groups and activities within Kazakhstan. (MJP)