Among American Indian Pueblo tribes, community-based language revitalisation initiatives have been established in response to a growing language shift towards English. This has been most prominent among school age children, prompting some tribes to extend tribal language programmes into local public schools. For centuries, the transmission of…

This paper examines legislation concerning language policy and language choice in the UK and South Africa. In particular an account of the pressures and imperatives to which such policy development must respond is provided. The paper suggests that the comparison between South Africa and the UK is relevant and compelling, not least because both…

This qualitative study describes how 12 Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy) college graduates constructed pathways to degree completion. The participants related their experiences on this path through open-ended interviews. The pathways were found to be complex owing to their unique cultural grounding and dedication to family. The…

This is a qualitative interpretive study that explores the past and present experiences of heritage learners (HLs) of Mexican descent who were studying or had recently studied advanced Spanish in institutions of higher education. All of the participants had been exposed to Spanish in the home and began their studies in elementary or middle school…

In this review of research in applied linguistics and language teaching and learning in Singapore, more than one hundred national publications for the period 2000-2007 will be reviewed. Since this period encompasses certain changes that were introduced in Singapore schools at the start of the new millennium, it would be appropriate to take stock…

Mother tongue is the language that a person learns in the society he/she lives especially from his/her mother by imitating herself which begins from the period of infancy and also mother tongue is the language that he/she expresses him/herself best. Vardar (1980:20) defines mother tongue as, "[Mother tongue] is the language which is learned for…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the grain size predominantly used by children learning to read and spell in Indonesian. Indonesian is an orthographically transparent language, and the syllable is a salient unit. Tasks assessing various levels of phonological awareness as well as letter knowledge, reading familiar words and…

This paper argues that Spanish-for-native-speakers (SNS) instruction at the secondary level can play a key role in narrowing the Latino achievement gap. To this end, SNS curricula and practices should be configured to: 1) support Spanish-English biliteracy, 2) support and facilitate learning across the curriculum, 3) socialize Latino students and…

Placing heritage Speakers into Korean language classes is a challenging task because they display a wide range of proficiencies. Since Standard placement tests often fail to place students effectively within a program, placement procedures that take into account heritage language use need to be developed. This article describes the Steps that the…

This paper discusses the teaching of Chinese to both students with Chinese background and students with non-Chinese background. It is suggested that students with a Chinese background be separated from those without a Chinese background in order not to discourage the latter group from studying Chinese. Chinese background students should be taught…

A sub-thesaurus of language teaching terms was compiled as a supplement to the EUDISED Multilingual Thesaurus. The sub-thesaurus includes three lists: (1) an alphabetized cross-referenced list of English descriptors to be added to the Multilingual Thesaurus; (2) an alphabetized English list of additional descriptors and the French and German…

A synthesis of research on the Franco-Ontarian school environment focuses on the maintenance of French by Franco-Ontarian students, their French language proficiency, and their native language instruction. The relevance of these issues in other French language minority settings is discussed. (MSE)

The author prescribes a bilingual teacher-training process based on a critique of the current condition of bilingual education and the professional concerns of bilingual teachers. She suggests a "creative" approach to teacher training that she believes will strengthen the image of bilingual teachers. (Author/CH)

Describes problems in Middle Eastern studies, focusing on: (1) the problem of access for students and faculty conducting research due to countries being completely closed or highly restrictive; (2) declines in Middle Eastern and American corporate donations to language and area studies as oil prices decrease; and (3) the difficulties inherent in…

Results of a survey of Native Indian language instruction carried out in British Columbia has meant an increase in Native language instruction and has demonstrated a commitment to the multilingual nature of the Native Indian heritage of the province. (Author/CL)