The subject of this book is the development of written Estonian from its beginnings in the 13th century up to the last few decades. This work also attempts to bring out points not made in previous works and pays special attention throughout to the role of Finnish influence. Following the Introduction, chapters deal with the periods (1) from the…

This paper examines the influence of the Internet on the French language from a predominantly sociolinguistic perspective, noting the main areas of debate between francophone businesses, governments, and "Institutions de la Francophonie," while considering theories of language in contact and language policy. It analyzes a number of…

Address delivered at the Society of Federal Linguistics, Washington, D.C., April 29, 1972. (VM)

Describes a study which attempts to link micro and macro approaches in the study of societal multilingualism while introducing a diachronic perspective. The sociolinguistic profile of Senegal is used as a point of departure followed by an outline of sociohistorical factors which contributed to language use. Discusses the social implications of…

Examines Arabic language planning efforts, which so far have not been very successful, and suggests Arabic language planning agencies must closely examine the work of other planning organizations that have succeeded in achieving many of their goals. (Author/VWL)

Shows how language policies may superficially remain the same over a short period of time, while their meaning or value may change. Using the University of Cyprus as an example, shows how within the same country, different policies can be claimed to serve the same function and how the same language policy can be interpreted differently, depending…

Discusses the intricate connections between local education cum literacy policies in Africa and the global economic, cultural, and political forces that impact them. (Author/VWL)

Suggests that the United States may well want to entertain a National Language Policy, a supplement to the National Education Goals and the national standards that have appeared in recent years. Notes that a position paper developed in 1988 by the Conference on College Composition and Communication, entitled "National Language Policy," might serve…

Explores the interface between language planning and language revival, based on current efforts to reclaim and reintroduce Kaurna, the language of the Adelaide Plains in Australia. (Author/VWL)

Locates the success or failure of language revitalization programs in a framework of solidarity and power. Focuses on the implementation of the language revitalization program within language-in-education planning. (Author/VWL)

Looks at revitalization efforts regarding Xironga, a Bantu language spoken by 600,000 people in the Southern region of Mozambique. Examines circumstances in which Xironga has recently begun to be used more prominently, especially as a legal working language by the Maputo Municipal Council Assembly authorities. (Author/VWL)

Reviews and discusses the following books: "Language Death," by David Crystal; "The Green Book of Language Revitalization in Practice," by Leanne Hinton; and "Vanishing Voices of the World's Languages," by David Nettle. (Author/VWL)

Gives an overview of the current socioliniguistic situation of the Sami language in Northern Scandinavia, focusing on the situation in North Norway in particular. Describes the historical development and discusses issues, problems, and practices relating to Sami language politics and planning in reaction to the use of this language in…

Discusses linguistic insights that may be pertinent both to reconsidering the desirability and tenability of the principle of plurilinguistic equality and to the day-today practice of multilingual institutional communication. (Author/VWL)