Multilingualism

English Powers Ahead, Swissinfo, Jan 6, 2003
English may become the 5th official language of Switzerland

DPI to improve performance under new outreach push (UN News Center, 10/29/02)
UN pushes to publish materials in more languages to encourage multilingualism and to reach out to all communities.

Discussion of a book entitled "The Multilingual Apple: Languages in New York City" (Linguist List)

Multilingualism in Israel, by Bernard Spolsky
Website explores the history of multilingualism in Israel.

Essay on the definition of Multilingualism by Guadalupe Valdés of Stanford University

The Center for Research on Education Diversity and Excellence

Languages futures Europe. Includes links to language policy, multilingualism, global language structures, and the dominance of English.

Welch website for promoting languages within the community

Bilingualism in America: A Forgotten Legacy, by James Crawford

Book website for "Bilingual Couples Talk" by Ingrid Piller

Puddle Duck School Hosts Spanish 1-on-1 program, by Irene Muchemi (Dec. 17, 2002)

Say that again, in Punjabi, By Vivek Chaudhary The Guardian, Sept. 17, 2002
Author comments on U.K. home secretary, David Blunkett's claim that speaking two languages leads to "schizophrenic" rifts in the family. Author talks about the usefulness of bilingualism and the doors that have opened to her because she is bilingual. She thanks her parents for continuing to use their mother tongue at home

Bilingualism is Hot Word Across U.S., By Karen Brandon (The Chicago Tribune, Sep. 17, 2002)
The U.S. is experiencing a resurgence of interest in foreign, fueled by the increasingly global marketplace, immigration and security concerns raised by current affairs.

Language 'loophole' shuts, by Allison Haynes (canada.com, October 1, 2002 )
Loopholes closed in Quebecs Bill 101, which required all children in Quebec to attend French schools. Previously, many families found a loophole in this bill by sending 1 of their children to an expensive private English school,which would then make the rest of their children eligible to attend English public schools (a right offered only to children whose parents had been educated in English in Quebec or elsewhere in Canada.)

World: Analysis From Washington -- The Rise In Bilingualism, By Paul Goble, June, 14 2001
Two out of every three children around the world are now being raised to speak two or more languages. Many analysts nowbelieve that the loss of language may lead to a loss of identity, and that a shift to a second language may promote greater international understanding and cooperation.

Parent Characteristics: Influence in the Development of Bilingualism in Young Children, by Lilliam M. Malave -
Article discusses the idea that using 2 languages at home promotes bilingualism in both the child and the parents.

Resources for child bilingualism

Website offering practical help for bilingual families

Bilingual Research Projects, a center for language research

Research study by Majoran Vivekananthan about English Bilingualism in Australia

The UK's Bilingualism, Language / Literacies & Education Network (BLEN) website.

Local Authorities trying to keep non-Irish speakers out of communities where Irish is still spoken

Bilingualism and Sociolinguistics database organized by the University of Birmingham.

Bilingual Families Support Group
Mothers in Frankfurt recognize the difficulty in raising children to be bilingual in the home and have formed a support group.

Diglossia

Diglossia as a sociolinguistic situation
By Harold F. Schiffman of the University of Pennsylvania

Arabic sociolinguistics website discusses Triglossia

Diglossia, religion, and ideology: On the mystification of cross-cutting aspects of Bengali language variation, by James M. Wilce (Northern Arizona University)

Andrew Freeman's Perspectives on Arabic Diglossia

Diglossia in Mauritian Creole

Diglossia and power and solidarity

Bibliography on Diglossia

Arabic Diglossia

Terralingua definition of diglossia

Definition of diglossia from Annika Hohenthal, Department of English, University of Turku, Finland

Diglossia and Paraguay bibliography

Reflections on diglossia, by Coby Lubliner