No detailed description available for "A sociolinguistic investigation of multilingualism in the Canton of Ticino Switzerland".

After the French Revolution, Switzerland developed from a country in which German dominated linguistically into a confederation of four officially recognized language groups -- German, French, Italian, Romansh -- concentrated in different geographical areas and marked by distinctive cultures and lifestyles. Following a historical overview of this development and the social and political institutionalization of the linguistic cleavages, McRae's study examines key elements in the functioning of modern Swiss society: political parties, federal and cantonal institutions, the media, educational and cultural policies, the relation between the linguistic cleavages and class and religion, the attitudes and behaviour of the four language groups to one another. It concludes by reviewing the various explanations advanced to explain the relative social and political stability of Switzerland. This book is the first volume in a projected multi-volume work examining four multilingual Western democracies. The volumes to come will focus on Belgium (scheduled for publication in 1985), Finland, and Canada.

A German dialect spoken in Alsace (France), has rapidly lost way to French since 1945. This book investigates language choice, language attitudes and ethnic identity in Alsace today. The Alsatian case study points out the complex interrelationship of linguistic and identity change with historical, social and psychological processes.