Capturing the dynamism of Canadian language policies, the essays in this volume analyze and compare the effects, histories, and features of language policies as they have been enacted and implemented by Canadian provincial and federal governments. The contributors' comparisons reveal significant domestic and international implications for language policy. An important study of a social and political issue that has immediate local, national, and international consequences, Canadian Language Policies in Comparative Perspective assembles knowledgeable authorities on language policy to provide a comprehensive synthesis of its consequences.

This book presents an in-depth study of the language policies present in the Canadian province of Quebec, and considers them from a comparative perspective, with special focus on Singapore and Wales. In so doing, it uses a mix of methods to look at the effects of language planning on language use: questionnaires, linguistic landscapes (visible language in public space), ethnography, and psycholinguistic experiments. Besides offering background information on Canada and Quebec, the comparative element uses data from Singapore and Wales to shine a new light on how language is managed in Quebec.

Important aspects of the history of language in the United States remain shrouded in myth and legend. The notion of "one nation, one language" is part of the idealized history of the United States, although in its short history it has probably been host to more bilingual people than any other country in the world. Language is more than a means of communication. It brings into play an entire range of experiences and attitudes toward life. Furthermore, language is a potent symbolic issue because it links power and political claims of ownership with psychological demands for group worth. How people belonging to different language and cultural communities live together in the same political community and how political and structural tensions arise to divide them along language lines, are questions addressed in The Politics of Language. This book analyzes the historical background and recent controversy over language in the United States and compares it to two official multilingual societies: Canada and Switzerland. It's accessibility as a survey of this topic makes it ideal for courses in linguistics, political science, and sociology.

Leading scholars in language policy examine the politics and policies of language in Canada and the United States.

This book presents an in-depth study of the language policies present in the Canadian province of Quebec, and considers them from a comparative perspective, with special focus on Singapore and Wales. In so doing, it uses a mix of methods to look at the effects of language planning on language use: questionnaires, linguistic landscapes (visible language in public space), ethnography, and psycholinguistic experiments. Besides offering background information on Canada and Quebec, the comparative element uses data from Singapore and Wales to shine a new light on how language is managed in Quebec.

This volume compiles a unique yet complementary collection of chapters that take a strategic comparative perspective on education systems, regions of the world, and/or ethnolinguistic communities with a focus on non-dominant languages and cultures in education. Comparison and contrast within each article and across articles illustrates the potential for using home languages – which in many cases are in non-dominant positions relative to other languages in society – in inclusive multilingual and multicultural forms of education. The 22 authors demonstrate how bringing non-dominant languages and cultures into schooling has liberatory, transformative potential for learners from ethnolinguistic communities that have previously been excluded from access to quality basic education. The authors deal not only with educational development in specific low-income and emerging countries in Asia (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, the Philippines Thailand and Vietnam), Latin America (Guatemala and Mexico) and Africa (Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania), but also with efforts to reach marginalized ethnolinguistic communities in high-income North American countries (Canada and the USA). In the introductory chapter the editors highlight common and cross-cutting themes and propose appropriate, sometimes new terminology for the discussion of linguistic and cultural issues in education, particularly in low-income multilingual countries. Likewise, using examples from additional countries and contexts, the three final chapters address cross-cutting issues related to language and culture in educational research and development. The authors and editors of this volume share a common commitment to comparativism in their methods and analysis, and aim to contribute to more inclusive and relevant education for all. “A richly textured collection which offers a powerful vision of the possible, now and in the future.” Alamin Mazrui, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, USA “This book takes the local perspective of non-dominant language communities in arguing for a multilingual habitus in educational development. Benson and Kosonen masterfully extend theories and clarify terminology that is inclusive of the non-dominant contexts described here.” Ofelia García, City University of New York, USA