"A [book] rich in detail and analysis, which anyone wanting to understand the language debate in Puerto Rico will find essential."--Arlene Davila, Syracuse University This is the first book in English to analyze the controversial language policies passed by the Puerto Rican government in the 1990s. It is also the first to explore the connections between language and cultural identity and politics on the Caribbean island. Shortly after the U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico in 1898, both English and Spanish became official languages of the territory. In 1991, the Puerto Rican government abolished bilingualism, claiming that "Spanish only" was necessary to protect the culture from North American influences. A few years later bilingualism was restored and English was promoted in public schools, with supporters asserting that the dual languages symbolized the island’s commitment to live in harmony with the United States. While the islanders’ sense of ethnic pride was growing, economic dependency enticed them to maintain close ties to the United States. This book shows that officials in both San Juan and Washington, along with English-first groups, used the language laws as weapons in the battle over U.S.-Puerto Rican relations and the volatile debate over statehood. It will be of interest to linguists, political scientists, students of contemporary cultural politics, and political activists in discussions of nationalism in multilingual communities.

A leading scholar sheds light on the experiences of ordinary Cubans in the unseating of the dictator Fulgencio Batista In this important and timely volume, one of today’s foremost experts on Cuban history and politics fills a significant gap in the literature, illuminating how Cuba’s electoral democracy underwent a tumultuous transformation into a military dictatorship. Lillian Guerra draws on her years of research in newly opened archives and on personal interviews to shed light on the men and women of Cuba who participated in mass mobilization and civic activism to establish social movements in their quest for social and racial justice and for more accountable leadership. Driven by a sense of duty toward la patria (the fatherland) and their dedication to heroism and martyrdom, these citizens built a powerful underground revolutionary culture that shaped and witnessed the overthrow of Batista in the late 1950s. Beautifully illustrated with archival photographs, this volume is a stunning addition to Latin American history and politics.

This up-close look at Chinese ESL teachers documents undertakings at formal and informal levels to support and sustain their expertise in ways that balance collaborative and competitive efforts, situated and standards-based programs, ethnically responsive and government-based efforts, and traditional and 21st-century teaching visions. English is a mandated subject for approximately 400 million Chinese public school students. Making transparent the training and professional development received respectively by pre-service and in-service teachers, this book provides a rare window into how Chinese English Language teachers (ELTs) reconcile the two needs with the responsibility to teach large numbers of students while also navigating societal, cultural, and institutional cross currents. It also explores the range of ways China invests in the training and professional development of its English language teachers.

These stories of foreign Fulbrighter in the United States, "Experiencing America: Through the Eyes of Visiting Fulbright Scholars" give the reader a firsthand account of the value of the international education exchange program. Each story is unique and personal, describing different impressions and values. ~Harriet Mayor Fulbright Since its establishment, nearly 300,000 people have been "Fulbright Scholars." Hundreds of thousands of others have served as local hosts to these visitors, helping them adapt to a new culture, providing space for research and scholarship, and building bridges between the different societies. In turn, these scholars and their hosts have influenced the entire world, through their teachings, their research, and their discoveries. This year (2006) is the 60th Anniversary of the Fulbright Exchange Program, and a few of their stories have been gathered for this collection of essays. All of the contributors are grantees who came to the United States from other countries, some for the first time. the stories of these citizen ambassadors may be humorous or heart-wrenching, but they are all true. ~Eric S. Howard

US higher education institutions host more than a million international students, many of whom speak English as a second language (ESL). As this number is projected to grow, it is vital that new curricular and non-curricular approaches to English language development are considered, including rigorous evaluation processes. This book introduces a framework to guide institutions in examining their views and beliefs regarding language acquisition and current approaches to international student success. It makes a distinction between a philosophy of support and a philosophy of development with a focus on the latter. It provides stakeholders with theoretical and practical foundations from which they can design, develop, and implement new models for students’ linguistic and cultural growth. Application of the framework will encourage institutions to examine support models that have been in place for decades and develop effective processes for generating innovative programming and practices aimed at helping international ESL students achieve their educational goals.

This book studies the multi-dimensional development and landscapes of the internationalization of China’s higher education throughout the past four decades, illustrating its trajectory from the periphery to the centre of the global higher education system. Combining solid theoretical elucidation and rich empirical studies, the author systematically reviews the key relevant concepts and examines policies and practices of higher education internationalization in China based on rich data gathered from interviews and surveys on overseas Chinese scholars, academic returnees, and international students. With a focus on “internationalization at home” and “transnational academic mobility”, the book analyzes the core topics and phenomena of China’s internationalizing higher education, including Chinese students studying abroad, overseas academics returning to China, international students in China, Sino-foreign cooperative education, and internationalization of higher education in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Shanghai. Seeking to offer valuable experience, reflections, and policy reference, this book will be of great value for researchers, policymakers, and university administrators interested in the internationalization of higher education and especially China’s successful cases.