Suchergebnisse

Communicating with other nations in their native language is an important and necessary aspect of a successful United States' foreign policy. Critical to this success is the ability of military personnel to communicate clearly when in contact with foreign nationals, whether in peace-time or war. The Air Force has made great strides in the past 10 years to improve its foreign language capability, particularly through its application of the Language and Area Studies Immersion (LASI) program. The LASI program has significantly improved the foreign language capability of the Air Force, specifically those with previous language scores in the mid-tier range. The main goal of this thesis was to quantify that increase in language capability, thus allowing those responsible for the Air Force language capability to make appropriate decisions regarding the future direction of the Air Force's Language program. An additional aspect of this thesis is to investigate possible correlations between language capabilities and personality dimensions; therefore, as part of this study, Air Force officers (linguists) were surveyed to obtain language scores, measure personality dimensions and efforts to retain their language.

Languages users may cause violence and racism: in 1976, protests against the imposition of Afrikaans at South African schools became a massacre when the police killed 172 native protesters. But, which language to choose as language of instruction since South Africa counts eleven official languages. Therefore, this paper discusses whether English should be South Africa's sole language of instruction, to stimulate the native population's presence at universities. To support the research, governmental documents on language policy and education have been examined. Also, the linguistic diversity of South African English through language contact has been described. South Africa's language policy underlines education in vernacular languages at public schools, whereas English is used at universities. This generates a low proficiency in English; therefore, many native South Africans do not enroll at universities. The result is once again an Apartheid-like segregation, which calls for the use of English as the sole language of education.

Written by a leading scholar who has been closely involved in language planning in China over many decades, this collection of essays is a critical reflection of the work the Chinese government and academics have undertaken in establishing appropriate policies regarding language standard, language use and language education. The essays contain unique insights into the thinking behind much of the language planning work in China today

Abstract
The aim of this article is twofold: first, we apply the concept of "Language Making" – which is introduced in this thematic issue – to the domain of foreign language learning and teaching. More specifically, we investigate the role of teachers, as well as other social actors in the domain of foreign language education, in the making of foreign languages, i.e., their role in selecting varieties and forms that they deem appropriate to be learned. We assess how they justify their selections and which language ideologies inform their choices. A specific focus is on how these "foreign Language Makers" construe their linguistic expertise: how do they argue for the legitimacy of their "foreign Language Making"? Second, we argue that present day conceptions of the "ideal language teacher" have their roots in the past. Therefore, we include two case studies: our first case study zooms in on the Early Modern period and draws on introductions to foreign language textbooks from the 16th and 17th centuries. Our main sources are the multilingual textbooks of the Colloquia, et dictionariolum as well as the work of Gerard De Vivre, a language teacher and textbook author from Ghent who published French language textbooks for Dutch- and German-speaking learners in the second half of the 16th century. The second case study focuses on present-day teachers who teach Dutch as a foreign language at universities outside of the Dutch-speaking language area. For this analysis, we make use of data from qualitative interviews with 20 teachers, collected in 2015. We analyse, contrast and compare these cases, thereby taking into account the dynamics of socio-political and language ideological changes of the past centuries.

Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Introduction -- References -- Intergenerational Transmission -- Conceptualising Successful Intergenerational Language Transmission in Terms of saibhreas: Family Language Support in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht -- Introduction -- Research Context -- Background: Tús Maith and Intergenerational Transmission in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht -- Competent Language Use -- Local Language Use -- Embodied Language Use -- Conclusion -- References -- Family Language Policy in the Face of a Shrinking Community Language: Gaelic on the Isle of Lewis -- Introduction -- Background -- The Study -- Method -- Informants -- Findings -- Parental Language Identity and Ideology -- Adult (Re)Acquisition -- Children's Experience of Gaelic -- Conclusion -- References -- Transmission in Post-traditional Families -- The Transmission of Breton in the Family: The Effect of Family Rupture and Recomposition -- Introduction -- Sociolinguistic Situation of the Breton Language -- Breton, a Minoritised Celtic Language -- The Situation as of 2018 -- Research on the Family Transmission of Breton -- Theoretical References -- Methodology -- The Population Surveyed -- Some Characteristics of the Sample -- Language Transmission Practices -- Some Clues for Studying the Effect of Family Breakups and Recomposition -- The Influence of Separation on Transmission -- The Influence of Ex-spouses -- The Influence of Child Custody Time -- The Influence of Family Recomposition on Transmission -- The Influence of the New Spouse -- The Influence of Stepchildren -- The Breton Language: A Bone of Contention in the Couple -- Conflicts Over Language Transmission Strategies -- Conflicts Concerning the Language(s) Used by the Couple -- Conclusion -- References -- Wider Community Stance and Irish-Speaking Families in the Gaeltacht.

This paper addresses the paucity of research on women's language use in regional Japan by investigating Iwate Dialect (ID) and Japanese Women's Language (JWL) in face-to-face interactions among women in northeastern Japan. By bringing a consideration of region to bear on investigations of women's language use in Japan, the aim is to contribute to work that breaks down essentialist categories of "the way Japanese women speak" to a more fruitful focus on the range of resources women employ in situated interactions. Analysis is based on ethnographic data and a close analysis of interactions, and focuses on speakers' use of ID and JWL as devices for negotiating roles. Findings show ID is used by speakers in hesitating to take on a high-status role, and to mitigate direct challenges to claims made by other participants. JWL features are used when reiterating a point or disclaiming a role.

This study examines the language attitudes of members of three (formerly) Afrikaans-speaking congregations of the multilingual Moravian Church in South Africa (MCSA) with regard to current language practices within the Church and their ideas for a future language policy. It is based on interviews held with members of these congregations, while concepts of identity serve as a theoretical framework. Through these, it is shown that the MCSA could neither pursue a monolingual nor a consistently multilingual language policy in order not to aggravate the identification of its members with the Church.