Thesis (M.A. of Arts)--Miami University, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-36).

The Republic of Ghana is the legacy of the colonial amalgam of multiple, and previously distinct, ethnic homelands. The Trans-Volta Togoland became the Volta Region of Ghana following a Plebiscite in 1956. The dominant ethnic group in this region; the Ewe, has long maintained a claim of neglect of the Volta Region and the marginalization of its people in this postcolonial state. Protests in the street and at media houses ensued against the State. This qualitative case study explores the undercurrents of this conflict in the context of the Ewe group’s identity and their experiences of neglect and marginalization in the postcolonial state. The main objective of the study was to understand why the Ewe group has not revolted despite the perceptions of deprivation. This study focused on the Ewe group in the Volta Region of Ghana a as sub-colonial construct that has managed its perceptions of deprivation without revolting against the host State.

In this thesis, the issue of language policies and nation-building as seen by a constructivist perspective are studied, the studied case being the Post-Maidan Ukraine. It is argued that the ruling elites of Ukrainian society are persuading the members of minority-language populations to re-categorize themselves according to the blueprint of national and linguistic identities that the elites are presenting. The thesis studies the responsiveness of the populations of Kyiv, Dnipro, Uzhhorod and Odesa to the identity-building efforts. To assess the success rates of the endeavour, the method of linguistic landscape analysis and a survey among students of Czech in Ukraine are employed. In the linguistic landscape analysis, the behaviours of issuers of official, commercial and informal messages appearing in the studied cities are observed. Looking at the language composition of these signs, the overall responsiveness of the populations towards the official language policies, and, by extension, towards the nation-building efforts overall, are assumed. The survey then provides supporting evidence by asking the respondents questions about their attitudes towards the language legislation and stance on the issue of language use in the country. It is observed that in informal contexts, the messages often revert...

As a multilingual and multicultural island, Cyprus has been segregated based on religion, identities, communities, and nationalities. In 1974, this segregation became a physical division of the island. After twenty-nine years of division, in 2003 April 23rd , the borders or in other words, the check-points were opened, and the two biggest communities of the island; Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, have been put in contact again. The phenomenon that the both communities were put in contact again also brought the question of language along with. This thesis investigates the evolution of the language policies and planning (LPP) in Cyprus. This research has found that since the beginning of the first crossings, English language has been functioning as Lingua franca, and being spread across the divide. The research analyzes the evolution of the LPP under three categories; A) Politics and Language Policies and Planning in Cyprus, B) Civil Society and Language Policies and Planning in Cyprus, C) Education and Language Policies and Planning in Cyprus. The results of the research have shown that the both sides (North and South) are willing to achieve a Greek and Turkish bilingual Cyprus, whereas the current situation points out that the lack policies and planning along with cooperation between the two...