In recent years, more groups have been moving from location to location as technological advancements, economic interconnections, and interdependence among nation states have made this movement easier. Within this new environment, identities and nation state affiliations are in flux. These movements have also influenced the process of education. National education systems have been partially globalized through student and teacher mobility, deterritorializing of academic institutions, widespread policy borrowing, teaching English as a foreign/second language, and attempts to enhance the global dimension of curricula at secondary and post-secondary levels. The present study examines the Japanese Brazilian transnational community in Japan to determine whether a case for strong forms of bilingual education can be made in the context of linguistic human rights under Article 27 of the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Even though, the Japanese government ratified the Covenant in 1979, it has not been properly addressing the issue of bilingualism for linguistic minorities within Japanese society. Therefore, this study uses a general qualitative approach to offer explanations for the current sociohistorical and ethnolinguistic situation facing Japanese Brazilians in Japan. A critical cultural meta-ethnography was chosen for this investigation as it aims to provide an interpretive synthesis of qualitative research and other secondary sources. The contextual situation is explored to understand the development of Japanese Brazilians position both in Japan and in Brazil. First, I explain the development of the concepts linguistic human rights and "Japaneseness" as a racial group. Next, I examine the social, historical, and ethnolinguistic positions of Japan's ethnic and immigrant minorities and the position of their language in the Japanese public educational system in order to consider possible modes of action for educating Japanese Brazilian children. Then, I analyze governmental policies at the national and at the local levels to understand what the government has done to address the issue. I then explore possible grassroots movements' models both within Japan and in other parts of the world in order to make recommendations for language education for Japanese Brazilian children. Finally, I investigate areas for possible future studies.

This thesis considers the initiatives of civil society organizations involved in efforts to revitalize the endoglossic minority languages in Zimbabwe in the period following the attainment of political independence in 1980. The study sought to understand how particular organs of civil society in Zimbabwe, such as the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe, Silveira House, Save the Children Fund (United Kingdom), and the African Languages Research Institute, have contributed to the development and promotion of linguistic human rights in Zimbabwe. These civil society organizations have worked with grassroots organizations formed by speakers of the endoglossic minority languages, such as the Tonga Language and Cultural Organization and the Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association. This thesis traces the initiatives undertaken by these organs of civil society through the formation of collaborative networks involving the various actors who collectively mobilized for the linguistic human rights of minority language groups in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach to research was adopted for this study. Data was collected through qualitative interviews with key informants as well as through documentary materials that were collected from the identified organizations involved in the minority language revitalization project in Zimbabwe. Drawing on analytic frameworks of language revitalization efforts advanced by Fishman (1991, 2001), Crystal (2000), Skutnabb- Kangas (2000) and Adegbija (1997), I argue that the minority language revitalization efforts in Zimbabwe targeted two main domains of language use; education and the media. I further identify three main strategies that were adopted in advocating for an increased presence of the minority languages in these domains. The first strategy involved what Fishman calls the search for “ideological consensus” and “prior value consensus”. This strategy involved efforts by the language activists to mobilize the grassroots members of the minority language-speaking community to assume an ideological orientation whereby the minority languages were viewed as a resource and a right, and to actively participate in developing and promoting their languages. The second strategy arose from the focus on the state’s language ideology as constituting the basis on which the marginalization of their languages was legitimated. This second strategy, identified as an ideological or politically-oriented language revitalization strategy, involved instituting measures that challenged the state’s language policy as the manifestation of an exclusionary and linguicist state language ideology. The third strategy, identified as a language-based and technically-oriented language revitalization strategy involved initiatives geared towards corpus development of the minority endoglossic languages. This thesis concludes that these language revitalization initiatives were successful because as a result of these initiatives, the Government of Zimbabwe made concessions that gave the minority language groups a bigger stake in their targeted domains: the Ministry of Information and Publicity set up a radio station broadcasting exclusively in the minority languages, and the Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture put in place new provisions on the learning and teaching of minority languages which allowed for the teaching of minority languages up to Grade 7 by 2005, with room for annual progression to secondary school level.

This text compares the language policies of Sweden and France with the aim to see how these two countries define and treat their minority languages. Two indicators of language rights were developed by using “Linguistic human rights” (Skutnabb-Kangas, Phillipson & Rannut 1995:1–22) as a starting point. The first concerns the right to exist as a group in the two countries, while the other deals with learning and developing the minority languages. Some emphasis is also placed on multilateral agreements as both the chosen countries are members of the European Union and the United Nations. The definitions used by the two countries concerning minority languages have some notable differences – not the least because the French definition includes patois or French dialects. Despite some flaws concerning legislature that could be made more specific and ongoing work to strengthen the official languages against the influence of English that inadvertently has negative consequences for minority language users, both countries fulfill the demands stipulated by the indicators used in this work. However, this work does not cover application and perception of the legislature and therefore to get a complete understanding of the subject further research needs to be done.

This study was an exploration of how language is managed in the subordinate courts of Machakos County in Kenya. It was an investigation into the language policy used in the courts, and whether the languages serve the needs, uses and preferences of the people. Language use in Kenya is constitutional (The Constitution of Kenya, 2010).The national language of the Republic of Kenya is Kiswahili and its official languages are English and Kiswahili. The constitution shall protect and promote indigenous languages of the people of Kenya. The constitution further indicates that there shall be general provisions to the Bill of Rights, fundamental freedoms, and that the authority of courts shall uphold and enforce the Bill of Rights. (The Kenya Constitution, 2010, (Cap 4, entitled “The Bill of Rights” has subcategories ranging from Part 1 to Part 5. Part 1 elaborates on general provisions relating to the Bill of Rights, Part 2 on Rights and fundamental freedoms, Part 3 on specific application of Rights, Part 4 on state of emergency and Part 5 on Kenya National Human Rights and Equality Commission). The study attempts to establish whether or not the subordinate courts adhere to these provisions, which policy makers need to adhere to. This research further explores solutions to the problem of communication during court proceedings. Its aim was to advance scientific information that would inform the formulation of a more accommodating language policy in Subordinate Courts. The background information and the history of the courts language gave an overview of how language in subordinate courts is used according to various scholars. The evaluation of how language is used during court proceedings shed light on the people‟s language needs, uses and preferences. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Litt et Phil. (Linguistics)

In theory, the South African government advocates additive bilingual education over subtractive bilingual education. However, this study shows that subtractive bilingual education supersedes additive bilingual education mainly because the official African languages of South Africa are being marginalised and not utilised as languages of teaching and learning in schools. The majority of isiZulu speaking learners in KwaZulu-Natal are underperforming academically under a subtractive bilingual educational system. The findings of this study acknowledge that there are numerous contributing factors to this problem, but the most obvious is that isiZulu speaking learners are compelled to write their examinations in English. This study employed a triangulation approach where various literary sources were consulted to illustrate how English has emerged as a dominant language on the local and global stage, and how this has affected the status and use of minority languages. Qualitative approaches were used to gather data from Grade 10 to 12 isiZulu speaking learners who attend the so-called 'Black schools' in the district of Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal. Questionnaires and experimental tests were used as the main instruments for gathering data from learners. One-on-one interviews were conducted with educators and other relevant stakeholders. The observation technique was also utilised to monitor the behaviour of isiZulu speaking learners in both affluent and previously disadvantaged schools. By examining Cummins’ interdependency hypothesis (1979, 1996 and 2000) as a theoretical framework, this research study has proven that the continued use of English as the only language of teaching and learning in South African ‘Black schools’ has a negative impact on the academic achievements of the KwaZulu-Natal isiZulu speaking learners. The study, therefore, calls for the introduction of a language policy that will promote dual bilingual education where both isiZulu and English are used as the languages of teaching and learning throughout the KwaZulu-Natal isiZulu speaking learners’ scholastic years. The study has proven that this approach to education will facilitate better understanding of the subject matter and thus curb the high failure rate, especially in the so called 'Black schools'. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

In theory, the South African government advocates additive bilingual education over subtractive bilingual education. However, this study shows that subtractive bilingual education supersedes additive bilingual education mainly because the official African languages of South Africa are being marginalised and not utilised as languages of teaching and learning in schools. The majority of isiZulu speaking learners in KwaZulu-Natal are underperforming academically under a subtractive bilingual educational system. The findings of this study acknowledge that there are numerous contributing factors to this problem, but the most obvious is that isiZulu speaking learners are compelled to write their examinations in English. This study employed a triangulation approach where various literary sources were consulted to illustrate how English has emerged as a dominant language on the local and global stage, and how this has affected the status and use of minority languages. Qualitative approaches were used to gather data from Grade 10 to 12 isiZulu speaking learners who attend the so-called 'Black schools' in the district of Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal. Questionnaires and experimental tests were used as the main instruments for gathering data from learners. One-on-one interviews were conducted with educators and other relevant stakeholders. The observation technique was also utilised to monitor the behaviour of isiZulu speaking learners in both affluent and previously disadvantaged schools. By examining Cummins’ interdependency hypothesis (1979, 1996 and 2000) as a theoretical framework, this research study has proven that the continued use of English as the only language of teaching and learning in South African ‘Black schools’ has a negative impact on the academic achievements of the KwaZulu-Natal isiZulu speaking learners. The study, therefore, calls for the introduction of a language policy that will promote dual bilingual education where both isiZulu and English are used as the languages of teaching and learning throughout the KwaZulu-Natal isiZulu speaking learners’ scholastic years. The study has proven that this approach to education will facilitate better understanding of the subject matter and thus curb the high failure rate, especially in the so called 'Black schools'. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)