The purpose of this study is to understand the nature and scope of protection of minority languages and assesses how international human rights law can protect minority languages in Africa. Focuses on three questions: (1) What is the normative content of language rights?, (2) To what extent does the African human rights system protect minority languages? and 3) What measures can be taken at the national and regional levels to improve respect for and protection of minority languages in Africa?’ / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2007. / Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Law University of Pretoria, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Masters of Law (LLM in Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa). Prepared under the supervision of Mr E.Y. Benneh of the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

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The purpose of this research study was to identify and define important components that might constitute an ecology of language (Mufwene 2001; Haugen 1972). Focusing on components as varied as social networks, physical ecology, identity and linguistic realities allowed for the construction of such a model, which was then applied to a specific case study addressing the vitality of Haitian Creole among first and second generation Haitian college students in South Florida. The resulting ecology of language model demonstrates that the competition and selection pressures guiding language use among first and second generation Haitian college students hinge on two ecological factors: the survey respondents' level of American acculturation and their desire to be involved in or affiliated with a separate subgroup of Haitians. The study found that (1) the reported language behavior of parents had no correlations with the respondents' interest in affiliating with other Haitians, and (2) Haitia n college students who do identify strongly with Haitian culture do not necessarily equate that cultural identity with the Haitian Creole language. These results suggest, in contrast to the claims of Zephir (2001), that Haitian college students will acculturate quickly into American linguistic society despite their desire to maintain the hyphenated identity of Haitian-American. Additionally, many of the conditions which are noted in the language endangerment literature (Grenoble & Whaley1998; Nettle & Romaine 2000; Crystal 2000) pointing towards language loss are occurring within the Haitian college community in South Florida. Despite the fact Haitian college students in South Florida all have positive attitudes towards Haitian culture and language, the respondents prefer to speak English rather than Haitian Creole. As is the case with other minority languages (Potowski 2010), it can be predicted that Haitian Creole will maintain its integrity and vitality in America continued / immigration. / by Kristyl Williams Kepley. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This thesis proposes that by producing and existing within a translingual text, the ethnofeminist has found a way to subvert others' construction of her and redefine her identity. In particular, the ethnofeminist uses code switching to select and reinvent meaning from the language system of the dominant culture while maintaining the language system of the "marginal" group. In combining two (or more) language systems within a literature she has created her own language.

This study examines pre-service teachers' attitudes toward language diversity and linguistically diverse students. Two hundred seventy-one teacher education students were surveyed to determine relative effects of demographic, mediating variables and psychosocial variables on language attitude as measured by the Language Attitudes of Teachers Scale (LATS). Independent variables include gender, age, race/ethnicity, teacher certification sought, region, psychological insecurity, cognitive sophistication, and helpfulness viewpoint. Research questions are established and methodology is outlined. A review of related literature places the study in the context of research with a broad interdisciplinary perspective and then links the study to other research relevant to the field of education. The findings of the study indicate that gender, race/ethnicity, teacher certification sought, political ideology, psychological insecurity, and cognitive sophistication contribute significantly to the variation found in attitude toward language diversity. The paper concludes with analyses and discussions of the significant variables and suggestions for application in teacher preparation.

Globalisation, a major aspect of English foreign language (EFL) education in the twenty-first century, can be described as the worldwide circulation of goods, services, and capital as well as information, ideas, and people. EFL educators encounter relentless demands to shift their positions, perspectives, and identities, and to assume many roles because they must accommodate new cultures and people in order to teach in their chosen field. We also have to accommodate differences in ideologically constructed representations of our roles as educators in terms of culture, class, gender, race, and religion within their various contexts. Thus, it can be difficult to determine exactly what one's role is in the context of globalisation. Using an analytic, auto-ethnographic, and naturalistic research design, I purposefully selected five EFL educators (six, including me) and investigated how we fit/belong at IPRIS, what our perceived roles as EFL educators are, and how our roles as EFL educators in full relate to globalisation. Bourdieu's experiences in Algeria, his theories arising from them, and Bhabha's notion of the third space, which is synchronistic with postcolonial theory, formed my theoretical framework. I collected data through interviews, reflexive journal, and critical incidents that were member checked to ensure trustworthiness. The inductively oriented data analysis yielded the themes and categories that are the foundation of this research. The emergent findings in this research were key in showing how the backgrounds of the participants positioned each of us so differently one from another as EFL educators. The varied ways in which the participants have discerned their roles as individuals and as EFL educators unfolded. The explicit commentary of all the participants in this study (including me) reflected a deep commitment to the needs of the students at IPRIS as we expressed our views on our roles. This research revealed the knowledge that I have built concerning myself, both in my context and in relation to others, by investigating the spaces in between coming and going, participant and researcher, educator and administrator; it has helped to reveal the fault-line spaces that shift in perspective and has thus helped me find my fit/belonging. The flipped researcher-participant roles allowed me to explain and further interrogate my own views of my role at IPRIS, as the primary participant, in relation to the secondary participants' perceptions of their roles. This research has also revealed both the positioning of the EFL educator and the space that English occupies globally, in which it has an opposing logic that sometimes results in hybridisation. The secondary participants' comments in this study reflected their perception that they needed to bring information from their prior experiences, both as educators and as people living in the world, to bear on their primary role of teaching English to Turkish students. Thus, none of the participants felt that they were enabled in their role, as all reported that they needed to add old experiences with the new in order to teach their assigned students and to navigate the terrain at IPRIS. Drawing from the definition of globalisation in the literature, I was also able to use the participants' current perceptions of the role of English as a global language to reveal their relationship to globalisation. As a result of my thesis research, I can recommend the use of analytic auto-ethnography as a form of professional development and evaluation. The degree of reflexivity involved can enable EFL educators at IPRIS and elsewhere to raise their own awareness of other people and of their institutional and cultural contexts.

The aim of this study is to show how some persons with one of the Swedish national minority languages as mother tongue use a library with regard to their mother tongue and culture. The research questions are: How do Sami-speaking, Finnish-speaking and Meänkieli-speaking (Tornedalen Finnish-speaking) persons use a library with regard to their mother tongue and their culture? What aspects do they find important in this use? As a theoretical frame I have used Marianne Andersson and Dorte Skot-Hansen’s model of the functions of the local library and Will Kymlicka’s theory of the value of maintenance of minority cultures. The study is a qualitative user study. Deep interviews have been conducted with 9 persons with Finnish, Meänkieli or Sami as mother tongue.The results show that the main use of the library is as a cultural centre and the most frequently used service is borrowing of literature. Most Finnish-speaking persons use the library this way and find it satisfactory. The Sami-speaking persons who read in Sami use the library but the small supply of Sami literature at the libraries is partly a limiting factor. The literature available in Meänkieli is limited, but some use the library to get access to this literature. Exhibitions and cultural arrangements are not attended very frequently and the library’s social function is not very prominent. Some persons use the library in their studies or in their profession to get access to literature in Finnish or Sami. The use of the library as information centre is minimal.The access to literature, the possibility to speak their mother tongue with the library staff and the highlighting of the literature and culture at the library are factors that are important and contribute to language-maintenance and strengthening of the identity. The accessibility to the literature itself and the children’s possibilities to use the library are also important factors. The study is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2006. / Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 44-06, page: 2509.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2005.