Through a historical perspective, this study highlighted significant events and milestones about multilingualism, cultural identity, and mathematics education in Morocco pre-, during, and post-French Protectorate. Prior research in this area has typically focused on the effect on education of multilingualism and cultural identity in general, involving mathematics education only in passing. This study’s purpose was to explore Morocco’s attempt to restore its cultural identity post-French Protectorate and how that attempt influenced the Moroccan mathematical educational system. In addition, this study focused on the Arabic and indigenous Berber (Tamazight) languages of instruction in mathematics in Morocco to investigate if teaching and learning mathematics in the Arabic and Tamazight languages in secondary schools is preparing students adequately for the tertiary level. Finally, this study attempted to see if multilingualism and cultural identity are at the heart of mathematical educational reform and to offer insight into the state of mathematics education reforms suggested by the Moroccan government to remedy this challenge. In order to develop a comprehensive picture of how multilingualism and cultural identity have historically influenced the mathematics education system in Morocco and answer the research questions of the study, a historical research methodology was employed based on views of numerous scholars about bilingual education, cultural identity, diglossia, and how they affect cognition and learning/teaching of mathematics. Supplementary knowledge about students’ achievements, retention, and dropout rates at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels by gender and grade were acquired and supported by quantitative available data in the official archives supplied by the Ministry of Education, UNESCO, and other organizations. After independence, the establishment of an educational system that would take into consideration the deeply rooted Arab-Islamic culture and language and, at the same time, make use of the imposed Western system was a priority. Arabisation received more attention, and the selection of Arabic as a national language was a form of countering the colonizer’s language policy. Morocco has a particularly complex language situation, where French predominates in most postsecondary institutions, despite attempts to restore Arabic. The indigenous Berber language also plays a role in local culture and education. This work reveals a great number of attempted reforms by the Moroccan government and also demonstrates serious flaws in recent past attempts to reconcile the language issues, but offer ways forward in relation to mathematics instruction.

The presence of Allophone students in French-language secondary schools in Ottawa is gradually increasing. While the politique d’aménagement linguistique (PAL) insists on the use of French within the school, one may begin to wonder which language Allophone students are speaking. French? English? Their native language(s)? This qualitative case study of four multilingual Allophone students explores their language repertoire use in relation to their desired linguistic representation, their linguistic proficiency in French, English, and their native language(s), and their perceptions of language prestige. The results indicate that students spoke a significant amount of English, some French (particularly with their teacher or Francophone classmates), and minimal amounts of their native language. Recommendations are suggested to increase the effectiveness of PAL within a Francophone minority context and to ensure that the policy’s objects are attained.

The purpose of the study is to investigate into professional knowledge of the bilingual teachers, compared to monolingual, and what benefits they give to pre-school. Qualitative method was used to get an understanding of informant´s perspective on bilingual teachers. The informants believe that bilingual teachers are able to understand all the children. A bilingual teacher can make the children feel secure. If one has a positive attitude toward bilingualism, the bilingual children also show a positive attitude that in turn contributes to learning and development of the language.

Background: Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive, late-life neurodegenerative disorder. Given the aging population, AD is a significant health concern. According to the Alzheimer Society of Canada (Smetanin et al., 2009), in 25 years 2.8% of the Canadian population will have AD or a related dementia. Presently, there is no cure for AD; therefore, efforts to either delay AD onset or prevent AD altogether are a primary focus. The ability to proficiently speak many languages has been associated with certain cognitive advantages. Based on these findings, multilinguals are hypothesized to be more resistant to cognitive decline than monolinguals. More research is warranted in order to further this theory and to contribute to strategies to prevent or delay AD. Objectives: The first study objective was to evaluate whether multilingualism was associated with the development of AD. The second study objective was to assess whether multilingualism was associated with later dementia onset. Methods: Analyses were based on data from the Nun Study, a longitudinal study of aging in 678 participants 75+ years living in the United States. In order to address the first study objective, the association between multilingualism and AD was assessed in 157 participants using logistic regression models adjusted for age, education, apolipoprotein E-E4 (ApoE-E4) status, immigrant status, and occupation. Additional subgroup analyses also included covariates associated with career length and linguistic ability (grammatical complexity and idea density). AD was diagnosed based on criteria for both clinical dementia and AD neuropathology. Dementia was diagnosed using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition criterion (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) (based on the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease battery of tests (Morris, Heyman, Mohs, & Hughes, 1989) and performance on activities of daily living), while AD neuropathology was based on the National Institute on Aging and Reagan Institute criterion (The National Institute on Aging - Reagan Institute (NIA-RI) Working Group on Diagnostic Criteria for the Neuropathological Assessment of Alzheimer's Disease, 1997). In order to address the second study objective, dementia likelihood was assessed in 325 participants using discrete-time survival analyses adjusted for age, ApoE-E4 status, education, and linguistic ability. Results: When adjusted for age, education, ApoE-E4 status, occupation, and immigrant status, participants speaking two or more languages had similar AD risks compared to monolinguals (OR = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.45-2.50). However, when grammatical complexity was held constant across participants, speaking two or more languages was associated with a four-fold decrease in AD risk compared to speaking one language (OR = 0.25; 95% CI = 0.04-1.23), although this did not reach statistical significance. When the association between multilingualism and time of dementia onset was assessed, the dementia hazard function estimates for all participants were constant and persisted throughout the follow-up period of the study. When ApoE-E4 status and baseline age were held constant, participants speaking four or more languages were significantly less likely to develop dementia than monolingual participants (OR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.01-0.66). An interaction between multilingualism and the other two covariates (ApoE-E4 status and baseline age) was observed: the oldest participants with an ApoE-E4 allele who spoke four or more languages had smaller dementia risks than younger participants without an ApoE-E4 allele who spoke one, two, or three languages. Participants speaking two or three languages were no less likely than monolinguals to develop dementia across the study duration. When idea density was held constant across participants, multilingualism was associated with a nonsignificant decreased risk of dementia for individuals speaking three (OR = 0.62; 95% CI = 0.16-2.41) or four or more languages (OR = 0.53; 95% CI = 0.06-4.91) while participants speaking two languages were no more at risk for dementia than monolinguals (OR = 1.08; 95% CI = 0.43-2.69). Discussion: Initially, multilingualism did not appear to confer protection against AD. After holding grammatical complexity constant across all participants, however, multilingualism was found to be associated with AD risk. Therefore, linguistic ability confounded the initial relationship measured by this study. When the association between multilingualism and time of dementia onset was evaluated, participants were no more likely to develop dementia in one time period than another, and monolingual participants were no more likely to develop dementia in earlier time periods than multilinguals. While a trend of decreasing dementia risk with ascending number of languages spoken was not observed, speaking four or more languages was consistently associated with decreased dementia risk compared to speaking one language. The presence of an ApoE-E4 allele and low linguistic ability had a strong and consistent significant association with increased AD and dementia risk. Therefore, the influence of these variables on the association of multilingualism with AD and dementia is worthy of further exploration. Overall, this study provided some support for a protective effect of multilingualism on AD and dementia. Some of the present investigation’s results differ, however, from those of previous studies. This is not surprising, considering the present study utilized different methodologies than other studies in this research area. For instance, our study employed a definition of multilingualism based on self-report data – participants were classified as multilingual based on the number of languages they reported proficiency with. Therefore, our definition of multilingualism was less strict than definitions used in previous studies. However, our study employed much stricter outcome criteria than those used in previous studies, as our study is the first in this area to confirm AD cases with AD neuropathology evaluations. Our study is also the first io utilize prospective data and to include participants who remained dementia-free in addition to participants developing AD and dementia. In addition, this is the only study in this research area to evaluate the relationship of multilingualism with AD and dementia in the context of important covariates such as ApoE-E4 status and linguistic ability. Therefore, while some of our results contrast with other findings in this area, this is understandable given our novel methodologies. A broad range of study methods must be used in the future if we are to generate the depth of evidence needed for a full understanding of the relationship of multilingualism with AD and dementia. A better understanding of this relationship may also provide insight into both cognitive and brain reserve mechanisms, which could help more individuals maintain cognitive function into late life.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how six students who attend a high school relate to their multilingualism and emphasize how their multilingualism has affected their views of themselves and their identity. The fundamental questions were: How do six students who attend a secondary school relate to their multilingualism? How has students' multilingualism affected their views of themselves and their identity? I did use a qualitative research method in terms of interviews to receive answers for my inquiries. Carla Jonsson (2010) speaks inter alia about “the third space” which concerns adolescents creating a “third room”. Almqvist (2006) believes that adolescents that are exposed to discrimination and prejudices can lead to them turning their backs on society in disappointment. Boyd (1985) has, in his thesis, found that multilingual students communicate with the majority language and with their mother tongue with their parents. Sjöqvist & Lindberg (1996) believe that people gain access to other cultures through their multilingualism which leads to new ways of thinking. The result of my investigation showed that the informants were in favor of their multilingualism and they see it as a benefit. The informants have created their own identity by combining their homeland’s language with the majority language. They see themselves as a resource for the society.

Thesis (doctoral)--Section des langues romanes, Université de Regensburg. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 631-653).

Thesis (doctoral)--Section des langues romanes, Université de Regensburg. / Dissertation : Regensburg : Literaturwissenschaften : 1981. - Bibliogr. p. 631-653. -

M.A. dissertation, University of Hong Kong, 1980.

After nearly 400 years of colonial occupation by Spain, the Philippine Islands were signed over to the United States in the 1898 Treaty of Paris along with other Spanish colonies, Guam and Puerto Rico. The American acquisition of the Philippine archipelago marked the beginning of rapid linguistic, social and political transformations that have been at the center of life in the Philippines for the last century, characterized by massive swings in national language policy, the structuration of the modern educational system, political reorganizations and increased involvement in the global economy. The rapid expansion of "education-for-all" during the American Period (1898-1946) set the foundation for the role of education in daily life and created a nation of multilinguals - contemporarily, most people speak, at the very least, functional English and Filipino (official and national languages, respectively) in conjunction with their L1 (mother tongue), of which there are an estimated 170 living varieties throughout the island array. This study focuses on the minority language of Ilocano, a branch of the Malayo-Polynesian (Austronesian) language family and is the third largest minority language spoken in the Philippines with over 9 million speakers spread throughout the islands, having a strong literary tradition and a clearly defined ethnolinguistic homeland in the northernmost region of the island of Luzon. The articles contained in this dissertation variously investigate the linguistic, social, and ideological implications of the last century of contact and colonization among speakers of Ilocano and seek to understand why (and how), in light of colonization, missionization, Americanization, and globalization, minority languages like Ilocano have remained robust. Taken together, these analyses shed light on the dynamic interplay between linguistic, social, and ideological processes as they shape contemporary language practices found among Ilocano speakers negotiating the terms of their local and national participation in a continually shifting social, political, and linguistic landscape.

This qualitative research study, conducted at Ben Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) in Beersheva, Israel, examined the interrelationships between language, identity and power in the context of a modern, multicultural society. The study focused on the impact of language use and status on the cultural, political and social identities of female students belonging to the Bedouin and the former Soviet Union (FSU) immigrant communities. As members of an ethnic subgroup of the Arab minority, and as females subordinated within their own traditionally patriarchal society, women of the indigenous Bedouin tribes of the Negev region have been dubbed a 'doubly marginalized' minority. In 1989, following decades of religious persecution, Jews were allowed to leave the FSU en masse; nearly one million have immigrated to Israel. This massive immigration of Russian speakers, as well as programs promoting study for Arabic-speaking Bedouin women, have led to greater diversity and increased multilingualism at BGU. The university offers a unique microcosm in which to study the language use, attitudes and consequent impact on the identities of these two distinctive minority groups.This study explored the attitudes of six female Bedouin and FSU immigrant students of BGU residing in the Negev region of Israel toward their first, second and foreign languages. Using data collected from in-depth interviews, I linked informant attitudes to underlying issues of gender, social status, identity, power and empowerment. Language took on new meanings and status as these students utilized Hebrew and English for purposes of communication and knowledge acquisition at the university level. Moreover, the new linguistic scenarios faced by Bedouin and FSU immigrant informants raised complex social issues and tensions, and influenced their perceptions about language and identity.Themes that emerged concerning language use and status, and self-perceptions of identity led to conclusions involving issues related to gender, social status, community, nationality, ethnicity, globalism, and power relations, as well as to future prospects made possible by higher education. It was demonstrated that, like the process of language acquisition, perceptions of identity and culture are dynamic in nature and are continually being reinvented.