Bibliography: pages 305-319. / Colonisation has left Africa with a collection of multilingual states· whose physical lines of demarcation bear little relation to linguistic or cultural boundaries. Furthermore, the colonial period has left behind it a legacy of the colonial languages. As these states gained independence, the new political hierarchy has defined its language policy in accordance with its political ideology. This dissertation has been set out to examine the effects of the political ideology behind language medium choice during the British colonial rule in selected African states, on that which followed after independence. Secondly, there has been an attempt· to investigate possible connective links in the language policies of independent states on those of states which gain later independence. This has been undertaken with the aim of building up a set of criteria which might make it feasible to make certain predictions for the likely course of language policy in a future Namibia and South Africa. The question of instruction through the medium of the mother tongue as opposed to the arguments in favour of instruction through the medium of a language of wider communication (English in most cases here) is addressed. The role and nature of nationalism as the most significant political ideology of post-colonial African states i.s explored in as far as it determines language choice.

Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2000. / The primary intention of this study is that it will contribute to the theoretical and practical body of knowledge in the development of how effective policies are formulated, implemented and evaluated. The study therefore hopes to go some way towards contributing to knowledge in adequate planning and implementation of policy statements based on procedures offered by professionals. In this light the main debate is between linguistic conservationism and linguistic pragmatism. Here the study seeks to explore how the conflicts between these two views could possibly be reduced, if planning could focus more on domains and contexts of national language use. This process of narrower focusing, it is hoped, should be thoroughly informed by real and serious effort to integrate language policy with actual language use. This is in the hope that such an approach could lead to the identification and the addressing of language problems in Malawi- problems which are incompatible with the realisation of more substantive goals for all citizens. These include language in early education and language for access to social, economic and political development for all. Emerging from this study is the revelation that there is the absence of congruence between what policies stipulate and the practice on the ground. This incompatibility has led to a situation where languages are used for the benefit of agendas for politicians and the elite in achieving their goals at the expense QT other indigenous languages being used as instructional media and other regional and national purposes. The study therefore argues that language policies should be seen in the context of the roles they serve, the interest of the state and the various ethnolinguistic groups that the country has within its structure. As a state function, language policies should act as vehicles of transforming multilingual societies, through linguistic empowerment in which other ethnolinguistic groups do not feel threatened or excluded in the socio-economic and political advancement of the national life. The existence of the hegemony of particular chosen or selected languages, as we observe in this study, is the result of the predominance of undemocratic structures established by the status quo. The argument, therefore, is that linguistic diversity should be the norm in policy decision-making. The analysis of the current policies in Malawi reveals that a democratic commitment toward policy formulation translates into a struggle for language rights for all towards access and attainment of individual and national growth through equity in language use. Emanating from the findings from both the field study and secondary sources, suggestions of how an effective policy should be formulated are proposed, along with suggestions for further research related to this area of study.

Studying issues of heritage language (HL) maintenance is gaining more significance than ever as our lives become significantly more complex and dynamic because of frequent migration and the transnational diasporas that such migration creates in its wake. HL maintenance is important in multicultural environments because familial relationships depend heavily on successful communication among family members. Viewing HL maintenance as a social practice, this exploratory qualitative study attempts to understand how participants are involved in their children’s HL maintenance by investigating, comparing, and contrasting the participants’ attitudes and practices. This study recruited eight Korean immigrant families with different lengths of residence in Greater Vancouver, an area that has seen a steady growth in the numbers of Korean immigrants. Combining social practice theory and qualitative research, this study uses discourse analysis to explore the participants’ language ideologies and beliefs about HL maintenance. This study also explored actual parental involvement in their children’s HL acquisition and maintenance. Furthermore, this study examined participants’ technology use as a means of HL acquisition and maintenance. In particular, the participants’ online conversations were examined to explore language use. This study supports the view that the parental role is important, even paramount, in children’s HL maintenance, but goes beyond this to show how technology can play a positive role in HL acquisition and maintenance. There are three central findings. First, a match between parental attitudes and behaviours concerning HL acquisition and maintenance and contributes to their children’s HL maintenance. Second, a mismatch or inconsistency between parental attitudes and behaviours correlates with children’s HL attrition or loss. Third, language revitalization can occur through HL and cultural practices in various online activities such as synchronous and asynchronous online communication, including access to Korean websites and playing games in Korean. To conclude, examining HL maintenance as a social practice offers new insights into the complexity and dynamics of the social practices of HL maintenance in the lives of Korean immigrants in Canada.

Studying issues of heritage language (HL) maintenance is gaining more significance than ever as our lives become significantly more complex and dynamic because of frequent migration and the transnational diasporas that such migration creates in its wake. HL maintenance is important in multicultural environments because familial relationships depend heavily on successful communication among family members. Viewing HL maintenance as a social practice, this exploratory qualitative study attempts to understand how participants are involved in their children’s HL maintenance by investigating, comparing, and contrasting the participants’ attitudes and practices. This study recruited eight Korean immigrant families with different lengths of residence in Greater Vancouver, an area that has seen a steady growth in the numbers of Korean immigrants. Combining social practice theory and qualitative research, this study uses discourse analysis to explore the participants’ language ideologies and beliefs about HL maintenance. This study also explored actual parental involvement in their children’s HL acquisition and maintenance. Furthermore, this study examined participants’ technology use as a means of HL acquisition and maintenance. In particular, the participants’ online conversations were examined to explore language use. This study supports the view that the parental role is important, even paramount, in children’s HL maintenance, but goes beyond this to show how technology can play a positive role in HL acquisition and maintenance. There are three central findings. First, a match between parental attitudes and behaviours concerning HL acquisition and maintenance and contributes to their children’s HL maintenance. Second, a mismatch or inconsistency between parental attitudes and behaviours correlates with children’s HL attrition or loss. Third, language revitalization can occur through HL and cultural practices in various online activities such as synchronous and asynchronous online communication, including access to Korean websites and playing games in Korean. To conclude, examining HL maintenance as a social practice offers new insights into the complexity and dynamics of the social practices of HL maintenance in the lives of Korean immigrants in Canada.

Dissertation (Ph. D.)--University of Akron, Dept. of Curricular and Instructional Studies, 2005. / "August, 2005." Title from electronic dissertation title page (viewed 12/18/2005) Advisor, Susan Kushner Benson; Committee members, Susan Colville-Hall, Catharine Knight, Lynn Smolen, Matt Wyszynski; Department Chair, Walter Yoder, Jr.; Dean of the College, Patricia Nelson; Dean of the Graduate School, George R. Newkome. Includes bibliographical references.

Studying issues of heritage language (HL) maintenance is gaining more significance than ever as our lives become significantly more complex and dynamic because of frequent migration and the transnational diasporas that such migration creates in its wake. HL maintenance is important in multicultural environments because familial relationships depend heavily on successful communication among family members. Viewing HL maintenance as a social practice, this exploratory qualitative study attempts to understand how participants are involved in their children’s HL maintenance by investigating, comparing, and contrasting the participants’ attitudes and practices. This study recruited eight Korean immigrant families with different lengths of residence in Greater Vancouver, an area that has seen a steady growth in the numbers of Korean immigrants. Combining social practice theory and qualitative research, this study uses discourse analysis to explore the participants’ language ideologies and beliefs about HL maintenance. This study also explored actual parental involvement in their children’s HL acquisition and maintenance. Furthermore, this study examined participants’ technology use as a means of HL acquisition and maintenance. In particular, the participants’ online conversations were examined to explore language use. This study supports the view that the parental role is important, even paramount, in children’s HL maintenance, but goes beyond this to show how technology can play a positive role in HL acquisition and maintenance. There are three central findings. First, a match between parental attitudes and behaviours concerning HL acquisition and maintenance and contributes to their children’s HL maintenance. Second, a mismatch or inconsistency between parental attitudes and behaviours correlates with children’s HL attrition or loss. Third, language revitalization can occur through HL and cultural practices in various online activities such as synchronous and asynchronous online communication, including access to Korean websites and playing games in Korean. To conclude, examining HL maintenance as a social practice offers new insights into the complexity and dynamics of the social practices of HL maintenance in the lives of Korean immigrants in Canada. / Education, Faculty of / Language and Literacy Education (LLED), Department of / Graduate

<p> In the field of foreign language learning, there is much literature regarding the necessity of concurrent language and cultural competence acquisition, particularly in the 21^st century global community. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not require advanced foreign language study of its scholars. There is considerable resistance of individuals to foreign language acquisition and cultural adaptation, under the assumption that &ldquo;everyone else&rdquo; will speak English and will conduct business the same way we Americans do. While it is true that English is the most commonly used language used in international business, it is an indicator of an educated society that the citizens speak the languages and appreciate the cultures of their counterparts from other countries. Study Abroad programs have been increasing in popularity, particularly those eight weeks long or less. There is significant literature on the benefits derived from semester and year-long study abroad programs, but is scarce regarding the long-term benefits of short-term study abroad. This present qualitative study analyzed the reflections of a number of adults who have participated in at least one short term study abroad, to discover what their perceptions are regarding the long term benefits, in terms of language acquisition and increased cross cultural competence, of short term study abroad. The 13 participants had taken at least one short-term study abroad program, some of them as long as 20 or 30 years ago. Their reflections were strongly worded in favor of the life-changing benefits they still enjoy as a result of those programs, some as short as 10 days. They all reported a surge in personal growth and cross-cultural competence. Those who had a language component reported strong growth in fluency and culturally accurate usage, which has been carried forward in their personal and/or professional life. Some even reported a career change as a result of the study abroad. Further research could take the form of a mixed-methods longitudinal study of individuals, comprised of pre- and post-trip surveys and interviews, with further surveys and interviews after a period of several years.</p>

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<p> The purpose of this study is to address Korean adult L2 learners&rsquo; developmental English vowel acquisition process. The present study demonstrated how adult L2 learners turn their initial L2 proficiency into more advanced state, and how new L2 sound system relates with existing L1 sound system. The present study hypothesized that L2 learners&rsquo; phonetic category is subject to change followed by three stages of L2 vowel acquisition process: Stage 1 (Initial L2 proficiency), Stage 2 (Intermediate L2 proficiency), and Stage 3 (Advanced L2 proficiency). Secondly, this study hypothesized that L2 learners&rsquo; identity /attitudes/motivation may have an influence on their L2 perception and production.</p><p> To investigate Korean L2 learners&rsquo; English vowel learning process, this study carried out longitudinal experiments with 8 Korean adult L2 learners for 6 months. The experiments were conducted on a monthly basis and the procedure was controlled in a laboratory setting to examine any possible changes of L2 ability during L2 learning process. English tense/lax vowel contrasts (/i/-/I/ and /u/-/(n/a)/) and Korean rounded/unrounded vowels (/(n/a)(i)/ and /(n/a)(u)/) were used for the experiments. 360 tokens of English vowels (60 words &times; 2 vowel pairs &times; 3 speakers) were used for each perception test and a total of 2,160 stimuli (360 tokens &times; 6 times) were generated for perception experiments. Korean participants produced 360 tokens of English vowels (60 words &times; 2 tense/lax vowel pairs &times; 3 sets) and 160 tokens of Korean vowels (40 words &times; 2 rounded/unrounded vowels &times; 2 sets) in each production test. A total of 2,160 English tokens (360 tokens &times; 6 times) and 960 Korean tokens (160 words &times; 6 times) were generated for production experiments. Two different phonetic environments were provided; a case of cross-language similarity environment and an emergence of a new sound category.</p><p> The results demonstrated that Korean L2 learners&rsquo; English vowel productions have changed to a more native-like English vowel production through their L2 learning process. Thus, in the final experiment, Korean L2 learners&rsquo; English vowel production showed almost an exact similarity to native speakers&rsquo; vowel production. The present study investigated the relationship between adult L2 learners&rsquo; identity/motivation/attitudes and their L2 vowel perception and production. The result indicated that higher identity/attitudes/motivation may result in advanced L2 vowel perception and production. L2 learners&rsquo; L2 proficiency developed gradually. Hence the L2 learners&rsquo; L2 learning is able to be considered to be following the sequential development pattern accompanied by the process of L2 learning.</p>

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University