A set of detailed accounts about the kind of work that is going on now as people struggle for their linguistic survival; also serves as a manual of effective practices in language revitalization.
Showcases recent developments in methodology, technology and analysis, drawing on experience gained in a global range of documentation projects; illustrates the significance of documentary linguistics not only as a set of documentary practices, but as a scientific discipline in its own right.
Includes six studies on the acquisition of Mesoamerican indigenous languages and a crosslinguistic study of five Mayan languages; makes important claims regarding the methodology of cross-linguistic studies as well as the results of these studies and the comparative method used in the book.
A lively and factual account of the rise of English as a global language and explores the whys and wherefores of the history, current status and future potential of English as the international language of communication.
Provides a showcase of the diverse and powerful impacts that English has had on so many non-English language cultures - as well as the ways in which it can infiltrate individual psyches.
Addresses language spread and subsequent marginalization of minority languages, language endangerment and revitalization, contact-induced language change, and identity issues, with an emphasis on the dominance of non-Western languages, namely Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.