William F. Mackey

Bilingual education and its social implications

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the social implications of bilingual education. The locus of bilingual schooling is the community. Bilingual education might be a matter of policy, a matter of need, or a matter of desire. Policy depends on principles, such as language parity, territoriality, freedom of choice, and the like. The need for bilingual schooling might be the consequence of differences in language status and language standardization. A desire for bilingual schooling might be the result of a belief that ones children might have certain economic or social advantages if they become fluent in a certain language. When one has identified the linguistic pattern and the language distribution of a community, he can consider the social implications of a national language policy, its language objectives, type of control, implementation at the level of the community, and the effects on the local social environment. The chapter provides an account of the important features of language education and national policy. It discusses national and regional control over educational priorities. It also presents a case study of the linguistic situation in Montreal.

Mother tongues, other tongues and link languages What they mean in a changing world

Planning for pluralism in education supposes an understanding of terms for the concepts on which policies are based. Foremost among these are terms related to language. Many of them have different meanings and connotations in different countries and cultures. Most of these terms emerged in the past within contexts quite different from those of today. The present contexts of language acquisition are characterized by various cultural and political regroupings in two opposing directions: supranational and, at the same time, irredentist. The social and political changes which have resulted have come about with a depth, range and swiftness never seen before, as a conse-

Polychronometry in Lesson Analysis.

Abstract There is a growing need for instrumentation which can enable us to observe and compute phenomena that take place in time. Although problems of observation, computation, interpretation and categorization vary from field to field and from problem to problem, it is possible to design an instrument for use in any situation where time-variables have to be measured as duration and frequency. The Polychronometer is suggested for such purposes. It is essentially composed of ten paired counter-timer sets each operated by a separate key. The ten keys are set in a keyboard which is plugged into the control box, each key being designed for a different finger of the left or right hand. A few hours of practice is sufficient to give an observer proficiency in operating the key board, sufficient to adapt to the rapidity of moving events. Further work is being done to develop different polychronometric techniques for the analysis of behavior.