Reversing Language Shift

by Joshua A. Fishman

Overview

This superbly organised presentation consists of four introductory theoretical chapters dealing with the why, what and how of RLS, six chapters devoted to 13 separate cases from various parts of the world and four concluding chapters that both restate the underlying theory as well as apply it more broadly, beyond the mother tongue transmission nexus, to second language for which intergenerational continuity is pursued precisely as second languages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853591211
Publisher:	Multilingual Matters Ltd.
Publication date:	09/05/1991
Series:	Multilingual Matters , #76
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	5.85(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Joshua A. Fishman is retired Emeritus Distinguished UniversityResearch Professor (Yeshiva Universityand Stanford University) and a frequent award recipient, lecturer, and publisher. He is also the co-founder of the field of sociolinguistics and founding editor of The International Journal of the Sociology of Language.

Table of Contents

Author’s Preface
LANGUAGE SHIFT AND REVERSING LANGUAGE SHIFT: INTRODUCTORY CONSIDERATIONS
1. What This Book as About and Why lt is Needed
2. Why Try to Reverse Language Shift and Is It Really Possible To Do So?
3. ‘Where' and 'Why' Does Language Shift Occur and How Can It Be Reversed? Locating Language Shift in Social Space and in Societal Dynamics
4. How Threatened is 'Threatened'? A Typology of Disadvantaged Languages and Ameliorative Priorities
CASE STUDIES: A BAKER’S DOZEN FROM SEVERAL CONTINENTS
5. Irish: What More Can Be Done?
6. The Cases of Basque and Frisian
7. Four American Examples: Navajo, Spanish and Yiddish (Secular and Ultra·Orthodox)
8. Maori: The Native Language of New Zealand
9. Prospects for Reversing Language Shift in Australia: Evidence from its Aboriginal and Immigrant Languages
10. Three Success Stories (More or Less): Modern Hebrew, French in Quebec and Catalan in Spain
RELATED ISSUES AND RECAPITULATION
11. On RLS-Focused Language Planning and on Dialect-Standard Issues and Corpus Planning in Particular
12. The lntergenerational Transmission of 'Additional' Languages for Special Purposes
13. Limitations on School Effectiveness in Connection with Mother Tongue Transmission
14. Theoretical Recapitulation: What is Reversing Language Shift (RLS) and How Can It Succeed?

Editorial Reviews

On the basis of detailed analyses of 10 threatened language-in-society constellations and of three formerly endangered but now secure constellations, Fishman (social sciences emeritus, Yeshiva U.) not only develops a closely argued theory of worldwide efforts on behalf of `reversing language shift', but also applies this same line of reasoning to the problems of maintaining the intergenerational continuity of second languages, ethnic heritage languages, and religious classical languages. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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