Books in the Sil International Publications in Sociolinguistics series

A collection of selected papers presented at SIL International''s Third International Language Assessment Conference in England (1997). Presents papers by leading scholars and SIL International language survey specialists that reflect various issues related to ethnolinguistic vitality and its assessment and present a variety of approaches to this study. Includes the sociology of language, anthropological grid/group model, social network theory, and motivations for ethnolinguistic vitality maintenance, power, and solidarity orientations. Is of interest to sociolinguists, sociologists, anthropological linguists, and those in language planning and language development. Is a source of information about a wide range of language situations, and an encouragement to those working among speakers of less commonly known languages.

Dr. Showalter examines language attitudes and bilingualism in four rural speech communities in Burkina Faso, West Africa. His study provides a detailed look into ways in which these communities respond to the everyday linguistic diversity of their milieu. Maps and diagrams add clarity in explaining the linguistic situation. For his research, he adapted the matched-guise testing method in order to explore attitudes toward the language variation that permeates rural West African life. His results demonstrate the viability of indirect testing methods in this environment. They reveal, on the one hand, numerical measures of linguistic variability and bilingual achievement, and on the other hand, community attitudes toward shared ethnic identity, social contact, linguistic awareness, personal character, and social status. He fleshed out the survey data with ethnographic insights gained during the two years he spent in rural Burkina Faso carrying out his research. Linguists and anthropologists interested in the interplay of language and society, as well as Africanists seeking a better understanding of the sometimes astounding linguistic diversity of the region, will find this book especially valuable.

Modern economic and technological changes are accelerating the rate of social change in indigenous cultures around the world. The Ashéninka of the Amazon jungle region of east-central Peru confront change from two perspectives: the individual and the sociohistorical. All Ashéninka recall through their stories the four centuries of change since their earliest contacts with Spanish speakers. For the Ashéninka, all learning is situated in a complex blend of factors: history, beliefs, motives, practices, and persons. Children learn some skills in a guided manner, similar to apprenticeship, in which an adult consciously aids the child. They learn other skills in a nonguided manner; the child organizes the learning activities, which take the form of dramatic play, solitary experimentation, and collaborative learning with peers. As with learning traditional Ashéninka culture, the learning of a new culture is situated in its own complex blend of factors. Increasing contact with Spanish-speakers and increasing dependence on the market economy prompt the Ashéninka to give more value to learning Spanish, to organizing into villages, and to giving their children a school education. Anderson's methodology in studying social change and its effects on education are applicable in many other parts of the world.