This volume addresses the question 'What role does religion play in the maintenance, revival and/or shift, of languages?' The chapters in this volume explore the complex and dynamic relationship between religion and the maintenance, revival and/or shift of languages in different multilingual multicultural contexts, under diverse sociopolitical conditions, at different points in time. The 12 chapters cover data from Algeria, India, Israel, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, UK, USA and Uganda and discuss the impact of context, ideology, identity and education on the following religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and some religions closely associated with China such as Confucianism and Taoism, and their respective languages and varieties of language in these regions. The languages discussed by the writers in this volume include Arabic, English, Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamazight and Yoruba.

This volume addresses the question 'What role does religion play in the maintenance, revival and/or shift, of languages?' The chapters in this volume explore the complex and dynamic relationship between religion and the maintenance, revival and/or shift of languages in different multilingual multicultural contexts, under diverse sociopolitical conditions, at different points in time. The 12 chapters cover data from Algeria, India, Israel, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, UK, USA and Uganda and discuss the impact of context, ideology, identity and education on the following religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Sikhism, and some religions closely associated with China such as Confucianism and Taoism, and their respective languages and varieties of language in these regions. The languages discussed by the writers in this volume include Arabic, English, Hebrew, Malay, Mandarin, Portuguese, Punjabi, Pali, Sanskrit, Tamazight and Yoruba.

Media matters to politicians, celebrities, advertisers, teachers, and to anyone who depends on media for information, or finds themselves affected by their representations and images. A detailed linguistic analysis of media enriches our understanding of the power of language and informs readers how they are positioned by such linguistic representations. This book is concerned with the analysis of language in various media and textual examples from talk-back television chat shows, advertisements, editorials and news stories are used to provide a critical awareness of language in the media. The linguistic elements examined encompass rhetorical structures, semiotics, back channeling cues, and sequencing. Readers will have a better understanding of media language analysis and the theories that underpin it. Some of the papers were originally presented at an International Conference on Language and Communication in the Media and held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from April 27-29, 2004. Other papers have been solicited.