ABSTRACT
A little understood but widespread feature of many developing countries is the existence of population groups whose members do not speak the dominant language (or languages) of the country, that is, the language that predominates in the modern or formal sector of the economy. This characteristic exists in each of the major regions of developing economies.1 In Latin America, for example, indigenous or native languages are spoken by segments of the population in nearly all of the countries, although the languages brought over by the European conquest, in particular Spanish and Portuguese, dominate political and economic life.2 In Africa, the designation of country boundaries by the European colonial powers, with little or no regard for ethnic or language groups, combined with the migration of indigenous ethnic groups, has resulted in linguistic heterogeneity within individual countries. In Asia as well, linguistic heterogeneity in large countries (e.g., India and Indonesia), as well as in small ones (e.g., Laos, Papua New Guinea), has emerged as a frequently perplexing issue.
