ABSTRACT
In community-based work language is an important issue. Because of the focus on local knowledge and local control of projects, those who work on community-based projects are expected to be sensitive to how individuals and communities define themselves and their social situations. This chapter explores an aspect of language that is not often emphasized in community-based work, that is, linguistic diversity. Specifically important is the discussion of multi-linguistic communities and allowing these persons to speak in the language they feel is most relevant. Also addressed is the problem is linguistic suppression and what happens when a so-called official languages begin to dominate other modes of speech. The key point in community-based projects is to allow persons to speak in their own voice. In many cases, however, this principle is not easy to implement.
