ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the factors that are important in determining whether a language has minority status, and with some of the issues that have emerged in the sociolingustic study of bilingualism and minority languages over the last few decades. It refers to Britain as a whole, rather than England alone, and it also mentions studies in other parts of the world. The chapter provides a description and discussion of the patterns of language use among a range of linguistic minorities in England. There are several key factors which influence the status accorded to minority languages in the wider society and which are interrelated in a complex way with patterns of bilingualism. Factors affecting language maintenance may be fundamental external forces influencing the economic, political and social resources of a linguistic minority. The two concepts of 'domain' and 'diglossia' have been particularly useful in the development of sociolinguistic studies of bilingual societies.
