These essays investigate the challenge of language planning in modern society. Initially, the impact of legislation on a vernacular and the subsequent empowerment of specific speech communities are analysed. Contributors explore the value of employing a marketing approach for the development and enhancement of an indigenous tongue. Aspects of the status of language in the context of education are then examined, followed by an assessment of the impact of culture contact on social and linguistic intercourse. The concluding chapter considers a theory of endangeredness and seeks to establish the threshold beyond which a language is doomed to extinction. This volume is one of two, edited by Dr Nic Craith, dealing with language planning in contemporary Europe.