This report discusses trends in the study of Athapaskan, concentrating on language maintenance and bilingualism. It presents both the potential richness and the actual poverty of studies of sociolinguistic aspects of the Athapaskan languages. Noted are two trends--(1) There is a greater interest among linguists in the studies of language in use: studies of context, of diversity, and of the sociological aspects of language which are no longer considered uninteresting; and (2) There is evidence of an increasing sense of responsibility toward the speakers of American Indian languages. The report anticipates rapid advances in the study of Athapaskan language maintenance and bilingualism. (SK)