‘Burdens’ and ‘handicaps’ in Singapore’s language policy: on the limits of language management

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel Wee
Multilingua ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anik Nandi

AbstractMacro-level policy makers, perceived as stakeholders of language management, employ a range of language policy strategies to legitimise hegemonic control over meso- (i.e. family) and micro- (i.e. individual) level language ideologies (Cassels-Johnson 2013). However, language policies of an individual are often difficult to detect because they are implicit, subtle, informal, and often hidden from the public eye, and therefore frequently overlooked by language policy researchers and policy makers. The primary focus of this study is to investigate how individual, as well as collective linguistic practices of Galician parents act as language governmentality (Foucault 1991) measures influencing their children’s language learning. Drawing from multiple ethnographic research tools, including observations, in-depth fieldwork interviews and focus group discussions with parents, this paper demonstrates that in Galicia’s language shift-induced shrinking Galician-speaker pool, pro-Galician parents can play an important role in the language revitalisation process. The goal is also to ascertain whether these parents’ grassroots level interrogation of the dominant Castilian discourse takes the form of bottom-up language policies.


Multilingua ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Smith-Khan

AbstractTheories of language policy increasingly emphasise focusing on the specific contexts in which language management occurs. In government settings, policy seeks to shape how individuals interact with officials. Australian asylum procedure is an area where policy aims at tight control. I examine how communication is managed in this setting, in which successful outcomes are so important. After reviewing the relevant policy documents, I explore the experiences of individual refugees and migration agents through a series of qualitative interviews. I consider the relationship between language management, beliefs and practice in this context and find that individual experiences in this setting can differ. This article demonstrates the impact of several agents in the co-construction of the refugee narrative, noting that while standardisation is institutionally valued, variation is inevitable. The findings suggest that outcomes depend on much more than just official policy.


Via Latgalica ◽  
2016 ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Sanita Lazdiņa

<p><em>The aim of this article is to identify links observable in social practice between the process of multilingualism and the teaching of language and other subjects in school, as well as associated opportunities and models which are supported by the strengthening of interdisciplinary aspects.</em></p><p><em>The article consists of five sections: the first two mainly theoretical, the last three – supported by empirical evidence. The first section is devoted to a theoretical explanation of the basic elements of language policy referenced by the title (language practices, ideology, and language management). Two approaches in modern education – the so-called monoglossic and heteroglossic approach – which reflect certain ideology about language teaching methods, are described in the second section. The third section provides insight into Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)</em> <em>and the realization of this method in Latvia, while the fourth details the planning and practice of “Regional Studies” as a subject of study from the perspective of the heteroglossic approach. The fifth chapter outlines the experience of multilingual education in the European context, analyzing language education policies in the province of Friesland.</em></p><p><em>The questions raised in the article have been evaluated in practice by: 1) preparing a publication on the CLIL approach internationally and in Latvia, and cooperating with teachers in all Latvian regions who utilize this approach in their schools; 2) leading teacher training courses on the use of digital tools in the teaching of Regional Studies and other subjects (conducted in Rēzekne in March and April of 2015); 3) collecting evidence from trilingual schools in the Dutch province of Friesland (lessons in six schools were observed in October 2015; additionally, interviews were conducted with teachers, schoolchildren and principals).</em></p><em>In Latvian schools, both the monoglossic and heteroglossic approaches are observable. However, these different approaches are not mutually exclusive; rather, they exist on a continuum. It is recommended that schools in Latvia be given greater autonomy to choose their own language policies, in a similar fashion to the Frisian schools previously described in the ethnographic observations; this is not to speak against state language policy, but merely to highlight a need for school language policy to reflect regional specifics and context. </em>


2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Rudwick

Abstract While many universities in the world are making provisions to include the English language in their institutional structure, the South African University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is opposing the hegemony of English in its institution. The University has launched a language policy and planning (LPP) strategy that makes provisions first to incorporate the vernacular language Zulu as language of learning and teaching, and second, to promote it as a subject. In this vein, the institution recently made an unprecedented decision for the South African higher education system. Since the first semester of 2014, a specific Zulu language module is a mandatory subject for undergraduate students who have no proficiency in the language. Although considered a watershed moment among many African language promoters, the mandatory ruling is fiercely discussed and debated in the institution and beyond. Theoretically grounded in Language Management Theory (LMT) and empirically based on semi-ethnographic fieldwork, this article examines the interplay between macro and micro language dynamics at UKZN in the context of the mandatory Zulu module. In juxtaposing interview discourses of language policy stakeholders with those of Zulu lecturers, the study reveals a stark discrepancy between macro and micro language management at this university. The article argues that this mismatch between the language policy intents and actual practices on the ground is symptomatic for South Africa’s language policy in education being shaped more by ideological interests than by pedagogical regards.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Leilarna Elizabeth Kingsley

<p>For decades the primary focus of language policy research has been activities by states and their agencies, while language policy activities in workplaces have attracted little attention. Addressing this gap, explicit and implicit dimensions of language policies are investigated in financial institutions operating in the globalised context of international banking in multilingual Luxembourg. Three complementary theoretical frameworks are used to extend language policy research to include not just explicit aspects of language policy (language policy statements), but also implicit aspects (the language practices and beliefs of a community). Spolsky's (2004) theory is used to identify and analyse three components of language policy (management, practices and beliefs); Language Management Theory (LMT) (Jernudd and Neustupny, 1987) is used to explore one specific component of language policy (management), and Shohamy's (2006) framework is used to explore the complex interaction between management, practices and beliefs. The data base for the study comprised two phases: the first phase involved interviews with managers in ten Luxembourg banks regarding language policy, followed in the second phase by questionnaires and focus-group discussions with employees from three case study banks regarding language use and beliefs. This empirical data suggests that even in banks where English has been formalised as the working language, multilingual mechanisms (recruitment and language courses) contribute to employees' practices effectively creating, a top-down multilingual implicit (de facto) policy. The data from international banks in Luxembourg suggests that a flexible approach to language management is useful in workplaces where communication is complex, multi-faceted and dynamic. The bottom-up perspective indicates that employees at international banks use English as a lingua franca (ELF) alongside other languages, negotiating language choice across speech communities and linguistic repertoires, for transactional and relational purposes. These multilingual employees highly value English as the most common language in banks for including and involving all, highlighting its vital role in banks. Because the data provides a strong argument for the consideration of both top down and bottom up perspectives, the results have theoretical significance for our understanding of language policy. Overall, this thesis provides insights into the complex nature of language policy in multilingual workplaces, including the importance of both top-down and bottom-up pressures on language practices, the crucial role of ELF and the relevance of attitudes towards ELF and other languages at local and global levels of management.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Fu

Despite scholarship on emergent bilingual students that continues to evolve, the subgroup of emergent bilinguals who are labeled as long-term English learners (LTELs) have been overlooked and underserved for too long. LTELs refer to English learners who have been educated in a U.S. school for six years or more. This literature review is aimed at bringing awareness to this subgroup population and identifying the characteristics and classification process of LTELs described in the present scholarship. The review critically examines the de facto policy about LTELs from perspectives of the current climate of standardized tests (language management), the label itself (language ideology), and programs and schooling experience of these students (language practice). The literature review not only speaks to the stereotypes, struggles, and challenges that LTELs face, but also calls for future research studies to be conducted in addressing these problems pedagogically, institutionally, and systematically. Keywordslong-term English learners, English proficiency, language policy, standardized test, labeling


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira Maria Fran Lumbanbatu ◽  
Sumarsih Sumarsih ◽  
Lince Sihombing

The objectives of this study are to investigate the way the bilingual families decide their own language policy through the components of language policy, the way the parents apply language policy to succeed their children words production, and to find out the factors why the parents apply the language policy the way they are. This research applied qualitative approach by phenomenology term through observation, questionnaire and in–depth interview. The research findings showed that bilingual families use the components of language policy namely language ideology, language practice and language management. Mostly parents considered language ideology and language management. Otherwise, language practice were not applied by them completely, it can be seen through language that their children use will be different with what the parents have expected. Language policy is applied in family by practicing the language directly. There are some influences that make the parents practice the language directly, namely: influences of outside home and there is no balance guidance of practicing language between mother and father. Factors that support parents in conducting language policy are intermarriage, maintaining the language particularly tribal language, the position of language using in formal context such as school and the position of language which is used in their environment.   Keywords: Bilingual families; Language policy; and Word Production.


2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 745-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trang Thi Thuy Nguyen

AbstractThis article examines Vietnamese ethnic minority students’ language practices under the influence of external interventions from a language management perspective. It focuses on the ways the students engage with various levels of interventions in their language practices. The study mainly draws on a group of college-age minority students’ experiences and perspectives collected through semistructured interviews. Findings suggest that the students, in making decisions to use their ethnic language and Vietnamese, the mainstream language, responded to interventions by the school and the ethnic community by adapting to the latter's language policy, while reinterpreting to conform to/deviate from interventions by other individuals such as their parents, their teachers, or their peers. In that process of managing their language practices, they reframed their identity in which both maintenance and transformation orientations were active. Implications related to minority language policy and language maintenance are then suggested. (Language management, individual language management, language practices, language choice, language policy, language maintenance, ethnic minority)*


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