Rethinking Language Education policy in the Context of Multilingual/ Multicultural English

Globalization has brought about a phenomenal spread of English. This spread has led to the emergence of the newborn varieties which has created serious challenges to language teaching pedagogy and language education policy. Bangbose (2003) has clearly pointed to this issue, stating “as researchers in world Englishes, we cannot consider our job done if we turn a blind eye to the problems of educational failure or unfavorable language policy outcomes” (as cited in the Council of Europe, 2007, p. 31). It seems that there is a mismatch between the advances that happened in the field of applied linguistics and language education policy. This paper focuses on language education policy in the context of global English because it is considered one of the influential factors in the gap between English lingua franca reality and English as a native language. First, it gives a brief overview of the recent situation with regard to English and shows the recent reality of multilingual English and its multifarious aspect (Rahal, 2018 & 2019). It also discusses the conceptual gap in language education policy. It points to the conceptual gap between the sociolinguistic reality of English and the language education policy that is still oriented towards English as a native language. Then, the paper points to the need for a language policy that includes linguistic diversity.

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Language Education Policy and Sociolinguistics

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190458898.013.31 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Jürgen Jaspers

Keyword(s):

Education Policy ◽

Policy Implementation ◽

Language Use ◽

Linguistic Diversity ◽

Language Education ◽

Scholarly Work ◽

Language Education Policy ◽

Reform Initiatives ◽

Education Policies ◽

Nation States

Language education policies are pivotal in nation-states’ negotiation of a globalizing economy and a diversifying population. But certainly in urban, non-elite schools, where pupils’ linguistic diversity is pronounced, the fixation on language separation and multi-monolingualism produces salient sites of linguistic friction. Much scholarly work has successfully problematized this friction, producing an avalanche of criticism and ample calls for changes in schools’ approach to pupils’ primary linguistic skills and mixed language use. This chapter argues that while such calls are pedagogically exciting and justified on principle, a significant number of them reproduce some of the main assumptions behind the policies that they denounce, or invite problems of their own. Consequently, many calls for change may underestimate the difficulties of policy implementation, exaggerate their own effects, and overstate their critical character. This necessitates a reconsideration of the received relation between sociolinguistics and language education policy, and a revision of reform initiatives.

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In support of plurilingual people living in multilingual societies: Policies and frameworks of European language education

OLBI Working Papers ◽

10.18192/olbiwp.v2i0.1081 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Waldemar Martyniuk

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Education Policy ◽

Linguistic Diversity ◽

Language Education ◽

The European Union ◽

Language Education Policy ◽

European Language ◽

Council Of Europe ◽

Policy Documents ◽

Multilingual Societies

This article focuses on current European language education policy. It reviews relevant policy documents of the European Union and the Council of Europe. It also refers to the range of tools offered by the two intergovernmental organisations in support of linguistic diversity in contemporary European societies and the development of plurilingual abilities of their citizens

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LANGUAGE POLICY AND PEDAGOGY: ESSAYS IN HONOR OF A. RONALD WALTON. Richard D. Lambert and Elana Shohamy (Eds.). Amsterdam: Benjamins, 2000. Pp. xii + 279. $65.00 cloth.

Studies in Second Language Acquisition ◽

10.1017/s0272263102221063 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 122-123

Author(s):

Timothy Reagan

Keyword(s):

Education Policy ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Policy ◽

Language Education ◽

Foreign Language Education ◽

Deputy Director ◽

Language Policy And Planning ◽

Language Education Policy ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Policy And Planning

Language policy and pedagogy, as its subtitle suggests, is dedicated to A. Ronald Walton, who died quite young in 1996. Walton had served as the deputy director of the National Foreign Language Center (NFLC) in Washington, D.C., since its founding in 1986, and the contributors to this volume all have had direct or indirect connections to the NFLC. Further, the essays in this volume are all related to issues and areas that were of concern to Walton during the course of his career. All of that having been said, this work is considerably more than a typical Festschrift; it is in fact a timely and important contribution to the growing literature dealing with both language policy and planning studies and contemporary issues in U.S. foreign language education policy and practice.

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Power, policing, and language policy mechanisms in schools: A response to Hudson

Language in Society ◽

10.1017/s004740452000038x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 49 (3) ◽

pp. 461-475 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ian Cushing

Keyword(s):

Education Policy ◽

Language Policy ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

Applied Linguistics ◽

Language Education ◽

Standard English ◽

Language Education Policy ◽

Policy Documents ◽

Lead Teachers ◽

Policy Mechanisms

AbstractThis discussion is a response to Richard Hudson's response to my article, ‘The policy and policing of language in schools’ (Cushing 2019). Hudson argues that current education policy in England generally rejects and avoids prescriptivism and sets out to illustrate this in reference to a number of policy documents. As in my original article, I conceive of language policy as p/Political and one way in which language ideologies get turned into practices, through a series of policy mechanisms such as curricula, tests, and guidance for teachers. I show how these mechanisms do not ‘reject’ prescriptivism, but explicitly perpetuate it, and thus act as a system of coercion which can lead teachers into reproducing these ideologies in their practice. I argue that Hudson's argument is limited because of its depoliticised stance and understanding of key sociolinguistic concepts and issues, such as ‘Standard English’, ‘linguistic correctness’, and language education itself. (Language education policy, language ideologies, critical applied linguistics, schools, England)*

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The Study of Language Policy in Education in the Context of Belt and Road—The Contrast on Language Education Policy between China and Australia

Theory and Practice in Language Studies ◽

10.17507/tpls.1011.22 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (11) ◽

pp. 1489

Author(s):

Juan He ◽

Huaying Liao

Keyword(s):

Education Policy ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Language Policy ◽

Language Education ◽

Minority Language ◽

Foreign Language Education ◽

Foreign Language Teaching ◽

Cultural Communication ◽

Language Education Policy ◽

Belt And Road

The language education policy is closely related to economic development, cultural communication and language strategy. This is a contrast on language policy in education between China and Australia in terms of subjective language, ethnic minority language and foreign language education. Some suggestions on language policy implement including language protection, comprehensive foreign language teaching system and internet advantages are given, in order to be beneficial for future study.

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