Language Diversity and Language Policy in Educational Access and Equity

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. Tollefson ◽  
Amy B. M. Tsui
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Educational Access ◽  
Access And Equity

scholarly journals Adult literacy classes in Timor-Leste and diverse language values and practices across the regions: implications for language policy-making

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle Boon ◽  
Edegar da Conceição Savio ◽  
Sjaak Kroon ◽  
Jeanne Kurvers
Keyword(s):  
Education Policy ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Adult Literacy ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
National Language ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Timor Leste ◽  
Adult Literacy Education

Abstract This article draws on two studies of language diversity and adult literacy education in Timor-Leste that were conducted in different regions of the country between 2009 and 2013. Its central focus is on the day-to-day language practices and language values of local participants and the way in which these practices and values relate to national language policies. We first outline the views of language and of language policy-making that underpin our article. We then provide a brief overview of language-in-education policy-making in Timor-Leste with respect to provision for adult literacy. After that, we describe the design and conduct of the two studies and we present selected findings, drawing on both quantitative and qualitative data sources. The quantitative data were generated by means of questionnaire-based interviews and the research participants’ own accounts of their language repertoires, practices and values. The qualitative data were gathered via: (1) observation of adult literacy classes; (2) analysis of photographs of signage in local linguistic landscapes. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our findings for language-in-education policy development in the area of adult literacy provision in countries in the global south, such as Timor-Leste. Here we plead for a greater involvement of teachers and learners as actors, not mere bystanders, who can bring new voices into policy-making processes and into research into these processes.

The Economics of Language Policy

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Common Framework ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact

In an era of globalization, issues of language diversity have economic and political implications. Transnational labor mobility, trade, social inclusion of migrants, democracy in multilingual countries, and companies’ international competitiveness all have a linguistic dimension; yet economists in general do not include language as a variable in their research. This volume demonstrates that the application of rigorous economic theories and research methods to issues of language policy yields valuable insights. The contributors offer both theoretical and empirical analyses of such topics as the impact of language diversity on economic outcomes, the distributive effects of policy regarding official languages, the individual welfare consequences of bilingualism, and the link between language and national identity. Their research is based on data from countries including Canada, India, Kazakhstan, and Indonesia and from the regions of Central America, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Theoretical models are explained intuitively for the nonspecialist. The relationships among linguistic variables, inequality, and the economy are approached from different perspectives, including economics, sociolinguistics, and political science. For this reason, the book offers a substantive contribution to interdisciplinary work on languages in society and language policy, proposing a common framework for a shared research area Contributors: Alisher Aldashev, Katalin Buzási, Ramon Caminal, Alexander M. Danzer, Maxime Leblanc Desgagné, Peter H. Egger, Ainhoa Aparicio Fenoll, Michele Gazzola, Victor Ginsburgh, Gilles Grenier, François Grin, Zoe Kuehn, Andrea Lassmann, Stephen May, Serge Nadeau, Suzanne Romaine, Selma K. Sonntag, Stefan Sperlich, José-Ramón Uriarte, François Vaillancourt, Shlomo Weber, Bengt-Arne Wickström, Lauren Zentz

The Emerging Promise of Restorative Practices to Reduce Discipline Disparities Affecting Youth with Disabilities and Youth of Color: Addressing Access and Equity

2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 588-610
Author(s):  
COLBY T. KERVICK ◽  
MIKA MOORE ◽  
TRACY ARÁMBULA BALLYSINGH ◽  
BERNICE RAVECHE GARNETT ◽  
LANCE C. SMITH
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Change ◽  
Youth Of Color ◽  
Restorative Practices ◽  
Educational Access ◽  
Youth With Disabilities ◽  
Tier 1 ◽  
Access And Equity ◽  
Systems Of Support

In this article, Kervick and colleagues posit that restorative practices (RP) implementation promises to mitigate educational inequities resulting from discipline disparities for youth with disabilities and youth of color. Recent efforts to reduce these disparities have emphasized more relational approaches to behavioral change. Kervick et al. argue that nonpunitive restorative approaches promise to mitigate discipline disparities for racialized youth and youth with disabilities within a schoolwide multitiered systems of support framework only if implemented with an emphasis on educational access and equity. They offer practical tools and strategies to support teachers with implementation of inclusive, accessible, and equitable Tier 1 restorative circles.

scholarly journals Language Policy: European Criteria and Ukraine

2019 ◽  
pp. 9-31
Author(s):  
Bohdan Azhniuk
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
National Unity ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Linguistic Rights ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Regional Or Minority Languages ◽  
State Language

The article discusses a much-debated in Ukraine issue: what are the principles of language policy that can be labelled European, what are the major sources for the deduction of these principles and to what extent they could be implemented in Ukraine’s current language policy. It is argued that these principles can be deduced from the following major sources: national constitutions and legislative acts on language issues, international legal instruments (The European Charter of regional or Minority Languages), international declarations (The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights) that are not legal instruments at the moment, expert opinions of international committees and other bodies like the Venice Commission, OSCE, etc, scientific publications on language policy and language planning. The analysis of these sources gives justification to the following principles as reflecting the mainstream European conception of language policy and language planning: 1) maintaining the leading role of the official state language as the backbone of national unity, 2) protection of endangered languages and preservation of language diversity, 3) promotion of the bilingualism with sufficient competence in the state language, 4) effective management of the enforcement mechanism. The ratification by Ukraine of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages called attention to its implementation in Ukraine. The comparison of Ukraine with most European countries shows that in terms of linguistic rights the country’s main language (Ukrainian) is in a rather underprivileged position. There is growing awareness in the society that the idea of official or semi-official Ukrainian-Russian bilingualism was designed as an instrument of Russian foreign policy and became one of the key factors that provoked political instability in the country. Nowadays Russian is associated with the annexation of Crimea and justification of further aggression and the official upgrading of its status is perceived as jeopardy for the Ukrainian national identity and statehood. The change of the popular attitude to the idea of the official bilingualism has modified the positions of the major political players.

Languages of schooling in European policymaking: present state and future outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Lorenzo ◽  
Fernando Trujillo
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Past Research ◽  
Language Instruction ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Multilingual Education ◽  
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency ◽  
Future Outcomes ◽  
European Language Policies

AbstractEuropean language policies have unfolded under the umbrella of the Council of Europe and the European Commission over the last past decades. The major goal has been so far to handle autochthonous multilingualism and preserve language diversity. Major developments in this area has been followed by new political and educational targets. The first one is the spread of high levels of cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP) across all the student population. High CALP levels imply the acquisition of high order skills triggered by the practice of advanced language structures at school, mostly through language across the curriculum schemes. Secondly, their interests lie in the development of second language instruction competence (SLIC); i.e. the ability to process school content in a variety of languages so that multilingual education does not affect communicative levels only. CALP and SLIC will mark the political goals for language policy in the nearby future and it so happens that languages of schooling provide a framework to operationalize these goals. Following on past research on European multilingual language policies, this paper intends to explore the means to make this language policy happen in schools. The major concepts, innovations and policies discussed will be illustrated with examples from the course of History.

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