Language Policy

Copyright © 2004 by Kandanai Worajittipol
All abstracts © by their respective owners.

Language Educational Policy

Language educational policy plays an important role in development of foreign and second language teaching and learning in each country. This section collects most of the articles, some book reviews, and websites related to language policy in several countries including the U.S.A., Thailand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and so on. These resources discuss the effects of regional and local politics, national identity, cultural differences, religious and socioeconomic component on language educational policies.

In addition, this section covers other related issues such as language educational reform, ways foreign languages are taught in each country, teaching and learning experiences of foreign languages in different countries, minority languages study, bilingual education, intercultural education, teacher education, and English as a global language.

1. Title: What We Can Learn From Foreign Language Teaching In Other Countries
Author: Ingrid Pufahl, Nancy C. Rhodes, and Donna Christian
Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics
September 2001
EDO-FL-01-06

Compared to students in much of the world, U.S. students lag far behind in their foreign language capabilities. The study discussed in this digest has provided valuable insight into successful foreign language education in other countries. The authors suggest that the United States can learn a great deal by studying these successes and using the information to implement practices and policies that will support the development of better foreign language education and a higher level of foreign language proficiency among the U.S. citizens.

2. Title: The new curriculum: The countdown has begun
Author: Terry Fredrickso
Source: The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd.
Last modified July 8, 2002

Annotated B.: Thailand’s primary and secondary schools are scheduled to begin teaching a progressive new curriculum. The new curriculum is intended to address inadequacies in mathematics, science,
technology and foreign language education, particularly the teaching of English. In addition,
it is designed to undo the failure of the current system to foster critical thinking and the
life skills necessary cope with our rapidly-changing world.

3. Title: Stickman's Guide to Teaching English in Bangkok
Author: Stickman et al.

This website was created to provide an overview of the English teaching industry in Thailand, particularly Bangkok. It aims to provide information to prospective teachers about teaching in Thailand. The authors hoped that this page will appeal to both people interested in working in Bangkok and those who have already chosen it as their workplace.

4. Title: Hilltribes of Northern Thailand: WHAT IS SAKURA PROJECT?
Author: Takashi Miwa

The Government of Thailand drives new policy to recognise hilltribes who have been settled within
Thailand as a Thai national, and build primary schools even in the mountain and provide education in Thai language. Sakura Project, with the cooperation of people from Japan, established scholarship scheme and supports education for hilltribes.

5. Title: Teaching English as Culture: Paradigm Shifts in Postcolonial Discourse.
Authors: Eugene C. Eoyang
Source: Diogenes (Sage Publications Inc.); 2003, Vol. 50 Issue 2, p3, 14p
Document Type: Article

Abstract: Relates author's experience in teaching English in Hong Kong, China, before and after 1997,
during the end of the colonial and the beginning of the postcolonial era. Peda-linguistic categories of English as a foreign language and English as a second language; Postcolonial critique in general of hegemonic languages; Challenge of teaching students' unbroken English.

6. Title: Regional Identity, Language and Education Policy in Switzerland.
Authors: Hega, Gunther M.
Source: Compare: A Journal of Comparative Education; Jun2001, Vol. 31 Issue 2, p205, 23p
Document Type: Article

Abstract: This article argues that identity and language issues exert a powerful influence on the politics and policies of education in Switzerland. Regional and local linguistic and cultural differences affect the education policies of the Swiss federal government, the 26 Swiss cantons, and the more than 3000 Swiss communities. Switzerland's highly decentralized political system and its mechanisms of direct democratic citizens' participation force educational policy-makers at the national, regional, and local level to take into account not only their own locality's culture and language, but also that of their neighboring towns, cantons, and regions. The article uses the example of the introduction of second language instruction as a case study to illustrate why and how education policy at all levels of the polity reflects Switzerland's cultural and linguistic diversity and the strong local and regional identities of the Swiss citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

7. Title: Overrepresentation of bilingual and poor children in special education classes: A continuing problem.
(Can also be found here).
Authors: Connor, Mary H. & Boskin, Joseph
Source: Journal of Children & Poverty; Mar2001, Vol. 7 Issue 1, p23, 10p
Document Type: Article

Abstract: Sufficient research has not been directed toward the effect of language and dialect on the placement of children in special education classes. This inquiry considers teachers' choices of assessment materials and knowledge of second language learning in young pre-literate children. Data was gathered from a representative sampling of kindergarten-aged children receiving special education services in three urban Massachusetts communities. The inquiry resulted in a finding of a lack of information on the part of educators as to selection of proper assessment instruments, knowledge of second language learning, and consequent misplacement of young children into special education classes as a result of culture and ethnicity rather than cognitive or physical need. This review highlights the need for further research into the continuing problem of the overrepresentation of poor and bilingual children in special education classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

8. Title: 'Internationalisation' is 'Japanisation': Japan's foreign language education and national identity.
(Can also be found here).
Authors: Hashimoto, Kayoko
Source: Journal of Intercultural Studies; Apr2000, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p39, 13p
Document Type: Article

Abstract: This paper looks at how the Japanese government's educational policy documents define
'internationalisation' explicitly or implicitly, and how the policy is related to the relationships between Japanese citizens and TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language). This is done by text analysis, identifying silences, abstractions and contradictions in policy documents. The paper shows that the commitment of the Japanese government to internationalisation in education actually means 'Japanisation' of Japanese learners of English. The paper emerges from my Ph.D thesis (Hashimoto, 1997) which is a social inquiry into TEFL in Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

9. Title: Swedish primary school pupils' inter-ethnic relationships.
Authors: Vedder, Paul & O'Dowd, Mina
Source: Scandinavian Journal of Psychology; Sep99, Vol. 40 Issue 3
Document Type: Article

Abstract: The aim of the Swedish educational policy is educional participation and academic achievement for all children, irrespective of ethnic backgroud. Majority lauguage instruction is an imortant tool used to achieve this goal. We argue that taking lessons in Swedish-as-a-second-lanuage (S2) sets children apart in their class and limits their possibilities to interact with Swedish children and the immigrant children, who do not receive S2-lessons. In accordance with the contact hypothesis, we assumed that this limitation would have a negative impact on peer evaluation of these pupils' social competence. 394 children in ethnically mixed classes (grades 4-6) participated in the study reported in this article. As hypothesized, S2-children's sociability was evaluated significantly lower than that of Swedish children. Immigrant children, who do not have S-2 lessons, do not have significantly lower scores. These findings were confirmed, using teachers' evaluations of children's social competence. It is suggested that more research is needed to investigate whether communicative skills, academic competence, or, perhaps, the organizational consequences of extra language lessons play a role in children's assessments of peer social competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

10. Title: Contrasting Zones of Comfortable Competence: Popular Culture in a Phonics Lesson.
Authors: Rymes, Betsy1
Source: Linguistics & Education; Sep2004, Vol. 14 Issue 3/4, p321, 15p
Document Type: Article

Abstract: This paper looks at the notion of future shock as it becomes instantiated in language and interaction in a reading lesson with second language learners. Bringing the concepts of communicative competence and language socialization to a Vygotskian understanding of development, the author suggests that current educational policy encourages teachers and students both to retreat to differing comfort zones, and that a policy which encourages them to depart from those retreats, by taking advantage of students’ multiple communicative competencies, could more adequately prepare students to take active roles in the current multimedia world.

11. TITLE: "Do You Know Your Language?" How Teachers of Punjabi and Chinese Ancestries Construct Their Family Languages in Their Personal and Professional Lives
AUTHORS: June Beynon, Simon Fraser University
Roumiana Ilieva, Simon Fraser University
Marela Dichupa, Simon Fraser University
Shemina Hirji, Surrey School District British Columbia, Canada
SOURCE: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2003, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pages 1-27 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0201_1)

ABSTRACT:

This study focuses on how teachers of minority ancestries construct and represent their family language identities. Drawing on poststructural (Hall, 1996; Norton, 2000), postcolonial (Ang, 1994; Luke & Luke, 2000) and sociocultural (Holland, Lachicotte, Skinner, & Cain, 1998) theory on culture, identity, and language we explore the complex nature of the linguistic identities of 25 teachers of Chinese and 20 teachers of Punjabi ancestries. We consider the different ways in which respondents of these ancestries represented their identities in minority languages in various sociocultural settings and the implications of these representations for employment. Accounting for this diversity should contribute to reconstructing authoritative discourses (Bakhtin, 1981) regarding employment of racial minorities in public education and thus to making mainstream institutions more equitable and inclusive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHORS]

12. Title: The Interrelationship of Beliefs, Context, and Learning: The Case of a Teacher Reacting to Language Policy
Author: Tom T. Stritikus, University of Washington
Source: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2003, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pages 29-52 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0201_2)

Abstract:

In this article, I trace the complex ways that literacy and language policy are translated into classroom practice through the examination of a single telling case.1 I demonstrate that the role teachers play in the process can best be understood by considering a variety of factors which have been advanced in policy research to explain variations in policy implementation. These include the nature of the local school context, the beliefs and experience of the teacher, and ways in which the teacher might learn from the new policy context. I underscore these claims with empirical data related to a teacher's role in the enactment of Proposition 227-the California initiative designed to end bilingual education. The article presents select findings from a 11/2-year-long ethnographic study of a California district that allowed individual schools to develop their own Proposition 227 implementation plans. Through detailed examinations of the classroom literacy practice of a former bilingual teacher, this article illustrates how the individual qualities of a teacher played a significant role in the enactment of literacy practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
 

13. Title: Effect of Religion, First Foreign Language, and Gender on the Perception of the Utility of Language
AUTHORS: Kassim Shaaban, American University of Beirut
Ghazi Ghaith, American University of Beirut
SO: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2003, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pages 53-77 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0201_3)

Abstract:

This study investigates the linguistic attitudes of college students in Lebanon towards the languages that help define the multilingual character of the country, namely, Arabic, French, and English. One hundred seventy-six (n = 176) students completed a 31-item questionnaire that assessed their attitudes towards the utility of each of the 3 languages. The results of the study show that students perceived the foreign languages, French and English, as more useful than the native language, Arabic, in the domains of science, technology, and business. In addition, although the study shows no statistically significant differences in the attitudes of male and female students, it shows that the variables of religion and first foreign language studied at school influenced the linguistic attitudes of the participants. The results are discussed in light of the religious and socioeconomic composition of the Lebanese society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHORS]

14. BOOK REVIEW: Identity and Language Learning: Gender, Ethnicity, and Educational Change.
Author: Bonny Norton, London: Longman, 2000. Pp. 173 + xxi
Source: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2003, Vol. 2, No. 1, Pages 79-81 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0201_4)

BOOK REVIEW: by Robert Bayley, University of Texas at San Antonio
Identity and Language Learning is a highly readable account of the language learning odysseys of five immigrant women in Canada. Norton focused on one of the central paradoxes of second language acquisition for many adult immigrants. Successful language acquisition requires extensive interactions in the target language. Yet, to interact in the target language, the learners must have already achieved at least a minimal level of communicative ability. Moreover, as the case studies Norton recounts clearly show, a minimal level of communicative ability does not guarantee that the learner will be able to participate in the kinds of interactions that facilitate second language acquisition (SLA). Rather, the decision to participate in such interactions is more often than not in the control of native speakers of the target language, whose status as native speakers places them in a privileged position, rather than in control of the learner.

15. Title: Class, Ethnicity, and Language Rights: An Analysis of British Colonial Policy in Lesotho and Sri Lanka and Some Implications for Language Policy
Authors: Janina Brutt-Griffler, University of Alabama
Source: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2002, Vol. 1, No. 3, Pages 207-234 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0103_3)

Abstract:

This study examines language policy in two British colonies, Basutoland (Lesotho) and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It finds that mother tongue education and the concomitant restriction of the teaching of English for the working classes in these colonial contexts constituted a form of industrial education. On the basis of these data, a critique is offered of some of the problematic assumptions of the language rights literature, which tends to reduce language rights to those that have reference to national, national minority, and ethnic group affiliations. There is, therefore, a tendency to treat language users as carriers of national (or national minority) rights and to abstract from their membership in other types of sociological groups, most prominently, socioeconomic class. Such assumptions are problematic because they abstractly identify the interests of national (or minority or ethnic group) members as identical or at least as nonantagonistic. This article also discusses some problematic notions of constructing language identity on the basis of ethnicity and suggests that when the lines of ethnolinguistic identity become blurred-as is now happening throughout the world-notions such as "mother tongue" and "language group" lose their meaningfulness as guideposts to language policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

16. Title: Educational Policy for the Transnational Dominican Community
Authors: Marianne D. Pita, Bronx Community College
Sharon Utakis, Bronx Community College
Source: Journal of Language, Identity & Education
2002, Vol. 1, No. 4, Pages 317-328 (doi:10.1207/S15327701JLIE0104_5)

Abstract:

The increasingly transnational character of many immigrant communities necessitates changes in educational policy. We use the Dominican neighborhoods in New York City as our local case, examining the economic, political, social, cultural, and linguistic evidence of the transnationalism of this community. Many Dominicans maintain close ties to their native country through global networks that facilitate language and cultural maintenance. In spite of discrimination, Dominicans in the United States need to maintain their Spanish and want their children to develop fluent Spanish. Neglecting the language needs of transnational children leads to serious academic and social problems. Enriched bilingual bicultural programs would promote parallel development in both languages, providing cultural as well as linguistic instruction so that students can succeed in either country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHORS]

17. Title: Caught in a Policy Web: The Impact of Education Reform on Latino Education
Author: Jill Kerper Mora, School of Teacher Education, San Diego State University
Source: Journal of Latinos and Education
2002, Vol. 1, No. 1, Pages 29-44 (doi:10.1207/S1532771XJLE0101_3)

Abstract:

This article analyzes the impact of education policy initiatives on academic achievement and educational equity for Latino students, particularly bilingual learners. The impact of California's Proposition 227 is examined, along with concurrent laws regarding promotion and retention and approaches to literacy instruction. These state and federal policies work in concert with the standards and accountability movement intended to improve achievement for all students. However, preliminary research findings and analysis of their impact signal the incongruence with effective schooling practices for language minorities, indicating that this policy web may have a negative impact on Latino students' opportunities for successfully completing school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

18. Title: Second/Foreign Language Program Preservation and Advancement: Literatures and Lessons for Teachers and Teacher Education
Author: Graham Crookes, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Steven Talmy, University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Source: Critical Inquiry in Language Studies
2004, Vol. 1, No. 4, Pages 219-236 (doi:10.1207/s15427595cils0104_3)

Abstract:

In a period of declining state support for education, we argue S/FL teachers and teacher educators would do well to become oriented to language program preservation and advancement. We discuss three areas such an orientation could take, namely organizing, direct action, and fundraising, so that teachers and students can become more involved in decisions affecting their programs. Following a brief review of literatures in these three areas, we describe the efforts of some K-12 ESL educators in Hawai'i, who suddenly found themselves thrust into the position of defending their program from the budgetary axe. We use the experiences of these educators as a point of departure for a discussion of how a program preservation and advancement orientation could be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

19. Title: Becoming a Japanese Language Learner, User, and Teacher.
Authors: Armour, William S.1 w.armour@unsw.edu.au
Source: Journal of Language, Identity & Education; 2004, Vol. 3 Issue 2, p101, 25p

Abstract:

This article discusses how Sarah Lamond, a Japanese language teacher in Sydney, Australia has juggled three of her identities: second language (L2) learner, L2 user, and L2 teacher. Data come from four interviews used to create an edited life history. These data are used to draw attention to the relationship between L2 learner and language user. The concept of ‘identity slippage’ is briefly discussed and is introduced as a way of explaining this relationship. Although these three identities are foregrounded, it was found that Sarah's other identities of wife and mother also played a significant part in her becoming a Japanese language learner. Furthermore, Sarah's story also raises the native versus nonnative language teacher issue and in turn explores notions of authentic and impostor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

20. Title: The Role of English in Individual and Societal Development: A View From African Classrooms
Authors: Ailie Cleghorn & Marissa Rollnick
Source: TESOL Quarterly Vol. 36, No. 3, 2002, pp. 347-372

Abstract:

This article discusses sociocultural and other theoretical aspects of the language-in-education debate in the light of their practical implications for language policy and teacher education in linguistically diverse school settings. We draw on studies carried out in African classrooms where subjects such as science were being taught via English, and L2 for most learners. Studies indicate that code switching offers an economical resource for constructing meaning in classrooms where teachers and learners can use the same home or local language. Language use within the classroom is thus seen in terms of the need to communicate meaning with the goal of ensuring access to knowledge and thereby fostering individual development. We suggest that meaningful learning contexts are likely to increase the motivation to learn English, ultimately fostering societal development within the target global context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHORS]

21. Title: Postcoloniality and English: Exploring Language Policy and the Politics of Development in Tanzania
Author: Frances Vavrus
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2002, pp. 373-397

Abstract:

This article presents a case study of educational language policy in postcolonial Tanzania. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected between 1996-2001 on Mount Kilimanjaro, this longitudinal study of secondary school students' lives after graduation shed light on the relationship between language and development This study has implications for ESL practitioners and for applied linguistics research in the areas of bilingualism, world Englishes, and language policy in postcolonial countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

22. Title: Hold Your Courses: Language Education, Language Choice, and Economic Development
Author: Paul Bruthiaux
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2002, pp. 275-276

Abstract:

This article argues that discussion of the role of English in development fails to recognize the success of narrowly focused community-based projects, in which basic L1 literacy rather than English education is the goal. The argument centers on analysis of economic realities of the informal economy, in which absence of clear title to tangible assets in low-income countries prevents the entrepreneurial poor from using this assets as collateral and acts as a brake on economic development. I show how microlending offers and effective route around this problem and argue that literacy is essential in transforming the poor’ s perception of their own economic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

23. Title: Pathways and Labyrinths: Language and Education in Development
Author: Eddie Williams & James Cooke
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 3, 2002, pp. 297-322

Abstract:

Because much education through ESL takes place in broader contexts of development, this article explores the links between areas often dealt with separately, namely, language, literacy, education, and development, particularly national economic development. We characterise the contrasting histories of rich and poor countries and discuss definitions of development, poverty, literacy, and L1. We review evidence showing that education and literacy are more effectively achieved in a known language, and that effective education contributes to both economic and human development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

24. Title: EFL Educational Policies and Educational Cultures: Influences on Teachers’ Approval of Communicative Activities
Author: Greta J. Gorsuch
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 34, No.4, 2000, pp. 675-710

Abstract:

The focus of this study was teachers as they were asked to implement educational innovations suggested by nationally instituted educational policy. This study applied empirical data to a structural equation model of Japanese EFL teachers’ (N = 876) perceptions of various national-school-, and classroom-level influences that act on their instruction. Teachers’ perceptions of these influences were then related to their approval of classroom activities associated with communicative language teaching. This article highlights the position recent educational policies seemed to take in teachers’ minds and the way teachers subsumed the policy into the preexisting educational culture, which seemed to focus on preparing students for form-focused university entrance exams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

25. Title: The Impact of English as a Global Language on Educational Policies and Practices in the Asia-Pacific Region
Author: David Nunan
Source: TESOL Quarterly, Vol. 37, No.4, 2003, pp. 589-613
(Link is yet to be added)

Abstract:

This article presents the results of an investigation into the place of English in the curriculum in several countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The study indicates that the emergence of English as a global language is having considerable impact on policies and practices in all countries surveyed. However, it also reveals significant problems including confusion and inconsistency, at the level of policy, particularly regarding the issue of age of initial instruction, inequity regarding access to effective language instruction, inadequately trained and skilled teachers, and a disjunction between curriculum rhetoric and pedagogical reality.

26.Title: Barbarian as a foreign language: English in China’s Schools.
Authors: Adamson, B.1
Source: World Englishes; Jul2002, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p231, 13p

Abstract:
 
The ambiguous relationship between politics and society in China and the English language – the tongue of military aggressors, barbarians, imperialists and virulent anti–Communists, as well as of trade partners, academics, technical experts, advisers, tourists and popular culture – historically has created tensions that have been manifested in social upheavals and swings in education policy. In this paper, the shifting role and status of the English language within social, economic and political contexts in China are examined from a historical perspective in order to understand and explain state educational policy regarding the language. The paper argues that, since the mid–nineteenth century, the government of China has avoided the potential pitfalls of cultural transfer by adopting a strategy of selective appropriation under state control. The evidence for this assertion is drawn mainly from official policy documents, policy actions and policy debates. At times, assimilation was very limited for political reasons, at others the process has been freer. In the former cases, English has not been ascribed a significant role in state policy; in the latter cases, the language has been promoted, most notably in the curriculum of schools, colleges and universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Resources: Bilingualism and Language Policy

27. Title: Estonian teachers in the late 1990s: their willingness and preparedness for work in a multicultural classroom.
Authors: Vassilchenko, Larissa
Trasberg, Karmen
Source: Intercultural Education; Apr2000, Vol. 11 Issue 1, p65, 14p

Abstract:
 
Intercultural education is a multidimensional process. Until now, the notion has been understood in Estonia as a process of integrating non-Estonian children, usually of Russian origin, into Estonian society and providing them with the education necessary for success in Estonian society. Actually, this interpretation is just a part of intercultural education. Another issue in intercultural education, and obviously an even more essential issue, is educating all children to be prepared for life in a pluralistic society containing many cultures, peoples, religions and views. This includes teaching people to be tolerant towards cultures that are different from their own. Considering the fact that Estonia is endeavoring to become a member of the European Union, this is one of the most pressing questions in Estonia's contemporary educational policies. This paper is about recent processes in Estonian education, with a special emphasis on training teachers for work in multicultural classrooms. It offers a survey of recent research on the content and prospects of intercultural education in Estonia. The results of three research projects are also presented: (1) the prospects of education in foreign languages in Estonia, as seen by non-Estonian students, parents and teachers; (2) the willingness and readiness of students in teacher training to work in multicultural classrooms; (3) experiences from a course called Intercultural Education at Tartu University, and the opinions and attitudes of the students taking the course. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

28. Title: Tools for talking: the purposeful and inventive use of languages by bilingual children in primary classrooms.
Authors: Murshad, A.
Source: Reading; Nov2002, Vol. 36 Issue 3, p106, 7p

Abstract:
 
This article is based on a number of observations of bilingual children in an East London primary school, and some work carried out for a doctoral study. The article explores children’s views and perspectives on their use of first and second languages at home and at school. The kernel of the investigation is that language use is dependent on purpose. Bilingual children’s use of their first and second language depends on which language best serves a particular function. Often children who speak two or more languages on a regular basis combine these to create a new language. Schools therefore need to review their language policies and practices in relation to their pupil intake, taking into account the contribution of bilingual experience to children’s overall linguistic development. Teachers also need to understand parents’ views on their children’s language and literacy education. These issues are of vital importance if schools are to provide an inclusive curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]