CRITICAL ISSUES OF LANGUAGE POLICY IN MULTILINGUAL EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS

ANAS MUSA ISMAIL

CRITICAL ISSUES OF LANGUAGE POLICY IN MULTILINGUAL EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS

ANAS MUSA ISMAIL

Sinhala Declaration, 1956

The Sri Lanka in 1956 passed a law which made Sinhala the sole-official language of the country, despite the fact that quarter of the population were Tamil. This ignite huge public unrest where thousands lost their lives

Kiev, Ukraine, 2012

In July 2012 thousands of people took to the streets of Kiev to protest a government decree that adopted Russian language in some Ukrainian institutions.

THE STRUCTURE

Introduction The Role of Nation States Components of Language policy

Language Practice Language Belief (Ideology) and Language Planning

Typology and Models of Bilingual Education The Effectiveness of Bilingual Education Standard Languages vs. Standardization Epilogue/Conclusion

INTRODUCTION:the ‘indispensability’ of bilingualism/multilingualism

How many languages are there in the world? There are estimated 6800 languages in the world How many countries? Roughly between 193 and 250 The languages are more than thirty times the number of

the world countries So, bilingualism/multilingualism is present in practically

every country IMPLICATION: Multilingual/bilingual educational practice is

present in every country of the world It is simply INDISPENSABLE!

THE ROLE OF NATION STATES

State nations as the most vital units of analysis Minority/Majority status is assigned using national

boundaries The case of Mandarin

900,000,000 speakers in China—majority Yet minority in other countries like Malaysia

COMPONENTS OF LANGUAGE POLICY

1. Language Practice

2. Language Belief (Ideology) and

3. Language Planning

1. LANGUAGE PRACTICE

This concerns the attitude the members of a community show toward the available varieties of a particular language.

Example: Haitians who migrated to Miami may use English in varying degrees

People naturally show little enthusiasm for the language of immigrant minorities even when the language is a world language.

Example: Spanish (in the US), Arabic (the language of many immigrants in France and Netherlands).

Language Policy includes any conscious effort to change people’s practice by a means of management or intervention.

2. LANGUAGE IDEOLOGY AND BELEIF

The belief of language community about the “appropriacy” or otherwise of certain language elements

Assigning values and prestige to certain aspects of it

These beliefs can be a basis for language policies

Language Ideology or belief, therefore, designate a speech community’s consensus on what value to apply to each of the language variables or named language varieties that makes up its repertoire.

Language Loyalty

“This refers to efforts by a speech community to maintain its own (first or home) language in the face of real or perceived threats to its status and continued use”

Bowerman (2006)

Why Some Languages Feel Threatened by Others?

Depopulation or mass emigration (of its community)

Mass immigration by other speech community

Coercion (martial or economic) Voluntary language shift (often for economic

reasons)

The Strength of Loyalty

How conscious the speech community is and How conscious the mainstream society is

about their otherness

The Case of Irish: Efforts to maintain a language eroded in its home territory Contact conflict with England for 800 years English only became the language of opportunity In

17th century Previous attempts failed The dominance of English has since been

overwhelming (Irish L1 speakers under 3%) After independence (1921), Irish was made the first

official language Succession of revival campaignsIrish may not be the mainstream medium of

communication in Ireland, butt its official status is becoming more overt

3. LANGUAGE PLANNING AND POLICY

Language Planning (used in 1950s and 1960s) refers to sweeping intervention and control of language behavior, therefore, determining the exactly the language(s) that people will know in a given nation. Language planning does not leave anything to the

individual to decide; the governing body determines not just what the person will know, but also how to arrive there.

LANGUAGE POLICY

On the other hand, Language policy attempts to be less interventionists

Refers mostly to principles with regard to language use

Example: A number of languages should be learned in a given country or that minority languages have the right to maintain their languages

It DOES NOT go into which group or which language or HOW this should be implemented

TYPES OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION

1. Null form of bilingual education

2. Weak form of bilingual education

3. Strong form of Bilingual education

1. “Null” Form of Bilingual Education

Brings together bilingual children with the aim of monolingualism in the majority language.

Submersion Technically, this is not form of bilingual

education

2. Weak forms of bilingual education

Allow children to use their home language temporarily

Weak forms include Structured immersion Withdrawal classes (various forms of) Sheltered English Transitional Bilingual education

3. Strong Forms of Bilingual Education

Aim for each child to achieve bilingualism, bi-literacy and cultural pluralism. Examples U.S dual language schools Heritage Language programs Canadian immersions, and European Schools movement

BilingualEducationModels

1. Transitional Models

2. Maintenance Model

3. Enrichment Model

1. Transitional Models

Teach the target language as quick as possible

The students are “exited” or “mainstreamed” into regular classes

The model includes Early exit Late exit ESL pull out One year structured immersion

2. Maintenance Models

Instructions in academic subjects are designed in student’s native language

But they also learn English (target language) during the school day

Is otherwise called ‘Developmental’ programs (long-term and no limit)

3. Enrichment Models

Promote cross-cultural understanding among bilingual students

Unique: natives of the target language are in the class

Enrichment models have time limit (some times part of transitional)

The Effectiveness of Bilingual Education The strongest research support come from the

success of Canadian immersion programs since 1960s

Complex equation between academic success and other factors like:

Devotion and dedication of teachers The children’s feeling towards the acceptance of their minority

lang. and, Positive development between bilingual education and cognitive

development

It cannot be assumed that bilingual education, per se, results in higher attainment across the syllabus. There are interacting variables that underlie such assumptions.

Standard Languages vs. Standardization Standard languages pass through the

following processes Selection Codification Elaboration (of function) Acceptance (by the relevant community)

Standards exist to avoid the dangers of variability

Standard could evolve as a result of its association with a religious or literary writing Creation of official body which “institutionalizes” it It can emerge overnight

Epilog/Conclusion

Educational institutions as the primary mechanisms for promoting ideological power

Language policy and power are inseparable “Linguicide” as important factor in language

policy (Russia, Turkey and Syria in regards with Kurdish and Kiswahili)

“Language policy is about choice. It may be the choice of a specific sound, or expression, or of a specific variety of a language. It may be a choice regularly made by an individual, or socially defined group of individuals, or a body with authority over a defined group of individuals. It may be discovered in the linguistic behavior language practices) of individual or group. It may also be discovered in the ideology or beliefs about the language of the individual or group”

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