This article examines recent U.S. language education policies regarding English learners (ELs) and their teachers using an interpretive policy analysis theoretical lens (Wagenaar 2011) incorporating a sensemaking perspective on organizational dynamics (Weick, Sutcliffe, and Obstfeld 2005). We portray U.S. EL policies as shaped by varying macro,…

Latin is currently being trialled as a subject in 40 state secondary schools in England. This paper focuses on one of the justifications of this trial: that teaching Latin in state secondary schools provides students with cultural capital which in turn counters social injustice. By taking the example of Latin as a starting point, I reach two…

This paper addresses the intersection of testing and policy, situating test-driven impact and validation within the context of policy-led educational reform in Korea. I will briefly review the existing validation models. Then, arguing for an expansion of the conventional conceptualization of consequential validity research, I use Fairclough's…

In 'Literature and Life', Deleuze remarks that all literature manifests as delirium, and, as such, the destiny of literature is to play itself out between two poles that create and reflect life back to itself: what the human desires, and the constant changes life imposes onto us. Taking Deleuze's statement as a point of departure concerning the…

During the pandemic, a number of states instituted hold-harmless funding policies to protect school district financially from declining enrollments (Center for Public Education, 2021). In addition, some school choice policies have protected traditional public schools financially from declining enrollments. Together, these policies raise the…

This article was initiated by our discomfort regarding recent policy developments in Nordic early childhood education (ECE) where previous decades' policies on creating solidarity, equality and universal access to social welfare and promoting democratic participation are seemingly waning. While from a global perspective, these policies might seem…

Taking a multi-level perspective on language-in-public-space policy, this study investigates the way Tunisia's dominant languages are dealt with in three independent but interrelated activities of language policy: official texts, public talk, and the actual practices of business actors in five commercial districts in metropolitan Tunis. Detailed…

This paper suggests an explicatory model for language policy reform (or lack thereof) at the level of the state. This is accomplished by assessing the value of the 'punctuated equilibrium' model of public policy analysis (Howlett and Migone, Policy and Society 30(1):53-62, 2011), which I argue can be strengthened by a genealogical approach…

This scholarly investigation delves into the metamorphosis of China's language policies across three distinct epochs spanning over two millennia, tracing from ancient China to contemporary times. Employing a sociolinguistic lens, the analysis elucidates the historical trajectories of these policies, accentuating their theoretical and pragmatic…

In the past 15 years, the number of international students in tertiary education doubled to reach 5.6 million students in 2018 and is expected to grow to 6.9 million in 2030 (Choudaha and Van Rest, 2018). In the Netherlands, the percentage of international degree seeking students is relatively high and growing fast from 4% in 2010 to more than 10%…

A prerequisite for learning is that instructions and other learning activities take place in a language that you understand. This may seem self-evident, but fact remains that most learners in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are taught in a European second language (L2) that they are unfamiliar with. Frequently, the role of the home languages in the…

This paper explores the relationship between education policy and the trajectory of English fever in Korea. English fever refers to a fervent desire to become proficient in English at almost any cost. English fever started with governments' globalisation efforts in the 1980s and further intensified in the aftermath of the 1997 Asian financial…

This policy analysis will explore the prevalence and purpose of compulsory practical English courses for students across all faculties in universities in Japan. Special attention will be given to English courses taught in two non-English major colleges within a large private Japanese university in Western Japan, which since their inception have…

Responding to the observation that there has been limited policy research in the field of international education (Hayden and Thompson 2008; Lehman 2018), the current article presents a theoretically grounded discussion regarding how British policy actors in Council of International School (CIS)-accredited British international schools may be…

This paper critically examines the notion of 'sheltered' pedagogies for English language teaching in English-dominant contexts. I specifically explore how the increasingly popular Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) model has been interpreted in certain contexts to further monolingual language ideologies. Drawing on critical and poststructural…