This study investigates the practicalities of the instructional language policy and the role that English plays in multilingual classrooms at the lower primary level. The research aims to find answers to the following questions. First, in a multilingual lower primary classroom where some teachers and some pupils do not understand the major local…

This paper develops the notion of epistemic exclusion as a way of exploring the different types of silence and silencing that happen in English medium Rwandan classrooms. By focusing on classroom observations of teachers' pedagogic practices and the ways in which girls interact in the classrooms, we demonstrate how experiences of epistemic…

The processes of formulation of language policies have not been researched thoroughly. This paper aims to explore the relationship between ideas, power and agency in language policy-making and specifically with reference to the formulation of language-in-education policy for multilingualism in Ireland. Through an argumentative approach to language…

This paper tackles the important question of practitioner engagement and is the first to present an overview of relevant Gaelic medium education (GME) research. Following the formal inception in 1985, GME is now more widely available across Scotland. An overview of GME is presented and situates provision within the other Celtic minority languages…

Within the Asian region, Singapore has long been seen as a leader within the field of higher education, with an unmatched record of success in implementing English-medium instruction (EMI) at all levels of education, including colleges and universities. This present study reports on a large-scale survey carried out at one of Singapore's major…

This article reports on an ethnographic study carried out in three interrelated sites: two contrasting secondary schools and a Youth-Club (the principal focus of this article), in an area of southwest Wales. This article highlights the incongruence between the language at home and the language of the school and posits that the relationship between…

This paper reviews the research output on English language education in China published in 24 international journals from 2001 to 2006 and delineates the nature of this corpus of research. The review covers research in the following areas: the linguistic situations and culture of learning in China in relation to English language education,…

Discusses the official system of trilingualism and the dual-language education system in Vanuatu, suggesting that these place enormous strains on Vanuatu's infrastructure. Appropriate multilingual development for the future requires that fundamental issues of constitutional interpretation and definition of language policy be resolved. (Author/VWL)

Considers the controversy over English or Kiswahili (the national language) as the language of instruction in Tanzania, discussing language use, language policy in the educational system, and prevailing language attitudes. Steps toward making Kiswahili as the language of instruction are suggested. (Author/CB)

Net gains in the number of Welsh speakers as a result of education in South East Wales are examined to see if there is any basis for connecting them with disadvantage to education in English-medium schools. (Author/JL)

Reviews a study of the in- and out-group vitalities of 270 Chinese and non-Chinese secondary school students in Hong Kong at a time of political uncertainty and shows how, in times of political uncertainty, two contrasting groups in the same milieu can construe their relative vitalities in vastly different ways. (Author/CB)

Offers a typology of bilingual education in Malaysia, identifying four main types of transfer varieties (initial transfer, retransfer, circular transfer, and gradual transfer) of bilingual education and presenting an overview of bilingual education choices in Malaysia's public schools. (Author/CB)

Presents a detailed study of the language-planning situation in Malawi, exploring the historical and political processes, as well as current practices of language planning in the country. Discussion reconstructs and demonstrates how sociopolitical change has been perceived in Malawi and how this perception has translated into language planning in…

Analyzes a language plan proposed by the Hong Kong government to promote Chinese as the medium of instruction in the education system. A brief history of the past language situation is provided, and an outline of the evolution of the proposed plan is highlighted. (31 references) (Author/VWL)

The apartheid state deliberately encouraged linguistic diversity and actively built cultural infrastructures which impeded Anglicisation. With the end of apartheid has come "de facto" Anglicisation. So although South Africa has, since 1994, had 11 official languages, in reality, English is swamping the other 10 languages. Afrikaans has,…