School principals are street-level bureaucrats whose sense-making about language policies makes them de-facto policy makers. In turn, their language policy-making is mediated by their language ideologies and contexts. Using a case study methodological framework, this article explores the language ideologies of 11 New York City elementary school…

This paper focuses on the language policy of the European Union (hereafter, EU), which is applied in the case of European Schools (hereafter, ES). It is based on a case study conducted at postgraduate level. Our purposes were: (a) to examine and analyse the official EU policy on language and multilingualism, (b) to find similarities and…

With an increase in multilingual learners in U.S. public schools, there is an imperative to understand the language practices, ideologies, and pedagogies within culturally and linguistically sustaining heritage language programs inside schools. Building on principles of translanguaging as a theory of practical language (Garcia, 2009; Li, 2018),…

When conducting interviews with multilinguals, researchers make (often invisible) decisions about the interview language(s). Whilst the research design may require a particular approach in some cases, linguists generally recommend giving participants a choice or interviewing them in their first language. There are ethical and methodological…

This paper forwards the notion that languages are an important resource for sustainable development for modern societies. Informed by theories from both sociolinguistics and language economics on the value of language skills, it is suggested that language(s) have different kinds of value in multilingual societies. Sociolinguists often emphasize…

The number of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB MLE) programmes has increased in recent years, especially in the Asia-Pacific Region. The case study booklet in this MTB MLE Resource Kit describes programmes in Afghanistan, Nepal and Pakistan that are examples of what language communities can do to help their children prepare to enter…

Macau is a small Special Autonomous Region (SAR) of China, located on the Pearl River Delta, adjacent to Hong Kong. Unlike Hong Kong, its colonial heritage is Portuguese, rather than British. Macau's official languages are Portuguese and Standard Chinese and the most widely spoken local language is Cantonese. With the influx of gaming finance into…

This article explores Yugoslav education policy in Vojvodina (Serbia), one of the most multilingual regions of the country, which was implemented in the period between the 1960s and 1980s through the school subject the 'Language of social environment' (LSE). Based on archival and field research, this case study is devoted to the school subject…

One of the bilingual communities surviving today in Mongolia, which is the cultural heritage site of the ancient communities that left their mark on the history of Central Asia, are the Tuvan and the Dukha, which is considered a branch of them. In this study, it is aimed to reflect the language teaching practices carried out for the young…

In this longitudinal, qualitative case study, critical pedagogical and sociocultural perspectives were employed to analyze the language and literacy strengths, challenges, inequities, and gentrification issues that characterized the first three years of a two-way, 50-50 Spanish-English dual-language (DL) program's implementation, and how the DL…

Framed by decolonial theory, this paper explores how language and literacy ideologies, including Anglonormativity, or the expectation that children should be proficient in a standardised version of English and are deficient if not, shape language and literacy practices in South African classrooms. While not legitimised, the use of fluid language…

In Geneva, Switzerland, students in secondary 1 education are grouped into different tracks according to their academic level. The tracking system in Geneva has been reformed recently. Prior to the reform, the tracks were very hierarchical but less selective; following the reform, the tracks are still very hierarchical but the entry criteria are…

After 1994, South African policy changes brought about variations in language education resulting in many monolingual classrooms becoming multilingual. Much of the current literature focuses on either providing recommendations to diverse approaches of teaching a second language or describing the experiences of second language learners while…

Background: In recent years, scholars and educators have criticized exclusionary language ideologies and policies within international schools. International schools often emphasize proficiency in English as a language of power instead of valuing students' and teachers' dynamic multilingual practices. Focus of Study: Although oppressive language…

The Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL) is a language policy that has gained traction across the United States as stakeholders seek to recognize students' competencies in languages other than English. Despite its potential to enhance language proficiency and encourage participation in language education, the SoBL has been unevenly implemented, with…