After centuries of "Eurocentric" linguistic ideology, the South African government has formulated African language development and multilingualism as one priority in the education system. While only English, and decreasingly Afrikaans, are the only "established" languages of instruction at tertiary level, most universities in…

South Africa is facing the challenge of creating a viable nation from a situation of interplay between diverse racial, ethnic and linguistic forces. This article discusses the implications for education of the evolving picture of language policy as South Africa addresses the task of nation-building. Language policy is important because of its key…

Within the discourse of language planning and policy, there is an increasing realisation of the strategic role of information and communication technologies in the promotion of indigenous African languages. The article discusses the strategic role that social software, in particular blogs and wiki, can and should play in the development of African…

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) began in June, 2008 as a response to the Indian Residential School legacy. The commission concluded with a 2015 report which includes 94 calls to action. Some of these calls pertain to higher education including the following example "We call upon post-secondary institutions to create…

As a language, Irish is unique to Ireland and is, therefore, of crucial importance to the identity of the Irish people, to Irish culture and to world heritage. The Irish language however has had a turbulent and traumatic history and has endured a complex and varied relationship with the Irish people. Since the foundation of the Irish Free State,…

This paper investigates how the processes of language transmission among speakers of Southern Tutchone ("dan k'e"), an indigenous Athapaskan language of the southern Yukon Territory, Canada, bear out an emerging theoretical interest in how bottom-up communicative practices shape language policy. An examination of "dan k'e"…

Language planning for the Irish language in the Republic of Ireland has featured prominently in international language policy and planning literature over the years. Researchers in the field may not be up to date, however, with recent developments in the area of Irish language planning and their impact on the language ecology. This monograph…

Activities at Edith Cowan University (Australia) in support of the maintenance of Aboriginal languages and Aboriginal English are discussed. Discussion begins with an examination of the concept of language maintenance and the reasons it merits the attention of linguists, language planners, and language teachers. Australian policy concerning…

The "language struggle" has been a focus of disagreement throughout South Africa's educational history. In contemporary South Africa, the issue of the language used as a medium of instruction has been most controversial in black education, where the government's policy of initial native language instruction has been widely denounced as…

Discusses the development of bilingual education policy in Britain from the 1960s to the present, focusing on assimilation versus pluralism, multicultural education, the 1985 Swann Report on education policy, and the role of English in the national curriculum. Argues that more needs to be done to promote bilingual education in Britain. (17…

During colonial times, education in Africa was based on the European system of education, and the European languages remained the only languages taught in schools. These languages were often taught by poorly trained teachers who passed their errors on to students. Major policy revisions and modifications in language education, teacher training,…

A statement of national policy on languages for Australia, submitted for government consideration in response to official concern, is presented. It begins with an introductory section on the importance of language, and then provides a rationale for national language policy formulation in Australia's varied language context. A section on policy…