Ethiopia, with no colonial language legacy, adopted English medium instruction (EMI) policy with the establishment of its first higher education institution, University College of Addis Ababa, over seven decades ago. Over the last two decades, the country has significantly expanded its higher education institutions (HEIs) to increase skilled human…

The field of language policy and planning (LPP) has increasingly expanded its focus beyond legislative measures and macro-level policies toward understanding the power of social actors and their interpretation, appropriation, and creation of language policies in societies. This article aims to advance LPP theory and research by offering a critical…

This study examines the current landscape of language policy in higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Georgia, focusing on teaching, research, and administration. A purposive selection of strategic documents from seventeen public and private universities forms the basis of analysis using Thematic Content Analysis (TCA). The research identifies…

In this paper we explore the nexus of language policy, ideology and power in the linguistic landscape of urban Rwanda. In post-genocide Rwanda, English has been promoted and gained status. This has led to an increased usage of English on shop signs in the streets of Kigali and other towns in Rwanda at the expense of both French and Kinyarwanda.…

Trilingual education policy is fomenting much debate among scholars and public intellectuals in Kazakhstan. However, parents' ideologies in relation to trilingual education are not heard although their participation in policy discussions is important since they play a key role in their children's education. Therefore, this article, through the…

In Malaysia and some parts of Southeast Asia, efforts to decolonise the English language classroom remain minimal. While there are scholars who advocate criticality towards western-centric perspectives on language education, related work has largely been confined to individual teachers' classrooms. This is further problematised when students'…

English as a medium of instruction (EMI) is commonly adopted as a strategy for higher education internationalisation. While there are numerous studies on the teaching practices of EMI programmes, the relationship between EMI and structural inequalities has been less investigated, especially in "universal" higher education systems. To…

A national language policy reflects how a state looks at the languages used by its people. It assigns certain roles to languages, and addresses the issues of language education and language of education. Pakistan, a multilingual country, has yet no language policy at national level. This absence of policy has caused many issues, including the…

This paper is an initial attempt to characterise the schoolscape of a four-century old higher education institution in the Philippines and the oldest existing university in Asia, The Royal, Catholic, and Pontifical University of Santo Tomas (UST). Through a systematic inventory of 2,410 visual signs, the analysis of the functional sign…

This paper proposes a concept of "campus vitality" of languages: the ability of a language to maintain its prestige, visibility and continuity on university campuses. A seven-factor framework is developed for on-the-ground investigation of the relevant languages in a given campus context. These indexical factors are the number,…

The purpose of this interpretive qualitative study was to explore the challenges faced by Taiwanese professors when implementing EMI and to understand their perspectives in the context of Taiwan's Bilingual 2030 Policy. Spolsky's (2004) language policy framework was utilized to guide the research. Semi-structured interviews with seven Taiwanese…

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…

Focusing on language education policies in Bangladesh, this article shows how the policies have distracted people's attention from the harms inflicted on the country's Indigenous communities and their languages. I discuss two factors that have contributed to policy distractions in this context: a strong form of Bangla linguistic nationalism and a…

The medium of education (MoE) globally sparks controversy over the ideal medium--mother tongue, target language, or bilingual/multilingual policies. In Bangladesh, diverse MoE options (Bangla medium, English medium, and English version) fuel debates among stakeholders. Amidst this noise, systemic problems are often overlooked, diverting attention…

The aim of this Afterword is to foreground and discuss some of the key themes emerging from the four studies in this special issue. I first consider the critical ethnographic approach to language policy and planning adopted in the studies, and the attention to language policy processes unfolding on different scales of social and institutional…