In this position paper we highlight language as a perennial factor contributing to compromised meaning-making in multilingual primary school mathematics classrooms. We note use of the term 'translanguaging' in discussions around mitigating this meaning-making challenge. The paper argues that, while much work remains to be done towards clarifying…

Language-in-education research can contribute to transformative progress toward educational equity and excellence. Although this assertion is likely uncontroversial within the field of language in education, agreeing on which types of research lead to which transformative progress is much less straightforward. The thought-provoking commentaries on…

The author of this chapter observes that post-9/11 there has been a rapid and significant retrenchment of multiculturalism as public policy, particularly within education. This apparent retrenchment of multiculturalism as public policy has been bolstered by parallel arguments for a more "cosmopolitan" approach to education within an…

"Language death" is an undeniable phenomenon of our modern times as languages have started to disappear at an alarming rate. This has led linguists, anthropologists, philosophers and educationists to engage with this issue at various levels in an attempt to try to understand the decline in this rich area of human communication and…

The choice of the language of instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a fundamental educational issue with ramifications for educational access and effectiveness and ultimately national development. Indigenous SSA languages have suffered devaluation in colonial and post-colonial SSA education, and this devaluation alienates the majority of SSA…

In this chapter, the author reviews the legal trajectory of language rights in public schooling in the United States and how language has been intertwined with other policy issues in court cases aimed at expanding access and equity for minority students: desegregation and school finance. Most of these cases originated in the Southwestern United…

Subtractive education through the medium of a dominant language often transfers Indigenous and minority (IM) children to the dominant group linguistically and culturally within one or two generations. It may lead to the extinction of Indigenous languages, thus contributing to the disappearance of the world's linguistic diversity. A partial result…

The author suggests that models positioning the multilingual writer as passively conditioned by "interference" from his or her first language, as well as more correlative models of the interrelationships of multiple languages in writing, need to be revised. Analyzing works written to different audiences, in different contexts, and in…

This paper examines legislation concerning language policy and language choice in the UK and South Africa. In particular an account of the pressures and imperatives to which such policy development must respond is provided. The paper suggests that the comparison between South Africa and the UK is relevant and compelling, not least because both…

Mother tongue is the language that a person learns in the society he/she lives especially from his/her mother by imitating herself which begins from the period of infancy and also mother tongue is the language that he/she expresses him/herself best. Vardar (1980:20) defines mother tongue as, "[Mother tongue] is the language which is learned for…

Discusses three reasons for using mother tongue in education including preservation of cultural traditions, development of creative thought, and links between school and home. Describes creation of language-neutral materials developing graphic and symbolic skills other than writing as way to minimize cost. (Author/BK)

Supports the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in response to recent arguments against it. Also endorses the teaching and use of the mother tongue in the classroom and suggests that it is an area in which many EFL teachers have a contribution to make. (EKN)

Describes the newly emerging debate in England known as "bilingualism and mother-tongue teaching" by discussing: (1) the general scene, including historical background and educational and minority group attitudes; (2) the main component of the mother-tongue debate embodied in administrative questions; and (3) certain features of the wider context…

The present language situation among Alaskan natives and the prospects for maintaining the traditional languages are such that in order to plan for a continued native language presence, it must be recognized that: (1) the shift to Engish is a natural result of a set of social conditions, with no single factor or group to blame; (2) the decline of…

Argues that bilingual education in developing countries represents an encouraging facet of efforts to improve primary schooling both quantitatively in terms of participation and qualitatively in terms of learning processes. Using examples from Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Mozambique, and Bolivia, demonstrates advantages of bilingual programming in…