The medium of instruction (MOI) has been a contested issue in multilingual polities globally, as English medium of instruction (EMI) has seen unprecedented growth, threatening the use and sometimes very survival of local/indigenous and even national languages. While the struggles to address related issues have been well researched, how and why…

Frisian, a unique minority language in the Netherlands, is in the middle ranks of threatened European minority languages in Europe. In recent decades a framework for language policy has been developed in which the educational domain is one of the spearheads. This article provides an overview of language policy and language rights for Frisian…

The vitality of most Indigenous languages in North America, like minority languages in many parts of the world, is at risk due to the pressures of majority languages and cultures. The transmission of Indigenous languages through school-based programs is a wide-spread approach to maintaining and revitalizing threatened languages in Canada and the…

In response to two earlier articles on the role of English language teaching (ELT) and English-medium instruction in India, the authors draw on their experiences in South Africa to outline a role for ELT teachers in maintaining and promoting multilingualism. This role includes participation in policy debates, professional activism, and the…

Discusses the bilingual education-ESL (English as a Second Language) controversy, revealing similarities between accepted definitions of both approaches. Explains ESL theory and essential elements of bilingual education programs from an ESL viewpoint. Describes possible contributions to bilingual education programs from ESL teachers. Calls for…

Years of nursery education are crucial in the language development process of the child. In Nigeria, a nation with over 400 languages, naming a national language for educational and cultural development that foster unity and identity, becomes a sensitive issue. It is argued that government encouragement of private efforts in the provision of…

A set of procedures for evaluating language planning and policy is proposed. The method, developed to assess language policy implementation in Morocco since independence in 1956, is suggested as a diagnostic device to assist specialists in evaluating previously implemented plans and those in progress. It isolates the linguistic and extralinguistic…

The purpose of this document is to help South African educational institutions adjust to a post-apartheid era, in which linguistic diversity is promoted and celebrated, by clarifying the emerging processes of language policy formulation and implementation. The new government decided against issuing a grand blueprint for a new national language…

These papers come from a 2001 conference that explored language policy issues at the global, U.S. national, and California regional levels. There are 15 papers in five sections. Section 1, "National Language Policy," includes (1) "Language and Globalization: Why National Policies Matter" (Chester D. Haskell) and (2) "Real…

A survey of the status of language usage in Malawi begins with an overview of the distribution and usage of English (the official language) and the native Bantu languages: Chichewa or Nyanja (Chinyanja), the language used by half the population; and three other Bantu languages also used there--Lomwe, Yao, and Tumbuka. The social situation favoring…