This special issue has as its focus the agency of young children in relation to language policy and practice in bi- and multilingual preschools in Finland and Sweden. Studies of language policy in practice in early childhood education and care (ECEC) in these two countries can be particularly relevant even to those in other contexts, because they…

This paper presents results from an ethnographic study of language policy as it is enacted in everyday interaction in two language profile preschools in Sweden with explicit monolingual language policies: English and Finnish, respectively. However, in both preschools, children are free to choose language or code alternate. The study shows how…

Parents, teachers and institutions often attempt to implement monolingual policies in bilingual settings, believing that they thereby facilitate children's bilingual development. Children, however, often have their own communicative agendas. In this study, we investigate how the twofold language policy of an English-medium preschool in Sweden is…

Introduces this special issue of the journal. Examines why there is a focus on Sweden, perspectives on the role of first languages in Sweden, historical perspective on historical and territorial minority language policy in Sweden, and the debate on the role of English. (Author/VWL)

Reports results of a series of modified matched-guise tests measuring the attitudes of school principals, pupils, and other judges in Sweden towards foreign-born teachers' language proficiency and suitability to teach in a Swedish school. Results indicate that all groups of judges are accurate in judgments regarding accentedness. Judgments of…