This paper revisits the tension in sociolinguistics between the linguistic capital associated with languages of socioeconomic mobility, and the cultural and identity value of local languages. With Malaysia as a case study, the paper shows that although this economy-versus-culture tension may be a go-to ideological paradigm in sociolinguistics for…

This paper revisits the notion of 'legitimate language' [e.g. Bourdieu 1977. "The Economics of Linguistic Exchange." "Social Science Information" 16 (6): 645-668] as it relates to multilingualism in educational contexts. Since Heller [1996. "Legitimate Language in a Multilingual School." "Linguistics and…

This paper investigates learning difficulties of the linguistic minority schoolchildren (LMS) in Darfur, Sudan, in the contexts of the current conflict and the official monolingual policy. Employing quantitative and qualitative data gathering tools, we examined how the LMS at the internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps were educationally…

This article shows, with Malaysia as a case study, that an ethnonationalist language policy need not have disempowering consequences for minorities. Malaysia politicizes ethnic difference between Malaysians of Malay, Chinese, and Indian descent. Ethnic Malays enjoy economic concessions unavailable to others, law defines Malaysia as Islamic and…

Luxembourg maintains by far the largest proportion of foreign immigrants in Europe. This is also reflected in the population of children. About 50% of children under the age of four are foreign nationals. Accordingly, the question of how to deal with linguistic diversity represents one of the biggest challenges in the professional debate about…

This chapter examines current issues in English as Second Language (ESL) policies and programs for adult immigrants in Canada from a critical multiculturalism perspective.

This polity study is about the language policy situation in the People's Republic of China (China) with a focus on one official minority language, Zhuang. The paper offers an examination of the language policy and planning (LPP) framework nationally as it relates to official minority languages, and regionally as it relates to the Zhuang minority…

Migration has become a vital element of the Bangladeshi economy, which has led to an increasing focus on providing Bangladeshis with the skills needed on the international labour market. English is often cited as one of these skills, and previous research has shown that a primary reason why Bangladeshis wish to learn English is due to its…

This article examines the case of minority language education in China, an area of enquiry that has received increasing attention as new studies report on how the lack of institutional recognition that minority languages receive erodes ethnic minority identities and disempowers social actors living in minority areas. Drawing on Williams' (Marxism…

The aim of this chapter is to take a critical and decolonial stance towards the experiences of Indigenous people in the urban diasporas of Brazil. We do this by discussing ethnographic data that provide insights into the impact of this migration on the construction of the identities of Indigenous Brazilians who move to urban spaces and consider…

Following the invasion, or colonisation as some prefer to call it, Indigenous Australia has been characterised by plummeting populations, largely as a result of introduced diseases and the movement of peoples, following the theft of their lands and in response to colonial and subsequent Australian state and federal government policies. At times,…

This article explores policy and pedagogical pliability as strategies for perpetuating and protecting regional languages, like Võro, in the twenty-first century. The concept of pliability, as I develop it in this article, refers to the flexibility and adaptability of policies that are free from prescriptive and strict mandates. By examining this…

This study aims to apply critical pedagogy and a participatory approach by including an excluded context, the South African culture, into the curriculum of foreign language classes (EFL) in Turkey because the South African context (SA) has been ignored and excluded from the curriculum of global textbooks and EFL in Turkey. This comparative…

This study reports on an investigation into the perspectives of different stakeholders (e.g. administrators, teachers, students, and parents) towards motivations for introducing English as a medium of instruction (EMI) policy in low-resourced public schools, serving minoritized students, and language ideologies that form its practices. Framed…

Colombia, as other Latin American countries, has not been indifferent to the power of English as the language of business, international communication and academia. Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a great push in the country to promote the teaching of English: language policies have been formulated, ideal levels of proficiency…