Language-in-education policies are developed and implemented within contexts of great complexity. Where policies appear less than perfect on paper, this presents a valuable opportunity to examine the contextual factors that have led to their development, helping policymakers to understand the conditions under which policy change must take place.…

In this article, I analyze the reasons that have excluded Pijin, the lingua franca of Solomon Islands, South West Pacific, from being used as a medium of instruction, and why this may now become possible. Following a short sociolinguistic sketch, I present the colonial and post-colonial linguistic ideologies that shaped sociolinguistic…

Some 40 years ago, language transmission in Hawai'i was interrupted among Hawaiians across all islands with the sole exception of language maintenance among a small community on the tiny, isolated Ni'ihau Island. Today, Hawaiian has returned as spoken and written medium with some 5000-7000 new speakers. The present paper provides an up-to-date…

Europe as a multilingual continent hosts three main types of languages: dominant languages, autochthonous minority languages, and new minority languages. From a policy standpoint, planning for speakers of these languages and their needs become a complex matter in which many actors with different interests are involved. Of the many issues which…

In this study, the authors narrate a deliberate language planning experience within the dynamics of the first Project WILD environmental workshop conducted in Spanish. Using critical race theory and critical Latino theory the authors explore ways in which an environmental program can be infused with Latino culture and Spanish language to address…

The study focuses on local people's expressions of attitudes and ideologies in the light of proposed Sami-Norwegian bilingual policies in their Northern Norwegian hometown. The local politicians' plan to introduce the bilingual regulations of an "administrative area for the Sami language" in the town of Tromso encountered conflicting…

This article reports on a study of two contrasting secondary schools, serving the same "community" in south-west Wales; a bilingual school (Welsh and English) and an English-medium school (English only). Data were gathered using ethnographic methods, with this study focusing primarily on data elicited through "ethnographic…

This study explores the connections between language policy implementation in three Barcelona-area secondary schools and the language attitudes and behaviors of Spanish-speaking Latin American newcomers. Data were collected through interviews and ethnographic participant observation document indexes of different forms of language socialization…

This paper reflects on the state of educational language policy two decades into a post-Apartheid South Africa caught between official multilingualism and English. The focus is on the national language-in-education policy (LiEP) that advocates additive bi/multilingualism, and a provincial counterpart, the language transformation plan (LTP). Using…

In recent years, Asian countries including South Korea have been trying to redefine the role of English in response to globalisation. The impact of this on English language teaching and on Korean society more generally has been well documented; however, the impact of this change on individual teachers and their teaching calls for further…

This article examines the ways teachers plan lessons for English as an Additional Language (EAL) students from refugee backgrounds in secondary school transition programs. Based on a study of teachers working with students in three Victorian schools, we identify the key challenges teachers face in planning and the strategies they adopt to confront…

Today's global economy and dependency on technology has led to educational reforms in Malaysia, which includes language policies; namely the Upholding the Malay Language, and Strengthening the English Language ("MBMMBI") policy. This policy underpins the project presented and discussed in this paper; on the development of a bilingual…

This paper presents a 2007 study that was conducted amongst 147 young anglophone, francophone and allophone Montrealers in order to shed light on their attitudes towards English and French in terms of status and solidarity. The study made use of both a questionnaire and a matched-guise experiment. The findings indicate that while a certain amount…

The introduction of languages, especially English, into the primary curriculum around the world has been one of the major language-in-education policy developments in recent years. In countries where English has been compulsory for a number of years, the question arises as to what extent the numerous and well-documented challenges faced by the…

This article looks at France's Loi Toubon, which mandates the use of French in private companies, to illustrate how macro-level language planning reaches a dead end if it fails to consider local contexts and involve micro-level agents. The motivations, limitations and contradictions of France's language policy in relation to companies are…