scholarly journals An exploration of the effects of language policy in education in a contemporary Puerto Rican society

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Mirta Maldonado-Valentín
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Puerto Rican ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact

During the Spanish regimen, Puerto Rican education was limited and restricted to Spanish language as the medium of instruction. It was not until the U.S. colonization of the island that public education was introduced. As a result, English replaced Spanish as medium of instruction in the new educational system. Immediately after, Puerto Rican elitists and politicians ignited a political movement against using English (Algren de Gutierrez, 1987), resulting in a language battle fought through a series of educational language policies. In the end, policymakers enacted a language policy that reinstated Spanish as the official language of Puerto Rico’s education system. Consequently, policymakers also strengthened the use of Spanish instruction in Puerto Rican schools and universities while English was taught as a subject through all grade levels (Canino, 1981). Thus, this policy secured the island’s status as a “monolingual Spanish speaking society”. In addition, the enactment of this language policy also legitimized English as a de jure second official language, with the possibility of recognizing Puerto Rico as a “bilingual speaking society”. This paper discusses the impact of these language policies on the use of Spanish and English in education and presents a case study of Guaynabo City to exemplify the effects of these language policies on a contemporary Puerto Rican society and its acceptance of or resistance to becoming an English-speaking society.

scholarly journals Common Tongue: The Impact of Language on Educational Outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
pp. 473-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tarun Jain
Keyword(s):  
Graduation Rates ◽  
Educational Outcomes ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
College Graduation ◽  
Official Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Indian States ◽  
College Graduation Rates ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of official language policies on education using state formation in India. Colonial provinces consisted of some districts where the official language matched the district's language and some where it did not. Linguistically mismatched districts have 18.0 percent lower literacy rates and 20.1 percent lower college graduation rates, driven by difficulty in acquiring education due to a different medium of instruction in schools. Educational achievement caught up in mismatched districts after the 1956 reorganization of Indian states on linguistic lines, suggesting that political reorganization can mitigate the impact of mismatched language policies.

scholarly journals An Analysis of an EFL Teachers' Guide: A Case Study

2011 ◽  
Vol 2011 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Nazari
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Policy Documents ◽  
Classroom Activities ◽  
Teaching Objectives ◽  
Efl Teachers

This paper is an attempt to analyse one of the documents which may affect the classroom activities of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, namely teachers' guides. It also explores the context at which the document is aimed and critiques how EFL teachers are advised to teach as well as how EFL is taught. As such, the paper stands where critical discourse analysis and language policy come together in the study of language policies in education. The teachers' guide chosen and the analysis carried out here are not necessarily concerned with their representativeness and typicality but with the opportunity they provide to the researchers and teachers to learn about such language policy documents and how language and language teaching objectives are represented in them. The issues raised in this paper will have relevance to the EFL teachers' guides and EFL education in other contexts, as these issues are likely to be true of other EFL milieux.

Language policies for Hong Kong schools since 1997

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Kan ◽  
Bob Adamson
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
International Communication ◽  
National Language ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Mother Tongue Education ◽  
Important Means

Francis of Education (print)/1474-8479 (online) Article 2010 Language in education debates in Hong Kong focus on the role and status of English (as the former colonial language and an important means for international communication); Cantonese, the mother tongue of the majority of the population; and Putonghua, the national language of China. This paper examines the language policy formulated in 1997–1998, and finds that it radically departed from previous policies by mandating the use of Cantonese as the medium of instruction in secondary schools. The paper then analyses two subsequent policy revisions and concludes that, while the tonal emphasis on mother-tongue education has remained, the policy revisions have reversed the language policy to previous practices that emphasised the importance of English.

scholarly journals Multilingualism in Linguistic Landscape of Prishtina (Kosovo)

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 101-106
Author(s):  
Shkumbin Munishi Prishtina
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract Language relations as manifestations of the phenomenon of multilingualism are also expressed in the area of the so-called linguistic landscape. Undoubtedly, the linguistic landscape not only reflects the use of languages in public space but at the same time reveals the depth of public perception of different languages, depending on their function and prestige. In this paper, I will treat Albanian, English and Serbian rapports through their coverage in the Pristina linguistic landscape, focusing on the use of these languages in advertising space in the city of Prishtina and in other tables that perform semiotic functions of indexes in this city. Likewise, within the reflection of the status planning of languages in Prishtina linguistic landscape, the use of Serbian in the official tables will be treated. This case study will also reflect the features of language policy and the impact of the globalization phenomenon in different languages. The results presented in this paper will reflect on the field research within a certain time span. The research has shown that in the Pristina linguistic landscape, in addition to the Albanian language, English has a dense use, while the use of Serbian is mostly limited to official charts i.e. names of the streets of the city and is not found in private advertisements tables.

scholarly journals Language Policy and the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Pakistan

2021 ◽  
pp. 229-237
Author(s):  
Saadia Mesti
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Medium Of Instruction ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Linguistic Context ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Regional Language ◽  
The Government ◽  
Pluralist Approach

Pakistan is linguistically a diverse country. The language policies of successive governments resemble a kind of educational apartheid, where local languages have continuously been neglected. The paper reviews the various language policies in Pakistan, and then, critically examines the existing language policy, and its implications on medium of instruction. The analysis suggests that linguistic cohesion with multi-linguistic policies are needed to adopt a multi-lingual approach in language planning policy in Pakistan. A more pluralist approach to language planning and policy (the mother tongue and regional language for local/regional communication, Urdu for national use, and English for national and international communication) may present a range of implementation challenges. The study is significant because it will shade light on the linguistic situation in Pakistan, and on the government language policy. It will also try to figure out how Pakistan can develop an ecologically valid model for bi/multiliteracy for such complex linguistic context.

scholarly journals Lithuanian language discourses and family language policies of Lithuanian families in Sweden: A case study

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 126-142
Author(s):  
Frederik H. Bissinger
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language And Identity ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Family Language Policy ◽  
Ethnic Language ◽  
The Family ◽  
External Threat ◽  
Discourse Strategies ◽  
Family Language

Lithuanian language discourses and family language policies of Lithuanian families in Sweden: A case studyThis case study shares first insights of the family language policy of a Lithuanian family in Sweden. It identifies Lithuanian language discourses that might affect this policy and analyses discourse strategies applied by the family members. The aim is to shed some new light on the negotiation processes of family language policies that either support the maintenance of an ethnic language as the means of intra-family communication in immigrant contexts or, conversely, work against it. Applying a linguistic ethnographical approach, the study indicates that in this case the family language policy is mostly shaped by the mother in a protective and monolingual way in order to foster the maintenance of the Lithuanian heritage in anticipation of an external threat for Lithuanian language and identity. Litewskie dyskursy językowe a polityki językowe litewskich rodzin w Szwecji. Studium przypadkuNiniejszy artykuł przedstawia wstępne uwagi analityczne dotyczące polityki językowej litewskiej rodziny mieszkającej w Szwecji. Autor identyfikuje litewskie dyskursy językowe, które mogą mieć wpływ na jej politykę językową, i analizuje strategie dyskursu stosowane przez jej członków. Celem studium jest nowe spojrzenie na procesy negocjacji rodzinnych polityk językowych (family language policies), które mogą być pomocne w utrzymaniu ojczystego języka jako środka komunikacji w rodzinach emigrantów lub temu nie sprzyjać. Przedstawione badania opierają się na metodach etnografii lingwistycznej (linguistic ethnography) i wykazują, że w tym przypadku rodzinna polityka językowa jest kształtowana głównie przez matkę, jest jednojęzyczna i ma charakter ochronny – jest nakierowana na zachowanie litewskiego dziedzictwa kulturowego w związku z przewidywanymi zagrożeniami zewnętrznymi dla języka litewskiego i tożsamości litewskiej.

Language planning and language policy in Sardinia

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-88
Author(s):  
Rosangela Lai
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Language Planning ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Autonomous Region ◽  
The Status ◽  
Development Of Language ◽  
Key Steps

Abstract In 1999, the Italian Republic acknowledged the status of Sardinian as a minority language. Since then the Autonomous Region of Sardinia has been committed to the development of language policies for Sardinian. A regional law approved in 1997 adopted the aim of promoting the different varieties of the languages spoken in Sardinia. The goals changed substantially when the Region adopted for its language planning activities the ideas of a cultural-political movement known as Movimentu Linguisticu Sardu, and appointed an activist Director of the Bureau of the Sardinian Language. This article presents and discusses the key steps in the last decade of language planning: the proposals, their development and consequences.

Language Endangerment and the Need for Technology for Language Empowerment: Case Study of the Brahui language in Balochistan

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Kinza Alizai
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Language Endangerment ◽  
Speech Communities ◽  
Language Survival

Diaspora and indigenous speech communities are under the threat of extinction in Balochistan. Local inhabitants with a lower economic and commercial value symbolize cultural and ethnic genocide in western Pakistan. In my study, I investigate the scope of technology for the documentation and maintenance of the Brahui language in the province of Balochistan. Also, I discuss how language policy and the digital divide are creating unfamiliar pedagogical, socio-cultural and linguistic practices, along with putting minority speech communities in danger of losing their identity and bringing about linguistic extinction. Drawing on the work of critical theorists, perceptions of indigenous Brahui community are recorded to understand the influence of digital technology for language survival. The study identifies that digital divide and flawed educational policies in Balochistan are potent instruments of Brahui endangerment. I call for inclusive and unbiased language policies and uniform access to technology for linguistic empowerment of the Brahui speech community in Balochistan.

Vernacularization, globalization, and language economics in non-English-speaking countries in Africa

2010 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nkonko M. Kamwangamalu
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Preservation ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Symbolic Language ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Successful Case ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Theoretical Developments

Research into language policy in Africa has addressed the impact of colonial language policies on efforts to formulate and implement post-colonial language policies aimed at vernacularization, defined as the use of indigenous African languages in higher domains such as education. What seems to have received very little attention to date, however, is the effect of globalization, through the medium of English, on vernacularization not only in Anglophone but also in non-English-speaking countries in the African continent. Focusing on the latter territories, this paper explores this issue from the perspective of recent theoretical developments in the field of language economics, an area of study whose focus is on the theoretical and empirical ways in which linguistic and economic variables influence one another. It argues that the spread of English to these historically non-English-speaking territories in Africa represents the second challenge to largely symbolic language policies aimed at promoting vernacularization, the first one being other western languages (e.g. French, Portuguese, Spanish). Drawing on language economics, the paper argues that the prospects for the indigenous languages will continue to be bleak, especially in the era of globalization, unless these languages are viewed as a commodity rather than as a token for cultural preservation, and are associated with some of the advantages and material gains that have for decades been the preserve of western languages. Resistance against, and successful case studies of, vernacularization informed by language economics in various parts of the world are presented in support of the proposed argument for the promotion of Africa’s indigenous languages in education.

scholarly journals Polityka językowa w Polsce a wpływ języka angielskiego na polszczyznę

LingVaria ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Mańczak-Wohlfeld
Keyword(s):  
Language Policy ◽  
21St Century ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Political System ◽  
American English ◽  
The Political ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
The Status ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
The Impact

Language Policy in Poland in the Context of the Impact of English on Polish The paper examines the way and the extent to which language policies have affected the development of the Polish language. However, the purpose of the present paper is to highlight the change in attitude towards the increasing impact of English on Polish. The influence of English became more prominent in Poland after the change in the political system in 1989, and has for the most part been in the area of lexical borrowings. However, the influence of English is not only restricted to the inflow of English loanwords, but also extends to their relatively high frequency of usage. In addition, there is evidence of other types of influence that are non-lexical. However, the impact of English on Polish has not been as extensive as is claimed by some Polish linguists who since the early 1990s have lamented over the decline of the Polish language caused by the ”flood” of British and American English borrowings. Indeed, the status of English as a lingua franca was considered itself to be a threat to Polish, with even the possibility of the extinction of the tongue. This concern about language purity led to the creation of the Polish Language Council in 1996, whose aim has been to advise on and describe (rather than prescribe) linguistic behaviours among Polish language users. This legislative body was behind the Polish Language Act passed in 1999. Its purpose, however, has been to protect Polish rather than to purify it and to minimize the foreign influences (which mainly refer to English) rather than to eradicate them. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the Polish linguists’ attitude towards the ”Anglicization” of the Polish language has changed dramatically and it is now believed that the influence of English makes Polish richer and more globalized.

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