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National Language Policies and Resistance: An Economic Perspective

December 2017

Authors:

Harunur Rashid Khan

BRAC University

Though national language policy is usually considered as a tool for language management, literature on language policy and planning suggests that national language policy may be formulated to attain non-linguistic or political ends. The establishment of nation-states based on linguistic homogeneity sometimes suppresses non-national languages within a geopolitical boundary. However, the imposition and promotion of a single language in multilingual spaces do not remain unchallenged. In order to assert existence, different ethnolinguistic groups protest against oppressive national language policies. In this paper, we will analyze language as an economic problematic, that is, a question that addresses economic issues of a linguistic group and serves as an impetus to initiate resistance. We extracted data from documents containing factual information about resistance against language policies, evolving from economic/material conflicts. Findings suggest that language is not only a set of signifiers to communicate; it is rather an apparatus to claim politico-economic power. Furthermore, linguistic resistance can be a tool for the ethnic minorities to gain socioeconomic mobility.

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Chapter

“A Balanced Approach to Language-in-Education Policy and Planning in Bangladesh: Rethinking the Curr...

December 2020

Tania Rahman

Language planning, particularly language-in-education planning in Bangladesh, has been laden with problematic issues which have slowed down the development of a sustainable and operational policy work for the nation since, and even before independence in 1971. Since a staggering majority of the people in Bangladesh (around 98%) speak different varieties of the same language Bangla which has ... [Show full abstract] achieved the status of the language of the state, the nation is misinterpreted as linguistically homogeneous, or rather called monolingual. But the real picture of language use in the country is contradictory to this representation. Besides Bangla, English, the former colonial language and currently the most important international language, has been considered as a significant language used in education, media and governance within the country, but it has still not been able to gain any official recognition (Imam, 2005; Hossain and Tollefson, 2007; Rahman, 2010). Since its birth in 1971, the nation of Bangladesh has struggled through the challenges of poor economy locally and contested with hard labor for inclusion in the global economy. With all these struggles, Bangladesh has been faced with some of the most challenging educational problems in the world mainly because it failed to set any specific roles for Bangla and English in the country. To add to this adversity, language issues in relation to the ethno-linguistic minorities have been neglected by most of the educational policies in the country. The aim of this chapter will be to attempt at proposing a framework for an inclusive, bi-multilingual language-in-education policy and planning in Bangladesh. To achieve this aim, at first, it will attempt at establishing the link between the issue of national, ethnolinguistic and other identities of all groups of language speakers in Bangladesh to rationalize the roles of languages in the country. Next, it will seek to reason for maintaining a balance between the ethnic and national identities of these groups in the country and how this strike-in-balance between various identities can be represented through an inclusive, bi-multilingual language-in-education policy and planning for the nation. Finally, the framework for the inclusive, bi-multilingual language-in-education policy and planning will be explained in the chapter. The framework will be based on the perspectives “language-as-resource” (Ruíz, 1984) and “language policy as a balancing act” (Rappa and Wee, 2006). In explaining the language-as-resource aspect of the framework, the potentials of different languages as socio-economic resources in Bangladesh will be discussed in the chapter. Next, the rationale for adopting a “language policy as a balancing act” perspective will be presented by identifying problems in the linguistic human rights (LHR) and the instrumentalist approaches to language policy and planning and examining how these are handled in the balancing act approach. Then the potentials of language-in-education planning as a balancing act in Bangladesh will be discussed. Finally, the chapter will also explain how a bi-multilingual language-in-education planning including the national language Bangla, the most significant international language English and the indigenous languages can be a balancing act and hence can start a workable avenue towards achieving a harmonious co-existence of the languages in Bangladesh.

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The Planning Policy of Bilingualism in Education in Iraq

May 2016 · International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

Bilal Yaseen

Iraq as a multicultural and multilingual country has different languages as Arabic, which is the dominant language, and it also has some other minority languages, such as Kurdish, Turkish, Syriac....etc. Over the last 80 years, Iraq which was involved in some political struggles, had faced many internal problems regarding the Arabic domination that occurred, and this was owing to the absence of ... [Show full abstract] clear language policy used. Children learning in the Iraqi system, for instance, speak and study all courses in Arabic, while speaking and using their own culture at home tend to be done in their first language. The minorities' language usage in Iraq was ignored both inside the schools as well as in the curriculum construction. So this study focuses on the following issues: the first issue is, What is the strategy of language planning policy in Iraq? the study discusses the strategy and the planning educational system that Iraq applies now, the second issue is, What is the status of minority languages in Iraq? Iraq is a multicultural county and has many minorities communities with different languages, the third issue is, What are the challenges of language in Iraq? as long as there is different languages within one country the study also focuses on the challenges that been faced in the planning policy system, and the last issue is, Is there a homogenous relationship during the current policy? How? the study shows the homogenous relationship inside the current policy and the researches give many suggestions and recommendations regarding to the current policy and what is needed for improving the educational planning policy system.

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English as Medium of Instruction in University Education

August 2015 · Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences

Emrije Agai-Lochi

The main aim of this paper is to examine the use of the language policy in higher education in a multi-ethnic and a multilingual country such as Republic of Macedonia. The change in use of official languages has turned a new page not only for Albanians, but also for all other ethnic minorities in the country. The new law for using a minority language in higher education has gained importance in ... [Show full abstract] social and political aspects. Language planning policy covers two main periods that is before and after the Ohrid Framework. This research study gives a special emphasis on the use of English as a third language among multi ethnicities at South East European University as the first established university open to all ethnicities of the country in which Albanian, Macedonian and English are the medium of instruction. Therefore, the study uses the methodology of comparing language objectives and learning outcomes between English Department and Language Center. The findings of the research study done on the use of English in higher education provide some crucial differences based on English language proficiency. It can be concluded that the paper gives some insight into the theory of language planning in education and provides the reader with significant information on the different language objectives between the English Department (ED) and the Language Center (LC).

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English Language Teaching in Pakistan: Language Policies, Delusions and Solutions

December 2015

English is perceived as a passport to better employment and upward social mobility in Pakistan. In a society characterized by acute class division and intense class consciousness, parents from the lower, lower middle or working strata of society aspire to enroll their children in the English-medium schools. Public demand for English medium schooling has led to an exponential growth of ... [Show full abstract] low-fee/low-cost schools over the last two decades where " by the end of 2005, one in every three enrolled children at the primary level was studying in a private school " (Coleman, H. (2010). The English language in development (p. 10). London: British Council). Importantly, behind the rapid spread and intense pursuit of English medium schooling is also a belief that the earlier the child is exposed to the English language, the faster she/he will learn the language. Employing a mixed methodology, this study analyzes English-medium policy in 11 low-fee private schools in part of Pakistan. Based on evidence gathered through multiple research tools such as a questionnaire survey, classroom observation and interviews with students, teachers, school principals and experts observers, the study finds that early English-medium policy appears counterproductive as most students demonstrate poor English language proficiency. Factors such as unavailability of qualified English teachers, poor pedagogies, sociocultural dynamics, and overall institutional weaknesses contribute to the failure of the policy. The study concludes that the maximum exposure and greater learning beliefs associated with earlier English teaching are delusional as those beliefs are underpinned neither by theories of bilingual/multilingual education nor by the schools and social environment of the children. We argue that in broader terms, the English-only policy poses potential reductionist effects on existing language ecology, and English-medium private schooling furthers socioeconomic disparities between the haves and the have-nots. Therefore, we propose that the early-English policy may be reviewed, and replaced by mother tongue based multilingual policy. English is an important language; therefore, it may be taught as a language rather than as a medium at the primary level. As quality English-medium schooling stands the preserve of the elites only; therefore, we advocate for the democratization of English and its equitable distribution across all strata of society.