Based on policy analysis and empirical data, this book examines the problematic consequences of colonial legacies of language policies and English language education in the multilingual contexts of the Global South.
Using a postcolonial lens, the volume explores the raciolinguistics of language hierarchies that results in students from low-income backgrounds losing their mother tongues without acquiring academic fluency in English. Using findings from five major research projects, the book analyzes the specific context of India, where ambiguous language policies have led to uneasy tensions between the colonial language of English, national and state languages, and students’ linguistic diversity is mistaken for cognitive deficits when English is the medium of instruction in schools. The authors situate their own professional and personal experiences in their efforts at dismantling postcolonial structures through reflective practice as teacher educators, and present solutions of decolonial resistance to linguistic hierarchies that include critical pedagogical alternatives to bilingual education and opportunities for increased teacher agency.
Ultimately, this timely volume will appeal to researchers, scholars, academics, and students in the fields of international and comparative education, English and literacy studies, and language arts more broadly. Those interested in English language learning in low-income countries specifically will also find this book to be of benefit to their research.
Author(s): Maya Kalyanpur, Padmini Bhuyan Boruah, Sarina Chugani Molina, Sunaina Shenoy
Series: Education, Poverty and International Development
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 219
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Series
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
About the authors
List of figures and tables
List of abbreviations
Acknowledgements
Prologue: our language stories
PART I The global context for language policy
1 Introducing a postcolonial perspective on language education
A colonial/postcolonial framework
Language as a tool of oppression in globalization
The diminishment of non-world languages
Socio-economic barriers to the acquisition of the English language
The structure of the book
Conclusion
2 Language, linguicide and equity: navigating the tension between heritage, national and colonial agendas
Language vitality, status, and terminology
National language policies in Pakistan and Bangladesh: issues of linguistic equity
The Chinese language diaspora in East Asia
Language challenges in Taiwan and Hong Kong
Linguicide or the integration of heritage language education?
PART II The politics and practice of India’s language education policies
3 Language contestations and the illusions around English in India’s Three Language Formula
English in education: from constitutional provisions to policy
English as deliverance, English as Indian: competing social and educational goals
Pedagogic models of English language teaching: ground realities and social disadvantage
Repositioning English: empowerment agendas and multiliteracy frameworks
Conclusion
4 English language teachers and teacher education: challenging normative linguistic positionings
The impact of national education policies on language teacher education
Moving beyond the colonial legacy: alternative pedagogy and curricular models of language education
Teachers’ pedagogy, invisibility, voice, and agency
Developing teacher agency and pedagogical practice
Restructuring English language teacher education: new initiatives
Conclusion
5 English medium private schools: teaching bilingual and multilingual students in the context of inequality
Language teaching in Karnataka private schools: linguistic and cultural contexts
Language of instruction: helping those who struggle
English language teaching in classroom contexts
Conclusion
6 L2 English language acquisition: dyslexia and learning inequalities in private schools
Dyslexia: the language difference vs learning disorder debate
Dyslexia and English literary acquisition in the Indian school context
Learning disabilities, dyslexia, and disadvantage
The implications for disadvantaged learners in English medium private schools
Conclusion
PART III Decolonizing language education and challenging disadvantage
7 English language education and the case against neutrality
Language and globalization: hybridity, neutrality, and the danger of complicity
Race and power: the persistence of raciolinguistic ideologies
Considering postcolonial approaches in the English language classroom
Reimagining a possible future of English language education
8 Challenging disadvantage through language education policy and practice: new postcolonial directions
The complexities and challenges of language education policies and practices
Engaging in decolonial resistance and critical pedagogy
The reflective practitioner: rethinking our professional selves
Conclusion
Glossary
Index
