Framing language in education policy: six factors to analyze multilingual policies

• In Event: Multilingual education in diverse contexts: reading, achievement, assessment, identity, and policy analysis

Proposal

This conceptual paper aims to present a clear framework to analyze language policies and programs in multilingual contexts. The paper uses language planning theory as a conceptual framework. Based on these frameworks, I propose six factors necessary to analyze education language policies. Finally, I apply this framework to compare the policies and practices in Kenya and Uganda.
Policymakers engaged in developing language policies need to engage in three interrelated types of planning: status, corpus, and acquisition (Hornberger, 2006). Status planning concerns attributing a role to languages for use in a nation state or a given linguistic community. Corpus planning focuses on the language itself, whether and how it is codified and the development of its orthography. Acquisition planning includes the efforts to create or increase opportunities for individuals to learn the language(s). Policymakers engaged in language planning in multilingual contexts are thus not only deciding how to plan but also which languages to develop and with what aim (Hornberger, 2006).
The types of education programs offered to emergent bilingual and multilingual students vary in the intensity of and duration for which multiple languages are used. In addition, the types of programs differ in the goals set for the long-term literacy of students. Crawford (2004) presents six broad types of programs ranging from full submersion in the dominant language to two-way bilingual programs. The goals of these programs can broadly be categorized as supporting subtractive or additive bilingualism. Subtractive bilingualism is a process during which the development of a new language (L2) is done at the expense of the first language (L1), compared with additive bilingualism, during which both languages are supported and developed (Garcia, 2009).
As Desai (1995) explains: “the merits or demerits of mother tongue education are dependent on the particular context in which learners find themselves” (p.22). I propose the following definition of “quality education” to analyze the context:
An education in a language the child understands, that the community supports, with sufficient instructional and support materials, with teachers willing and able to teach in this language.
Based on this definition, I argue that the quality of the design and implementation of an education policy should analyze the following six factors: linguistic heterogeneity of schools; community support and engagement; orthographies; curriculum and materials; teacher recruitment, training and deployment; and assessment and evaluation.
Kenya and Uganda have very similar language of instruction policies at the national level, promoting the use of local languages for three years before transitioning to English. As neighbors, these two countries also share part of their sociolinguistic context. Applying the proposed framework to analyze the policies in these two countries allows to better understand the nuances in their implementation.

Author

• Pierre De Galbert, Harvard Graduate School of Education