Language in Education Planning --

[Christina Paulston]

Well, not quite the same but Namibia changed from Afrikaans to English and
would face, have faced, some of the same curriculum problems as Malaysia.
See Harlech-Jones B. 1990. YOU TAUGHT ME LANGUAGE; THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
ENGLISH AS MEDIUM OF IN INSTRUCTION IN NAMIBIA. Capetown:OUP
C B Paulston

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>From: Moses Samuel <mosess at um.edu.my>
>To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
>Subject: Language in Education Planning --
>Date: Tue, Dec 10, 2002, 1:18 AM
>

>
>
> The government of Malaysia has recently announced that beginning 2003,
> mathematics and Science in national schools will be taught in English.  In
> the 1960s as part of nation building/ language planning efforts, the
> Malaysian education system opted to make Malay, the national language, the
> medium of instruction for all subjects at school, hoping that instruction
> in a  common national language would promote national unity among its
> ethnically diverse population.
>
> Now almost 20 years later, a language policy reversal back to English  is
> underway for Mathematics and Science subjects, partly because of
> globalization and because translation efforts have not kept pace in fields
> that are developing rapidly.
>
> I'm wondering if anyone is aware of language planning/ language policy
> research done elsewhere in other countries on a similar circumstances --
> policy reversal back to English in postcolonial contexts, and language in
> education planning for Mathematics and Science at the school level?
>
> Thanks.
> Moses Samuel
> University of Malaya, Malaysia
>
> ------------------------------
> http://www.um.edu.my
>