[lg policy] call: Current Issues in Language Planning: forthcoming issue on 'Language Planning and Medium of Instruction'.

[Harold Schiffman]

Current Issues in Language Planning


Call Deadline: 30-Jun-2012

Current Issues in Language Planning is announcing a Call for Papers for a
forthcoming issue on 'Language Planning and Medium of Instruction'.

The use of a language of wider communication in place of or in addition to a
local or national language as the medium of instruction is increasingly
becoming a common feature of language policy and planning in polities
across the world. This dominant aspect of language in education planning has
its origin in the European colonization of Asian, African and South American
nations. Educating the colonized in the knowledge, values and norms of the
West through the colonial language was an ideological imperative which
served the practical needs required for continuing colonial rule. The end of
colonial rule brought an opportunity for colonized nations to do away with
colonial languages and introduce local/national languages as medium of
education. However, although initial attempts to switch to local languages
were made in a few polities, it was more common to adopt ex-colonial
languages as medium of education. In continuing with colonial languages in
the post-colonial period, many polities were driven by three major discourses:
a) local/national languages were not modern or developed enough to take the
role of medium of instruction; b) colonial languages were a neutral choice in
the context of ethnolinguistic conflicts; c) using the target language as
medium of instruction was an efficient model of second language pedagogy.
While such discourses are prevalent across polities, globalization and the
global spread of English have created more bottom-up pressure for adopting
this language of wider communication as medium of instruction. In addition to
developing national language ability to participate in the global economy,
English is used as medium of instruction to internationalize local/national
education and to attract overseas students which is a noteworthy feature of
more recent medium of instruction policy in many polities.
The dominance of languages of wider communication in general and
English in particular as medium of instruction raises a number of educational,
linguistic, socio-economic, political and socio-cultural issues which have
started receiving attention in the language planning literature.
This special issue of Current Issues in Language Planning aims to contribute
to this literature by inviting contributions on topics including but
not limited to:
- Medium of instruction at different levels and systems of education;
- Effectiveness and outcomes of medium of instruction policy;
- Medium of instruction and materials development / availability;
- Medium of instruction and bilingualism;
- Medium of instruction and social and community pressure;
- Medium of instruction and national/social identity;
- Social consequences of medium of instruction policy and planning;
- Medium of instruction and internationalization of education;
- Medium of instruction and local linguistic ecology;
- Medium of instruction and 'mother tongue' education;
- Medium of instruction and international schools; and
- Medium of education and implications for teacher education.

Researchers are invited to submit abstracts (250-300 words) to the Editor,
Prof. Richard B. Baldauf Jr, University of Queensland.
richard.baldaufbigpond.com

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 30 June 2012.
Deadline for submission of final papers: 1 November 2012.

http://linguistlist.org/issues/22/22-4411.html

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list