[lg policy] TESOL Releases White Paper on Language Teaching Policies and Practices

[Harold Schiffman]

TESOL Releases White Paper on Language Teaching Policies and Practices
Posted on 9 May 2012 by Craig Triplett

TESOL International Association has recently inaugurated a series of
white papers, research briefs, and policy briefs. Written by thought
leaders in the field, these documents will enable the association to
share its perspective on emerging issues in English language teaching
and learning. The first document in this series is a white paper,
written by Ahmar Mahboob and Namala Tilakaratna, titled A
Principles-Based Approach for English Language Teaching Policies and
Practices.

This paper identifies six principles to help policymakers,
researchers, and practitioners develop effective English language
teaching policies and practices in varied contexts. From the executive
summary:

The principles are collaboration, relevance, evidence, alignment,
transparency, and empowerment (CREATE). While acknowledging the
complexities inherent in the process of language policy and planning,
this white paper also includes a discussion of how these principles
have emerged as a result of the demands of globalization and the
interests of the local populations of countries in which the teaching
and learning of English is having a major impact.

As more and more countries struggle to meet the global demand for an
English-speaking workforce, developing an effective and fair language
policy has become an increasingly salient issue. For example, Luis
Fortuño, governor of Puerto Rico, has just announced a plan to make
Puerto Ricans as fluent in English as they are in Spanish by 2022.
Last December, Thailand announced its English Speaking Year 2012
initiative to prepare for its economic integration, along with other
ASEAN countries,  into the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015. Some have
argued that English is key to successful integration.

And yet, as English supplants local languages, some communities have
expressed anxiety about losing their identities. In India, where an
estimated 850 languages are spoken, the Toto people are struggling to
retain their language and cultural identity as the economy demands
that they learn Hindi and English. In the Philippines, another
linguistically diverse nation, Tagalog and English are displacing
minority indigenous languages as the country strives to form a
national identity. Languages are dying so rapidly in the Philippines
that Manuel Lino G. Faelnar and Junika P.  Soriano, writing for the
Defenders of the Indigenous Languages of the Archipelago, have called
the situation “quite appalling.”

Language policy can even be used as a weapon, as China has used it in
Tibet, to assimilate a minority culture. According to Free Tibet, a
nonprofit organization that supports Tibetans’ right to
self-determination, “The use of Tibetan is being systematically wiped
out as part of China’s strategy to cement its occupation.” The Chinese
government has promoted its language policies by limiting the use of
Tibetan in classrooms and textbooks, causing students to protest in
Qinghai province. Some students and monks have demonstrated their
resistance by self-immolating.

As the authors of this TESOL White Paper note, the stakes around
English language policy are high, and they call for policy makers and
other stakeholders to recognize the consequences. “The unique
sociocultural, political, economic, and historical aspects of each
individual country or setting need to be taken into account when
developing language policies and ELT programs and standards
appropriate to these contexts.” The principles-based approach they
recommend in this TESOL White Paper acknowledges the difficulty of
developing fair and effective English language teaching practices and
policies, and it offers policy makers, teachers, and other
stakeholders a place to begin what should be a complex and inclusive
discussion.

I hope you will read and share this white paper with your colleagues.
If you have any comments about the paper, please share them below.

How have language policies affected your classroom? How have they
affected your relationship with your students and your peers? How
might language policy and education reform in the United States
benefit from a principles-based approach?

http://blog.tesol.org/blog/tesol-releases-white-paper-on-language-teaching-policies-and-practices

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