Decolonisation, globalisation: language-in-education policy and practice

TLDR: Lin and Martin this article present an intellectually challenging framework for reading the country studies and draw on themes to articulate a case for rethinking much language-in-education policy, and their hope is that the volume goes beyond state-of-the art description and theorization and can lead from coherent deconstruction to proactive reconstruction.

Abstract: DECOLONISATION, GLOBALISATION: LANGUAGE-IN-EDUCATION POLICY AND PRACTICE. Angel M. Y. Lin and Peter W. Martin (Eds.) . Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2005. Pp. xix + 204. $89.95 cloth, $39.95 paper. This collection of 10 studies from Asian and African contexts begins with a general introduction by Luke that links many strands and challenges to current radical educational thinking as well as an introduction by the two editors; it terminates with a conclusion with reflections by Canagarajah. The editors present an intellectually challenging framework for reading the country studies and draw on themes to articulate a case for rethinking much language-in-education policy. Their hope is that the volume goes beyond state-of-the art description and theorization and can lead from coherent deconstruction to proactive reconstruction. This is needed because many of our analytical categories remain simplistic, and inadequate educational policy leads to the perpetuation of social inequalities. A key paradox is the widespread demand for more English, although English does not serve all equally well. Many do not develop high-level competence, whereas dominant groups or classes are groomed for the economy of globalization that has dashed most decolonization hopes. Across differing country reports, the pattern is of an “emptying out of the ‘linguistic local’ and the one-sided pursuit of the ‘linguistic global’” (p. 9).