Table Of ContentMedium of Instruction Policies
Which Agenda? Whose Agenda?
Medium of Instruction Policies
Which Agenda? Whose Agenda?
Edited by
James W. Tollefson
University of Washington
Amy B. M. Tsui
The University of Hong Kong
LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS
2004 Mahwah, New Jersey London
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mediumofinstructionpolicies:whichagenda?whoseagenda?/ed-
ited by James W.Tollefson, Amy B. M.Tsui.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8058-4277-2 (alk. paper)
ISBN 0-8058-4278-0 (pbk. :alk. paper)
1. Native language and education—Government policy—
Cross-cultural studies 2. Educational, Bilingual—Government
policy—Crossculturalstudies. I. Tollefson,JamesW. II. Tsui,
Amy.
LC201.5.M43 2003
306.44—dc21 2003042386
CIP
ISBN 1-4106-0932-4 Master e-book ISBN
BookspublishedbyLawrenceErlbaumAssociatesareprintedonacid-
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Contents
Preface vii
Contributors xi
1 The Centrality of Medium-of-Instruction Policy 1
inSociopoliticalProcesses
Amy B. M.Tsuiand James W.Tollefson
Part I Minority Languages in English-Dominant States
2 Ma(cid:1)ori-MediumEducation inAotearoa/New Zealand 21
Stephen May
3 Bilingual Education and Language Revitalization in Wales: 43
Past Achievements and Current Issues
Dylan V. Jones and Marilyn Martin-Jones
4 Dangerous Difference: ACritical–Historical Analysis 71
of Language Education Policies in the United States
Teresa L.McCarty
Part II Language in Post-Colonial States
5 Medium of Instruction in Hong Kong: One Country, 97
Two Systems, Whose Language?
Amy B. M.Tsui
v
vi CONTENTS
6 Medium-of-Instruction Policy in Singapore 117
Anne Pakir
7 Medium-of-Instruction Policy in Higher Education 135
in Malaysia: Nationalism Versus Internationalization
Saran Kaur Gill
8 Rural Students and the Philippine Bilingual Education 153
Program on the Island of Leyte
Iluminado Nical, Jerzy J. Smolicz, and Margaret J. Secombe
9 Medium of Power: The Question of English in Education 177
in India
E. Annamalai
10 Medium of Instruction in Post-Colonial Africa 195
Hassana Alidou
Part III Managing and Exploiting Language Conflict
11 Language Policy in Post-Apartheid South Africa 217
Vic Webb
12 Indigenous Language Education in Bolivia and Ecuador: 241
Contexts, Changes, and Challenges
Kendall A. King and Carol Benson
13 Medium of Instruction in Slovenia: European Integration 263
and Ethnolinguistic Nationalism
James W. Tollefson
14 Contexts of Medium-of-Instruction Policy 283
James W. Tollefson and Amy B. M. Tsui
Author Index 295
Subject Index 301
Preface
Sincetheearly1990s,arevivalofinterestinlanguage-policyresearchhas
contributedtogrowingawarenessthatmedium-of-instructionpoliciesin
educationhaveconsiderableimpactnotonlyontheschoolperformance
ofstudentsandthedailyworkofteachers,butalsoonvariousformsofso-
cialandeconomic(in)equality.Becausemuchofthedailyworkthattakes
placeineducationinvolvesverbalinteractionamongstudentsandteach-
ers, medium-of-instruction decisions play a central role in shaping the
learning activities that take place in all classrooms and on all play-
grounds.Moreover,becauseeducationalinstitutionsplaysuchacrucial
roleindeterminingsocialhierarchies,politicalpower,andeconomicop-
portunity,medium-of-instructionpoliciesthusplayanimportantrolein
organizingsocialandpoliticalsystems.
Inmanymulti-ethnicandmultilingualcountriesaroundtheworld,the
choice of a language for the medium of instruction in state educational
systems raises a fundamental and complex educational question: What
combinationofinstructioninstudents’nativelanguage(s)andinasecond
languageofwidercommunicationwillensurethatstudentsgainbothef-
fective subject content education as well as the second-language skills
necessaryforhighereducationandemployment?Althoughthisquestion
focuses primarily on the educational agenda of providing effective lan-
guage- and subject-content instruction, medium-of-instruction policies
alsoraiseimportantsocialandpoliticalquestions:Whichethnicandlin-
guisticgroupswillbenefitfromalternativemedium-of-instructionpoli-
cies? What language policy best fulfills the need for interethnic
communication?Whatpolicybestmaintainsabalancebetweentheinter-
estsofdifferentethnicandlinguisticgroupsandtherebyensuresanac-
ceptablelevelofpoliticalstability?
vii
viii PREFACE
Thiscollectionofchaptersexaminesthetensionbetweentheeducational
agenda and other underlying social and political agendas in different
sociopolitical contexts. In countries where English is the dominant lan-
guage,debatesovertheuseofthenativelanguagesofminoritystudentsas
mediaofeducationcenteronthreequestions:Forwhatpurposesshould
mother-tongueeducationbeencouragedandsupportedbyofficialpolicy?
Should multilingualism and multiculturalism be seen as assets or liabili-
ties?Howcanethnicminoritiesmaintaintheircultureandatthesametime
notbedeprivedoftheiropportunitytogainaccesstohighereducationand
employment,andtoparticipateeffectivelyinpubliclifeaswellasineco-
nomicactivities?Inpost-colonialcountries,theeducationalagendaofus-
ingthemosteffectivemediumforeducationisoftendrivenorcloudedby
thepoliticalagendasofnationbuilding,nationalidentity,andunity,aswell
astheneedtoensurepoliticalstabilitybybalancingtheinterestsofdifferent
ethnicgroups,classes,orpoliticalparties.Incountrieswherediglossiaor
triglossiaisevident,eitherofficiallyorunofficially,thechoiceofmediumof
instruction is often a reflection of the sociopolitical and socioeconomic
forcesatworkinthecommunity,aswellasavehicleforthestrugglefor
poweramongdifferentsocialgroups.Theaimofthisvolumeisthereforeto
unravelthecomplexsocialandpoliticalagendasthatunderliedecisionson
medium-of-instruction policies.
Inselectingtheauthorsandchaptersforthisvolume,theeditorshave
beenguidedbytheirbeliefthatmedium-of-instructionpoliciesmustbe
understoodinconnectionwithsocial,economic,andpoliticalforcesthat
shape education generally. The chapters in this collection demonstrate
thatmedium-of-instructionpoliciesarenotonlyaboutthechoiceofthe
language(s) of instruction, but also about a range of important socio-
political issues, including globalization, migration, labor policy, elite
competition, and the distribution of economic resources and political
power.Itisthepurposeofthiscollectiontoexplorethelinksbetweenme-
dium-of-instructionpoliciesandthesebroaderissues.Thecollectionisin-
tended for scholars and other specialists in education, language policy,
sociolinguistics,appliedlinguistics,andlanguageteaching.Itisintended
foruseingraduateandadvancedundergraduatecoursesonlanguageed-
ucationandlanguagepolicy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Theeditorsaregratefultotheauthorsofthechaptersinthiscollectionfor
theireffortstoconnectmedium-of-instructionpolicieswithcriticallyim-
portantsocial,political,economic,andeducationalissues.JulieScalescon-
tributedherconsiderableresearchskillstothisvolume.VikkiWestonand
WinkyMokoftheUniversityofHongKongprovidedsuperbassistancein
PREFACE ix
editing the language of some chapters, formatting the manuscript, and
checkingthedetails.TheeditorsareespeciallygratefultoNaomiSilverman
of Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, for her support for this project.
—James W. Tollefson
—Amy B. M. Tsui
