Sjaak Kroon

Multilingualism and Nation Building: Language and Education in Eritrea

This paper focuses on language choice in the newest nation in the Horn of Africa within a broader context of language policy in multilingual states. Pre-colonial and post-colonial language policies in Eritrea are surveyed in relation to evolving linguistic and political nationalism. Language contact and its social consequences are discussed in an attempt to shed light on language policies pursued during different periods in the colonial history of Eritrea. Using descriptive frameworks provided by contemporary sociolinguistics, post-independence language policy, with language and education at the centre, is looked at from the perspective of the functional allocation of nine Eritrean languages and the points at which they conflict and complement each other. Public responses and evaluations are analysed and implications for further research are advanced.

Objective and subjective data on Altai and Kazakh ethnolinguistic vitality in the Russian Federation Republic of Altai

This study deals with the ethnolinguistic vitality of Altai and Kazakh as compared to Russian in the Russian Federation Republic of Altai. Data were gathered by document analysis, interviews with experts and by conducting a subjective ethnolinguistic vitality questionnaire. The data showed that Altai and Kazakh, as a consequence of a long-lasting Russification process, have become endangered languages in Altai. The dominance of Russian is ubiquitous and hardly hampered by a growing consciousness of ethnolinguistic identity and a number of language revitalisation activities. The ethnolinguistic vitality questionnaire corroborated the weak position of Kazakh as compared to Russian. For most of the indicators of ethnolinguistic vitality Kazakh informants reported significantly higher vitalities for the Russian out-group. Also a comparison at group level yielded a significant difference in favour of Russian. The Kazakh language in Altai can be considered a threatened language that will be more and more limited to the domestic domain and to speakers of the older generation. With respect to Altai a number of indicators of ethnolinguistic vitality showed higher vitalities for the Altai in-group. A comparison at group level did not show significant differences between Altai and Russian. This shows that the vitality of Altai in spite of the dominance of Russian is high and opens up possibilities for further growth.

Multilingual education policy in practice: classroom literacy instruction in different scripts in Eritrea

This contribution compares literacy instruction in three different scripts in Eritrea. It uses data stemming from classroom observations of beginning readers of Tigrinya (Ge’ez script), Arabic (Arabic script) and Saho (Roman alphabet), the examination of teaching materials, and teacher interviews. Our analysis focuses on literacy events. We examine and compare the introduction of the written code in classrooms in the context of a single national curriculum and a national language policy that gives equal rights to all the languages involved. The practices that we observed in this study involved concentrated effort on teaching the children how to learn the letters of the specific orthography. In mostly phonics based lessons, teachers used chanting, games, reciting letters or syllable symbols and repeated exercises in the writing of letters that emphasized graphic form. These instructional practices differed for each language and were deeply embedded in the languages’ historical and cultural context.

Motives for Turkish return migration from Western Europe: home, sense of belonging, discrimination and transnationalism

ABSTRACT This article explores return migration motivations of different generations of Turkish migrants returning from Germany, the Netherlands and France, using semi-structured face-to-face interviews among 48 informants. The study draws on a qualitative approach and inductive content analysis to get insight into how pre-return, migration and transnational experiences of Turkish migrants influence their decisions to return to Turkey. It was found that an ambition to return to Turkey already present when migrating from Turkey, perceived discrimination in Western Europe and a strong sense of belonging to Turkey play the most important role in return decisions.

Multilingual literacies in the global south: language policy, literacy learning and use

This special issue focuses on literacy research in multilingual contexts in the global south. It examines the interfaces between language policies and language ideologies at the national level, the...

Stimulating students’ academic language : opportunities in instructional methods in elementary school mathematics

Mastering academic language (AL) by elementary school students is important for achieving school success. The extent to which teachers play a role in stimulating students’ AL development may differ. Two types of AL stimulating behavior are distinguished: aimed at students’ understanding and at triggering students’ production of AL. As mathematics requires abstract language use, AL occurs frequently. The instructional methods teachers use during mathematics instruction may offer different opportunities for AL stimulating behavior. In our first study, based on expert opinions, instructional methods were categorized according to opportunities they offer for stimulating students’ AL development. In the second study, video-observations of mathematics instruction of elementary school teachers were analyzed with respect to AL stimulating behavior and instructional methods used. Results showed that actual AL stimulating behavior of teachers corresponds to the expert opinions, except for behavior shown during task evaluation. Teachers differ in time and frequency of their use of instructional methods and therefore in opportunities for stimulating AL development. Four teaching profiles, reflecting different AL stimulating potential, were constructed: ‘teacher talking’, ‘balanced use of methods’, ‘getting students at work’ and ‘interactive teaching’. Teachers showed more types of behavior aimed at students’ AL understanding than at production.

Bilingual education for immigrant students in the Netherlands

As a consequence of recent immigration processes, the traditional pattern of language variation in the Netherlands has changed considerably over the past decades. This review deals with the response of Dutch educational policy and practice to these changes in the multilingual composition of Dutch society. In light of the ethnic, cultural and linguistic heterogeneity in the Netherlands, this review will take a broad multilingual perspective rather than focusing on bilingual education only. First, the major trends in governmental educational policy responses to the multilingual composition of Dutch society will be outlined and discussed. Then, we will describe four basic models of language teaching in multilingual settings that provide a framework for discussing multilingual initiatives in Dutch education. Finally, attention will be paid to some central theoretical issues in the debate on multilingualism and education in a pluralist society.

Research for language policy in Surinamese education: a study on involvement and detachment

In this paper, the on-going process of language policy-making in Suriname is dealt with using quantitative data obtained from students as well as teachers in primary and secondary schools. The Republic of Suriname is a former Dutch colony on the Caribbean coast of South America. Suriname shelters around 20 languages. Dutch is the official language since 1667, while Sranan is the local lingua franca among the various ethnic groups. The languages other than Dutch are restricted mainly to domestic and rural domains and they are hardly used in public institutions like schools. Most children acquire one or more languages in the home and are exposed to multiple other languages in society. Upon starting school they are submerged in Dutch-medium education. In line with Surinamese Ministry of Educations request, we carried out a country-wide home language survey with 22,643 students and 3785 teachers in primary and secondary education. The outcomes of the surveys are evaluated against the language policy discussions in Suriname.

Symposium: (Dis)ordered processes of globalization: Policing and voicing language identities

Presented at the 16th World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA), Beijing Foreign Studies University, China, 27 August 2011. This symposium aimed to capture the multiple and dynamic processes of language and identity in the context of globalization. The pervasive process of globalization has inevitably affected the previously existing social and linguistic order. Broad, stable and normal patterns of conduct are being deconstructed and reshuffled; multiple, overlapping and conflicting forms are being shaped and reshaped. The abnormal becomes normal; disorder becomes the new order. The symposium explored this issue from two complementary perspectives – a macro perspective that focuses on language policies, and a micro perspective that focuses on how people struggle to articulate their identities.

Implications of Defining Literacy as a Major Goal of Teaching the Mother Tongue in a Multicultural Society

In the February 1985 issue of College English, published by the American National Council of Teachers of English as a forum for discussion of the teaching of English and the content of language arts programs, Deborah Brandt presents a review article which is—at least in our opinion—rather strikingly entitled Versions of Literacy (Brandt, 1985). The use of that caption seems to suggest a somewhat provocative perspective on the perilous problem of becoming literate in modem, that is to say, Western societies, mainly characterizable as plurilingual and multicultural.