ABSTRACTS

Majority cultures and their influential ideologies, along with their majority languages (often post-colonial) and large LWC’s, have exerted growing pressure on minority communities around the world to change – whether that be a change in their way of life and values, or a change in their language repertoire and its use. By influencing parents to use these larger languages in the home, such ideologies effectively limit the language choices of future generations. But minority communities in many places are pushing back against these pressures. How communal agency has been regained in various parts of the world through community-based language development will be the topic of this talk.

The conversation begins with the state of language shift around the globe, using a well-known global data set on vitality (Eberhard, Simons, and Fennig 2022), and looking at global vitality through both a temporal and geographical lens. The rest of the paper introduces one possible response to shift – community-based language development (CBLD). It is defined as ­­an approach in which ‘the community makes decisions about how their linguistic repertoire can help them meet their needs in all areas of life’ (Lewis and Simons 2016:74). The core values of this approach are described, along with a brief summary of its theoretical framework, the Sustainable Use Model (Lewis and Simons 2016), contrasting it with more typical ‘revitalization’ efforts.

Two types of CBLD are then highlighted: ‘grassroots’ CBLD and ‘facilitated’ CBLD. Grassroots CBLD involves communities making decisions that indirectly impact language development without any training or help from the outside. These are exemplified by the following case studies: 1) the Late Vernacular Use acquisition practices found in Sãotomense and Angolar, two creole languages of São Tomé e Príncipe (Eberhard 2023), 2) and the use of texting in Maguindanao by Maguindanoan mother-tongue speakers (Mangulamas 2017; Eberhard and Mangulamas 2022). Each of these practices show a grass roots resilience in the face of increasing pressure from majority languages and in some cases even in the midst of ongoing shift.

Facilitated CBLD, on the other hand, involves community leaders making conscious decisions to strengthen their traditional languages after having been trained in CBLD methodologies where they learn how to assess their own language ecologies. Two examples of such facilitated methods are the Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language (Hanawalt et al. 2015) and The Language and Identity Journey (Eberhard 2020; Eberhard and Duke 2021). Both of these methods use participatory activities to enable community leaders to begin their own

journey that moves from awareness, to assessment, planning and implementation. Case studies illustrating facilitated CBLD come from the Shina in Pakistan (Eberhard and Smith 2020:76-106), that began broadcasting their language via radio after participating in a Guide workshop, resulting in a resurgence of its use among the youth, and the Kuku in Uganda who embraced CBLD during a Journey workshop, applied for their own ISO code after the workshop, and are now producing their own literacy materials (Eberhard and Smith 2020:211).

The conclusion calls for a celebration of resiliency – the resiliency of those minority language communities who, in the face of extremely challenging odds, via either grassroots or facilitated CBLD, choose to either preserve traditional forms of their languages and identities, or choose to mix the past with the present by developing new hybrid ways of speaking and/or belonging.

Key words: Community-based language development, Sustainable Use Model, community agency, language shift, Guide for Planning the Future of Our Language, Language and Identity Journey, grassroots CBLD, facilitated CBLD.

The internationalisation of higher education has led to the adoption of policies that aim to attract international students and to promote engagement among institutional partners, and others. In ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - higher education systems have been transformed through mobility of students and efforts to create a common higher education area with more uniform systems and processes. Significant progress has been made as a result of concerted efforts by Southeast Asian member states, regional organisations, higher education institutions, and international partners.  One of the most common and significant internationalising strategies has been the implementation of English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes and courses. The rise of EMI raises key questions for applied linguists. Despite efforts to discuss language policy issues related to the adoption of EMI, including from ideological perspectives, the implications for the use of EMI have not yet been sufficiently examined. This presentation discusses the presence, implications and contextual constraints of using EMI in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries. As there is a need for further enquiry to inform the implementation of EMI policy in these contexts, the presentation concludes with proposals for EMI policies and practices in Malaysia and the region, and puts forward suggestions for future research in this expanding field.

Keywords: internationalisation, English, language policy, multilingualism, ASEAN