Rosa

Hola, Allô, Hello, Hallo,

My name is Rosa Angelica and I want to learn about everything of everything. I have respect for anyone who makes the effort learn a new one because I myself know how hard it is to learn a new one from scratch. Recently, I have pushed myself a lot further and began to take independent trips (two to be specific). During these two trips I have learned that one must always leave their comfort zone. One more thing I learned is that nothing is impossible, you just have to believe that you are capable of anything and you will be capable of anything, even learning a foreign language. It will take hard work and probably many tears but I can testify that it is absolutely worth it.


"It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default." J.K Rowling

Pictures of my two memorable trips that changed my view on life

Multilingualism

"Multilingualism is the ability of an individual speaker or a community of speakers to communicate effectively in three or more languages." -ThoughtCo.


Antonio Guterres United Nations Secretary-General speaking in different languages


Multilingualism in Education policies around the world

The research will be targeting how multilingualism is manifested in education policies in different areas of the world.

Factors that contribute to multilingualism

  • Pure interest of learning a language
  • Regional variations (many different languages spoken in a region)
  • Immigration (forced or voluntary)
  • Colonization and conquest

Early bilinguals and multilinguals will be learning another language before they actually acquire a strong grammatical structure of their first language. In addition, schooling in the multiples languages might differ, especially with first and second generation immigrants. This may result in a great imbalance between both languages which consequently will affect the chances of the first language's survival in future generations.

Source : Bilingualism by K. Hakuta

The Rainbow Nation

South Africa was nicknamed the rainbow nation because of its big diversity of people. In this country, africans, asians, and europeans constitute the majority of the people who call themselves south africans.

Education in South Africa

Officially, South Africa has 11 languages its government recognizes, however, how does this play out in education policies in a country where there are so many languages that exist? As of the today, the state mostly operates in south african english. One of the main problems in this country is that english dominates governmental affairs and business, other languages like isiZulu begin to be seen has only a spoken language, one without a written form.

South africans themselves will fight for their children to have schooling only in english rather than in their mother tongues, this one of the traces left by the Apartheid.


The ticking clock

A country that posses such diversity faces an issue that could mean the disappearance of its own native languages. As previously mentioned, it is not uncommon for south african parents to demand their children be educated in english, and this has resulted in a lineance for the majority of students to do their higher educations in english which leads to a lack of reliable teachers to teach in other native african languages.


Brief history

In order to understand the education policies in South Africa today, one must look back at the history that still lingers. During the Apartheid the main goal was to segregate the communities within the country, and one area that became a tool to separate was education. The government put forth a system where children were thought in only their mother tongues in primary school which favoured their goal to divide all the different people that existed. In addition to this, the quality of language used in schools was an idea of the languages inspired from missionary groups that had arrived in South Africa in at the end of 19th century, in other words, the language taught in schools were not the real forms of those languages but merely a botched versions made by the missionary groups.

Afrikaans was given the most importance above all other languages because it was spoken by the white population of South Africa. They limited the access to english to only the white afrikaans while the native african speakers where only taught in their own language in order to keep them in a low socioeconomic status. This formed a stigma with the native african languages as languages of learning and teaching since it was associated with a low economic status, thus making most aim to learn english as their primary language of learning.

This video explains the situation of native african languages in education in south africa from the perspective of a new generation post-apartheid

The Language Policy Post Apartheid

After the Apartheid there was hope that perhaps all the languages of south africa could co-exist together, however the attempts have been little and not effective. A group named LANTAG (Language Plan Task Group) created a team of linguists and sociolinguists in order to reform the education in the country and allow for the languages to thrive but sadly the solutions have been met with slow progression.

Between 1992 and 1995 the negotiations for the constitution of South africa offered three different views on language,

  • the first was segregationist which keep the previous system during the Apartheid and keep all the ethnolinguistic groups separated with an incorrect version of their languages
  • the second was assimilationist which would put forth an english system since it was the language power, and this would mean that there would likely be an assamilition to english
  • the last one was integrationist which would make every language a resource this meant that all the languages would have to be used in all contexts, which was impossible because of the amount of languages

They settled on a mix of the two first ideas and create an education system where the children would be taught in their mother tongues and would learn english in addition to it, which would make them bilingual/multilingual from an early start. However the stigma from the Apartheid era seemed to ingrained in this society and caused for the inequality between all the languages and making english the dominant language of power in South africa.

It was not until 2013 that real change towards equality of all languages when the government began to accept native languages as languages of learning and teaching.


What does the education look like?

Children typically are taught in their native languages until third grade and then continue their schooling in english, which clearly puts english as the most important language since students will only be taught in english for the rest of their lives.

Here is an example:

in 2007 isiZulu was the first language for 25.1% of the children who began school

  • 1st grade; 23.4% of the 25.1% were taught in isiZulu
  • 3rd grade; 20.4% of the 25.1% were taught in isiZulu
  • 4th grade; 1.5% of the 25.1% were taught in isiZulu
  • 12th grade; 1.1% of the 25.1% were taught in isiZulu

The overall average of students who had their education in isiZulu was 6.8%.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.”- Nelson Mandela

The example just mentioned shows how South Africa has failed to give equality to all its languages in the education system after the Apartheid. The goal was to finally give a voice to everyone and erase the stigmas from that era but if anything the government managed to endanger its own languages by idolizing an english-only education. This has cause for a lack of students who take on african languages as their studies because of their focus on english. The results is shown today by the lack of teachers in native african languages in primary school, thus pushing more and more south african children to start their education only in english at a very young age.

This issue has only gotten worse with the lack of proactivity from the education system, now only time will tell whether these languages will stand a chance of surviving as first languages in this diverse nation.


Source : Heugh, Kathleen. (2013). Multilingual Education Policy in South Africa Constrained by Theoretical and Historical Disconnections. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. 33. 10.1017/S0267190513000135.


What About The Rest of Africa ?

Kenya

A region with 69 languages within its borders, only two languages are official in this country, English and Kiswahili.

Here is a short video that gives a sneak peek into Kenyan languages

In order for bilingualism to work, children must acquire or develop their skills in their first language or the language they are most frequently exposed to.

This means they have to be able to make grammatically and syntactically correct sentences, and by doing this it helps make the process of learning a second language easier.

*this is in the case where these children are not used to hearing and practising english in a day-to-day basis, only in their classrooms.*

Kenya teachers

Teachers who conduct their classes in english have shown having ungrammatical structures, they themselves do not master english fluently making the students learn the same mistakes.

Observations

Children do not participate in classrooms when they are questions in english and will only write a few sentences in english (with grammatical errors) when asked to write a paper or exercise.

But when children are asked question in their native languages, they participate a lot more, in addition to actively contributing into the course. Many teachers resort to the method of code-switching, they will translate the question from english to their native languages in order to get participation from the class.

Another study showed how young school children are capable of writing a big essay, in addition to expressing their ideas and opinions clearly whilst in english they would find difficulty in doing so and tended to write a lot less content due to their limited comfortability with the language.

Kenyan education system

Starting grade four, Kenyan children are only thought in English for all their material. Their first language is completely replaced by english This has had grave consequences for the students' language abilities.

Researchers have studied student to teacher interactions in Kenyan classrooms, and they have found that most children will not participate in class, which linked to the fact that they are being spoken to in a foreign language. Refer to "Observation for more details".

"Transition into Bilingualism"

Kenya fails into making an education system that promotes multilingualism or bilingualism for that matter:

  • Children are taken away, from a young age, of an education in their native languages and instead, are being thought in a foreign language (english)
  • Children do not have a basic knowledge of English before going into english education
  • Children learn english by learning sentences by heart, and not actually understanding the language as if it was theirs
  • Children's native language are seen as social languages, not as academic languages
  • Grades for the students who are in this transition process are very low


Results

The consequences of this "transition into bilingualism" system causes for a bigger inequality in this country since they are not given the proper tools and are expected to achieve something dramatic without considering the steps that must be implemented in order for it to be successful. The children are supposed to learn a language, that is foreign to them, on a academic level, and adding the lack of skills and material of Kenyan teachers to teach english, this kind education sets many kenyan children for failure in their future education goals. It also delegitimize the status of the local languages.

Source : Zsiga, Elizabeth C., et al. Languages in Africa : Multilingualism, Language Policy, and Education. Georgetown University Press, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=960725&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Ghana

Context

In Ghana, many children are not able to attend school easily because of their location or financial state, for example: children living in farms do not go to school in order to help their families, making it impossible for them to be able to catch up to the normal curriculum when they do reach the age where they have to start to go to the school formal.

What does SFL look like?

Since the classes are aimed for children who live on farms or places surrounded by crops and animals, the content in the classroom is about their lifestyle. They consider it being more effective if children raised on farms learned about what they do in their daily lives would help them participate more and relate more, thus making them want to learn and participate.

For example, textbooks and exercises will have touch around what animals and farm life but the children themselves already know the basic so they feel a sense of inclusion


Here is the web page if you want to learn more about this program:

https://www.schoolforlifegh.org/

School For Life (SFL)

This is an interesting program offered for Ghanaian children ages eight to fourteen. It is an integration and complementary education for children before they are exposed to a formal classroom, and the main language of instruction is not english but the native language of the region.

The language of education for these children is the their native languages; they learn how to read and write in them until they are ready for the standard education offered by their ministry of education.

The goal of this program is to help school children integrate into the normal curriculum which is thought in english. The government was looking to give access to an education to children who could not afford or who are not able to attend school. This program is essentially a bridge to the formal school which aims to make it easier for all children including those who not have the same benefits as others, to be at the same level.

Additionally, children will learn to read and write in their mother tongue before they learn how to read and write in english.

The schools are everywhere around the country and has hosted about 350 000 children, of which 80 percent have successfully been able to integrate into the standard schooling and shown similar results as a student who has attended formal education.


  • The aim is also to give Ghanaian a pause from their reality which is why the classrooms will offer inclusive activities
  • There is a recognition of their language
  • The native languages are legitimized and helps engage more children around the country as it is easier for them to communicate in them
  • Offers classes that engage students to learn and participate

Here is a interesting video I found on Ghana's language


This is an amazing program with good intentions to educate its youth and give them a chance at succeeding in life, while giving an equal footing to its native languages. This program shows there is progress and willingness for a change, in addition this kind of program can be a window for something greater in this continent.

Source: Zsiga, Elizabeth C., et al. Languages in Africa : Multilingualism, Language Policy, and Education. Georgetown University Press, 2014. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=960725&site=eds-live&scope=site.


If anyone is interested this book is full of information about education policies and how african countries handle language diversity. It is also the book I used for my information on Kenya and Ghana

Name : Languages in Africa: Multilingualism, language policies and education


European education in regions with significant linguistics variations


Foreign Language in Primary and Secondary Schools

All Swiss cantons have agreed on the education of three languages in the students classroom, which means that every Swiss child will be taught in two foreign languages. The first and main foreign language should one of the other national languages however, depending on the region and canton there will be a decided foreign language already put in place for students of the specific canton. The teaching of the first foreign language typically starts between 4th and 5th grade for most.


Switzerland

The four official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian, and Romansh


Canton autonomy and language autonomy

Switzerland's education system functions very differently compared to other countries, it grants full autonomy to its cantons (26) which mean cantons choose how they instore education. Considering that there are four languages living next to each other, not all Swiss classrooms look the same. The federal government only has a authority over higher education like universities.


The cantons choose in which language the schools will be conducted in and it is usually in the main official language of the canton, however the issue lies in what to do when a canton has more than one main official languages. They offer schools in a variety of languages for all present linguistic groups, and even within a canton a municipality might choose its official language


This kind system has permitted sovereignty over the main languages of Switzerland in addition to creating an atmosphere for language learning no matter what language one speaks. It promotes the exchange of the linguistic groups next to each and also of the neighbouring countries like Germany, France and Austria. As children learning more than one language is already enriching the child with another culture and by teaching a child a third language, possibly fourth, will make them have more knowledge about the people they live with.

The coexistence and openness of all the linguistic is one of the core elements of the country's beliefs which further enriches its culture and shows an open-minded spirit towards all languages.

What Does The Education Look Like?

Students throughout their education will learn 3 languages

1. First and main language (L1)

2. First foreign language which must be one of the official national language (L2)

3. English (L3)

For example,

A student in Zurich whose L1 is Swiss-German, will learn French as their L2

A student in Geneva whose L1 is French will learn German as their L2

A student whose L1 is Romansh will forcibly be fluent in one of the national language because it is only spoken by 0.5% of the population of Switzerland and they will need if they wish to enter the Swiss economy.

Although it does not mean all Swiss citizen are multilingual, they do however have knowledge on at least three languages.

More surprisingly, excluding the national languages many Swiss speak languages that are not part of the four national language according to statistics released by the government of Switzerland

Here is an interesting video on the languages of Switzerland

Two national language issues

One common issue found when it comes to a second national foreign language is the level of difficulty for one particular language. Swiss-German differs from standard german which means even if Swiss pupils learn German (Standard), their communication with a Swiss-German would be hard as the dialect is very different to the standard version. In diplomacy, articles are written in standard german, however conversation and the classes are conducted mostly in Swiss-German. This has made French cantons reluctant to learn German as a second foreign language as they know that they will not be able to fully communicate with other Swiss speakers.

Despite the federal government for recommending the practise of a second foreign national language, the autonomy of cantons often will overrule the recommendations. This caused often by the tense related relationships between linguistic groups, especially among French-Swiss and German-Swiss. There is also the preference for english as the main foreign language due to economic and work opportunities, however most still have a small amount of knowledge in the other national language to do business and maintain friendly ties to the other linguistic groups because despite their differences they are Swiss and share the same nationality.

Advantages of a two national language curriculum

Speakers of Romansh which are a very small minority in the country, need to learn a second foreign national language if they wish to participate the Swiss economy. Romansh is rarely used and is even outnumbered by other non-national foreign languages. In addition, speakers of non-national languages as their mother-tongue have the opportunity to learn more languages, thus given a bigger advantage in the world, and getting many linguistic perspective in the continent. This allows for more ties to be made all around with neighbouring countries, or countries far away who speak the same languages or knowledge of them (English/Portuguese/Serbo-Croate).


Final thoughts and impressions

Switzerland seems like a multilingual heaven, but that is far from the truth. Not all Swiss speak the four national languages, however they do have knowledge in some. It helps Swiss create ties with foreign countries with a common language, and the mentality of openness towards to having the ability in more than two languages is good for young students perspective in the future. The encourage of the federal government shows willingness for multiculturalism and diversity.

Sources: Kużelewska, Elżbieta. "Language Policy in Switzerland". Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric 45.1: 125-140. https://doi.org/10.1515/slgr-2016-0020

Heilprin, John. “Two National Languages Urged for Swiss Primary School.” SWI Swissinfo.ch, Swissinfo.ch, 20 Feb. 2015, www.swissinfo.ch/eng/language-debate_two-national-languages-urged-for-swiss-primary-school/41284160.

Philippines


Philippine Constitution On Language Policy Education

In 1974, the Philippines created BEP (bilingual education policy)

The goal as stated by the policy on the constitution:

"1. enhanced learning through two languages to achieve quality education as called for by the 1987 Constitution;

2. the propagation of Filipino as a language of literacy;

3. the development of Filipino as a linguistic symbol of national unity and identity;

4. the cultivation and elaboration of Filipino as a language of scholarly discourse, that is to say its

continuing intellectualization; and

the maintenance of English as an international language for the Philippines and as a non-exclusive language of science and technology."

Source: Government of the Philippines


Filipino Pride

Most Filipino despite linguistic differences are proud to say they are Filipino which has created programs in the country that looks into preserving the regional languages:

  • Commission of the Filipino Language (CFL)
  • University programs that form mother-tongue based education
  • The Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)

Language issues

The philippines has so many languages and dialect that it is a challenge to instore an education curriculum that recognizes all of them. Since the beginning of its formation, this country has acknowledge its linguistic diversity and has embraced it. Instead of dismissing them, it has create a standard form that would be comprehensible to all, also a common language that legitimizes all of the dialects.

Goals and future perspectives

The government has tried to encourage to knowledge of both languages in addition to native languages and dialects, it is not the most economically privilege country in Asia, which means it has been hard to establish proper education because some do not have access to it.

Unstable governments and corruption have also played into the ups and downs of language in education, some governments have contrasted previous ones by cutting back the knowledge of native languages and while others encouraged of them.

Official Languages

The two official languages are Filipino has the main language and English as the second (international) language. However, it estimated that the Philippines as 125 to 170 languages which in 2014, 13 of them had at least a million native speakers in a country with a population of 85 million!

Filipino not Pilipino

Before Filipino ever became the official language of the Philippines, the official language was Tagalog, but only considering Tagalog as the official language excluded all the other languages in the country in addition to its dialects, instead the government declared Pilipino as the official language but that too was met with backlash. Finally in they decided on Filipino being the official language of the country and here is why:

They changed the /p/ for a /f/ to take into consideration the languages who use voiceless labiodental fricative.

South-East Asia

Most of the countries of South-east Asia have taken upon themselves to promote english as a second language for students in order to take part in the global market. Singapore with little natural resources has made english an essential topic in schools so that the students later on can help the country's economy by participating the global market which is something the Philippines wants to promote.

One main factor of why so many Filipino domestic workers are in demand in other countries is their ability to speak English.

What Does The Education Look Like?

Every Filipino class takes place in the Philippine language but subjects like English as a foreign language and science and mathematics are taught in English.

According to observations and surveys teachers use code-switching in classrooms.

From 7 to 9 years old and pre-primary:

  • Student will have their mother tongue as their source of instruction

After 9 years old (Grade 4 and later):

  • Student will learn Filipino for most subjects and English for other subjects like mathematics and science

There are also university programs in Filipino that one can take


Bilingual education

The two official language of education is Filipino and English, the emphasis of Filipino. Most Filipinos have a base knowledge in English which explains the demand of Filipino workers abroad. Although most workers are domestic, the fact that their ability to speak english puts them at an advantage to other foreign workers in the world.

Have You Ever Heard Of Taglish ?

It is a mix of Tagalog and English mostly spoken in the region of Manila. It is fascinating to listen the mix of language.

The government encourages English as well as promoting the usage of its native languages and dialects, which is what brings together the citizens of the Philippines.

Sources:

“Language Policies in the Philippines.” National Commission for Culture and the Arts, ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca-3/subcommissions/subcommission-on-cultural-disseminationscd/language-and-translation/language-policies-in-the-philippines/.

Racoma, Bernadine. “The Existence of over 170 Languages in the Philippines.” Day Translations Blog, Day Translations, 6 Aug. 2019, www.daytranslations.com/blog/languages-in-philippines/.

Gonzalez, Andrew. “The Language Planning Situation in the Philippines.” Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, vol. 19, no. 5, 1998, pp. 487–525., doi:10.1080/01434639808666365.

Catalonia



This region in Spain has faced troubles in the past century under a dictatorship that wanted to exterminate the language. Catalan is also native to Andorra, a small country between France and Spain.

Catalan oppression during 20th century

Until 1975, Catalan culture was banned by the dictator of Spain, Franco. Political oppression was strong and Catalans were not allowed to oppose any of the policies placed by Franco's dictatorship.

Linguistic diversity in Spain back then was not encourage and integration was forced. Spanish was the only language allowed in schools and Catalan was only a spoken language than a educational one as spreading the language could be dangerous for those who dared.

Post dictatorship

After the death of Franco, Spain officially recognized the autonomy of the Catalan language and soon after Catalonia began its survival phase

The survival phase began with the the implementation of the language in signs and government documents. Then in education, Catalan became a main language of instruction next to Spanish.

Immigration

In the past years, the influx of immigrants has been a challenge for Catalonia. Most migrants will prefer to enroll their children in Spanish for more opportunities, however Catalonia has made it obligatory to learn Catalan in order to encourage the knowledge of it, and the preservation of it. It has gone as far as making the first language the children will learn when they start school.

Catalonia has embraced the arrival of immigrants as they see it as an opportunity to maintain the language and culture. The state has also said that it allowed them to have more opportunities in getting jobs in Catalonia.

Independence movements

Tables have turned since the end of fascist dictatorship. Recently, Catalans have fought for the independence of their state which has led to violent protests and imprisonment of political leaders. The referendum that almost took place would have meant the end of its shared government with Spain. Even the youth had strong feelings of sovereignty. The difference of language has made the dividing line between spaniards and catalans deeper.

What does the education look like?

Pupils learn to learn both Catalan and Spanish as main language of instructions which means they have knowledge in both, in addition to another foreign language.

Since the beginning of school, students depending on which linguistic group they belong to, they will have either Catalan or Spanish as the primary source of instructions. Additionally, Spanish or Catalan as second primary source of instruction, and non-native speakers of either languages will automatically have Catalan as a primary source of instruction, according to Catalan law.


This charts shows that Catalonia accepts more immigrants than Spain

Reference: Contact with immigrants in times of crisis: An exploration of the Catalan case - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Evolution-of-immigration-in-Catalonia-and-Spain-2002-2010-Source-Catalonia-Idescat_fig1_264158052 [accessed 12 May, 2020]

Unlike their counterparts Catalonia has accepted a lot more immigrants.

They see it as an advantage to enhance the amount of Catalan speakers. Observations have shown that immigrant pupils have the ability to speak Catalan as natives and have the ability to also communicate in Spanish.

Catalonia as turned education into a tool to preserve its language no matter the background of their speakers. They wish to keep their diversity and integrity.

Final thoughts

Catalonia seems to share a lot of similarities with Quebec. Like this province, there is a law that obliges immigrants to learn Catalan/French as a primary source of instruction. The reason for this, is to preserve the integrity of the language

Burgen, Stephen. “Immigration Complicates Catalonia's Separatist Picture.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 20 Nov. 2012, www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/20/immigration-complicates-catalonia-separatist-picture.

Ferrer, Ferran. “Languages, Minorities and Education in Spain: The Case of Catalonia.” Comparative Education, vol. 36, no. 2, 2000, p. 187. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspxdirect=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.3099867&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Urmeneta, Cristina Escobar, and Virginia Unamuno. “Languages and Language Learning in Catalan Schools: From the Bilingual to the Multilingual Challenge.” Forging Multilingual Spaces, Dec. 2008, pp. 228–255., doi:10.21832/9781847690777-009.

Zabala, Santiago. “Catalan Crisis and Franco's Legacy to Shape the Future of Spain.” Elections 2018 | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 6 Nov. 2019, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/catalan-crisis-franco-legacy-shape-future-spain-191106085138998.html.