The focus of this paper is the small postcolonial country of the Gambia. As in other parts of postcolonial Africa, English plays a major role in the education system. The paper reports on the conflicts and tensions which are evident when "vernacular" languages are used in the classroom. Although the study is based on substantial periods of…

Over the last century, the small Malay Islamic Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam, on the northern coast of Borneo, has moved away from an oral tradition, to a print culture and towards mass literacy. Discovery of oil in the early part of the 20th century transformed the economic situation in the country, and led to major changes and developments in…

Introduces this special issue of the journal. All of the articles but one were presented in a colloquium at the Third International Symposium on Bilingualism at the University of the West of England. The theme of the conference was the multilingual classroom and specifically the complex interrelationships, interactions, and ideologies within such…