This study examines the use of English loanwords in L1 isiXhosa-L2 English bilinguals living in Cape Town, South Africa. The specific aim of the study is to investigate which individual background factors may increase or reduce the presence of English loanwords in a L1 isiXhosa speaker's repertoire. Data on English loanword use and individual…

The present article contributes to attempts to re-conceptualise the top-down perspective on language policy, by analysing the role of local and city governments' agency in language education policy making. Only few studies analyse the role of lower administrative levels in language policy, other than in implementation of governmental…

Existing research on language in South African schooling frequently draws attention to the problematic hegemony of English and the lack of access to quality education in the home language of the majority of learners, often drawing on the metaphor of a gap or a disjuncture between post-apartheid language in education policy (LiEP) and its…

The Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was officially adopted in February 2009. Article 34 of the Charter states that, "The working language of ASEAN shall be English". In this article, I first briefly trace the development of English in ASEAN and demonstrate that, even in those countries of the ASEAN group which were…

Greater China is used in this article to refer to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Macao. While a holistic approach is adopted to present and compare the rapid spread of English and development in English language education in these geographically close, and sociopolitically, culturally and economically interrelated but hugely…

Compared with other countries in Asia, Japan is far behind in terms of introducing and delivering bilingual education, let alone effective immersion programmes. In order to make its citizens more bilingual, Japan has been introducing innovative measures including the implementation of the teaching of English in elementary education and a new…

This study is based on data from teachers' research reports in the context of an in-service workshop for professional development for teachers of the bilingual-integrated Palestinian-Jewish Schools in Israel. We used conventional qualitative methods, looking for patterns and thematic issues of relevance, which were then coded to allow for further…

While many studies conducted outside China attest to the importance of parental support in determining the extent of success in implementing a bilingual education (BE) programme, few empirical studies have been conducted into the strength of parental support for Chinese-English BE in mainland China. This paper reports upon a survey targeting…

Language education for ethnic majority and minority students alike has recently received much policy attention in the People's Republic of China. An outcome of this policy attention is the Chinese-English bilingual education initiative which turns on the use of English as a medium of instruction for Han majority students at the primary and…

This paper explores how bilingual learners and teachers challenge the monolingual discourses prescribed in language education policy and models in pursuit of voice and agency in classroom interaction. Through an examination of observation, interview and classroom interaction data in selected coloured primary and secondary schools in Cape Town, the…

This paper reviews the research output on English language education in China published in 24 international journals from 2001 to 2006 and delineates the nature of this corpus of research. The review covers research in the following areas: the linguistic situations and culture of learning in China in relation to English language education,…

In a surprise announcement in December 1996 in a speech at the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs, the late Nigerian Head of State, General Sani Abacha said "Nigeria is resolutely launching a programme of national language training that will in a short order, permit our country to become thoroughly bilingual". General Abacha's…

This paper examines the role that cultural identity and grassroots activism and community development have played in the creation, maintenance and expansion of Louisiana French immersion education. Although linguists tend to portray the extinction of endangered minority languages as inevitable, research on the effects of minority language…