Academic literature on the topic 'Education, Bilingual – Law and legislation – Malawi'

This study presents the application of a set of concepts devised by Mitchell, Marshall, and Wirt (1985) for investigating the distinctive cultures of state educational policy-making. In this study, an interpretation of the events leading to the passage in 1984 of Arizona’s new bilingual education legislation is developed, primarily from interviews with key actors. The central question addressed is whether a more comprehensive or mandatory law could have been achieved in Arizona.

O objetivo desse artigo é discutir e problematizar a perspectiva da educação bilíngue dos estudantes surdos, indicando características monolíngues presentes nessa abordagem. Para tanto, relacionam-se, na introdução, questões sobre os limites e desafios nos processos educativos desses estudantes. A análise está dividida em três eixos: Orientação monolíngue, contradições na educação bilíngues e, translinguagem como possibilidades. Para fundamentar a discussão buscou-se problematizar aspectos históricos que reforçaram este paradigma ainda presente hoje na educação. Os resultados apresentam várias contradições entre a legislação linguística e os documentos de políticas públicas que orientam a educação bilíngue dos estudantes surdos. A partir dessas contradições, ao longo do texto, discute-se sobre a inserção de uma orientação monolíngue na perspectiva do bilinguismo para esse público. No terceiro eixo de análise, levantam-se possibilidades de ampliar os conceitos de língua e linguagem na educação bilíngue sob a ótica da abordagem da translinguagem. Conclui-se que o bilinguismo na educação dos estudantes surdos não acontece como determina a legislação. Políticas públicas relacionadas a essa questão ainda favorecem a uma orientação que exclui o sujeito nos processos de ensino e aprendizagem. A perspectiva da translinguagem aponta para possibilidades emergentes que podem trazer um novo olhar na educação bilíngue dos estudantes surdos. Palavras-chave: Translinguagem. Linguagem. Políticas Públicas. Abstract The aim of this article is to discuss and problematize the perspective of bilingual education for deaf students, indicating monolingual characteristics present in this approach. Therefore, questions about the limits and challenges in the educational processes of these students are listed in the introduction. The analysis is divided into three axes: Monolingual orientation, bilingual contradictions in education, and translanguaging as possibilities. To support the discussion, we sought to problematize historical aspects that reinforced this paradigm still present today in education. The results present several contradictions between the linguistic legislation and the public policy documents that guide the bilingual education of deaf students. Based on these contradictions, the text discusses the insertion of a monolingual orientation in the perspective of bilingualism for deaf. In the third axis of analysis, possibilities are raised for expanding the concepts of language and languaging in bilingual education from the perspective of the translanguaging approach. It is concluded that bilingualism in the education of deaf students does not happen as required by law. Public policies related to this issue still favor an orientation that excludes the subject in the teaching and learning processes. The perspective of translanguaging points to emerging possibilities that can bring a new look to the bilingual education of deaf students. Keywords: Translanguaging. Language. Public Policy.

Jewish ambassadors' activities in the Legislative Sejm (1919–1922) aimed at protecting and developing national schooling are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on Jewish deputies defending their voters' educational rights during parliamentary speeches, political debates, submissions, and interpellations. The ambassadors raised such important educational issues as the adoption of educational legislation agreed with national minorities, the development of non-Polish educational institutions of all types, the "utraquisition" and liquidation of minority schooling, and the persecution of Jewish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, and German teachers. There are differences in Jewish ambassadors' views on the interpretation of the place of Jews in Poland, approaches to determine the role of religion in education, the national language, and the medium of instruction in educational institutions (Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish). Such differences partially hindered the consolidated activities of Jews to protect the educational rights of their people. It is noted that some of the parliamentarians supported the development of schools with Hebrew as the medium of instruction, others - Yiddish. At the same time, some advocated for religious schools and the rest for secular ones. Despite the lack of a unified vision of solving the educational issue among Jewish politics, Jewish parliamentarians, getting the support of German deputies and representatives of Polish left-wing political parties, used the parliamentary platform to protect the educational interests of electors. They joined in providing Jews with fundamental rights guaranteed by domestic law and international agreements, as well as in expanding the network of schools with Yiddish, Hebrew, or bilingual instruction.

Abstract Background Child marriage in Malawi is a significant problem with 42.1% of women 20–24 married by age 18. In 2017 the Malawi government formalized legislation to make marriage under age 18 illegal; violators are subject to fines. While leveraging laws to reduce child marriage is common, the enactment of laws and their enforcement has led to some novel practices. One such practice observed in Malawi is marriage withdrawal, where the community intervenes when a child marriage has taken place to force the girl to return to her natal home. Methods This paper is a qualitative analysis of perceptions regarding marriage withdrawal. We conducted focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with married and unmarried adolescents, parents of adolescents, and key community members in Mangochi and Nkhata Bay. Data were collected as part of an evaluation of the More Than Brides Alliance program aimed at delaying marriage and improving access to sexual and reproductive health services in Malawi. Results The knowledge that violation of marriage laws entails substantial fines is widespread and marriage withdrawals are seen by some respondents as a way of enforcing the spirit of child marriage laws while avoiding fines. Some respondents suggest that enforcement of marriage laws has an unintended effect of driving marriages underground. One important disconnect between the laws and the realities of child marriage practices in these communities is that the law holds parents responsible for the marriage and for preventing it, while parents do not necessarily exercise control, particularly when the marriage is precipitated by pregnancy. While parents and other adults view withdrawals as an acceptable resolution of a problematic child marriage, girls noted many drawbacks for withdrawn girls such as stigma and limited education and livelihood opportunities once withdrawn. Conclusions Our exploration of perceptions about marriage laws suggest that the imposition of fines may have some unintended consequences, both driving the practice underground and encouraging practices to evade fines, and may be associated with unintended consequences for adolescent girls. Programs to address child marriage should include other approaches that address more distal drivers including poverty and lack of alternatives to child marriage. Trial registration This work is part of an RCT registered August 4, 2016 in the AEA RCT registry identified as: AEARCTR-0001463. See: https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/1463

06–360Blackledge, Adrian (U Birmingham, UK), The magical frontier between the dominant and the dominated: Sociolinguistics and social justice in a multilingual world. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 22–41.06–361Boughton, Zoë (U Exeter, UK; z.c.boughton@exeter.ac.uk), Accent levelling and accent localisation in northern French: Comparing Nancy and Rennes. Journal of French Language Studies (Cambridge University Press) 15.3 (2005), 235–256.06–362Brown, N. Anthony (Brigham Young U, Utah, USA; tony_brown@byu.edu), Language and identity in Belarus.Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 311–332.06–363Cameron, Deborah (U Oxford, UK) Language, gender, and sexuality: Current issues and new directions. Applied Linguistics (Oxford University Press) 26.4 (2005), 482–502.06–364Deutch, Yocheved (Bar-Ilan U, Israel; yochd@netvision.net.il), Language law in Israel. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 261–285.06–365Edwards, John (St Francis Xavier U, Nova Scotia, Canada), Players and power in minority-group settings. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 4–21.06–366Edwards, Viv & Lynda Pritchard Newcombe (U Reading, UK), When school is not enough: New initiatives in intergenerational language transmission in Wales. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 298–312.06–367García, Patricia (Stanford U Graduate School of Education, USA), Parental language attitudes and practices to socialise children in a diglossic society. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 328–344.06–368Garner, Mark (U Aberdeen, UK), Christine Raschka & Peter Sercombe, Sociolinguistic minorities, research, and social relationships.Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (Multilingual Matters) 27.1 (2006), 61–78.06–369Goto, Yuko (U Pennsylvania, USA; ybutler@gse.upenn.edu) & Masakazu Iino, Current Japanese reforms in English language education: The 2003 ‘Action Plan’. Language Policy (Springer) 4.1 (2005), 25–45.06–370Hankoni Kamwendo, Gregory (U Botswana, Botswana; kamwendog@mopipi.ub.bw), Language planning from below: An example from northern Malawi. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 143–165.06–371Kaur Gill, Saran (U Kebangsaan, Malaysia, Malaysia; saran@pkrisc.cc.ukm.my), Language policy in Malaysia: Reversing direction. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 241–260.06–372Lantolf, James P. (Pennsylvania State U, USA; jpl7@psu.edu), Sociocultural theory and L2: State of the art. Studies in Second Language Acquisition (Cambridge University Press) 28.1 (2006), 67–109.06–373Määttä, Simo K. (U California, Berkeley, USA; asunto@uclink.berkeley.edu), The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, French language laws, and national identity. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 167–186.06–374Mills, Jean (U Birmingham, UK), Connecting communities: Identity, language and diaspora. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 253–274.06–375Pavlenko, Aneta (Temple U, USA), ‘Ask each pupil about her methods of cleaning’: Ideologies of language and gender in Americanisation instruction (1900–1924). International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (Multilingual Matters) 8.4 (2005), 275–297.06–376Richland, Justin B. (U California, Irvine, USA), The multiple calculi of meaning.Discourse & Society (Sage) 17.1 (2006), 65–97.06–377Silver, Rita Elaine (Nanyang Technological U, Singapore; resilver@nie.edu.sg), The discourse of linguistic capital: Language and economic policy planning in Singapore. Language Policy (Springer) 4.1 (2005), 47–66.06–378Tannenbaum, Michal & Marina Berkovich (Tel Aviv U, Israel; mtannen@post.tau.ac.il), Family relations and language maintenance: Implications for language educational policies. Language Policy (Springer) 4.3 (2005), 287–309.06–379Vaish, Viniti (Nanyang Technical U, Singapore; vvaish@nie.edu.sg), A peripherist view of English as a language of decolonization in post-colonial India. Language Policy (Springer) 4.2 (2005), 187–206.06–380Zuengler, Jane & Elizabeth R. Miller (U Winconsin-Madison, USA), Cognitive and sociocultural perspectives: Two parallel SLA worlds?TESOL Quarterly (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) 40.1 (2006), 35–58.

The study investigated the degree of compliance of selected Arizona public school districts with a set of state statutes which placed a limit on the amount bilingual education services a district could provide to students. The existing literature on implementation and compliance suggested that several conditions might influence districts to implement programs of instruction which would be at variance with the state laws. The study used questionnaires to gather program data from 40 school districts in southeastern Arizona. These questionnaires were screened to determine those districts offering programs of instructions which exceeded the restrictions of state law. Six such districts were found. Interviews were conducted with program administrators in each district to determine the explanations for noncompliance. An interview was also obtained with an Arizona Department of Education official to determine the role of the state regarding the bilingual statutes. Information obtained from the interviews revealed that several of the programs had been established under federal pressure to provide equal educational opportunity to limited-English-proficient children. These programs had existed long before these state statutes were put into effect in 1981. Data also indicated that the state statutes lacked enforcement mechanisms. The state agency responsible for those programs received no mandate to monitor districts or to enforce state restrictions. Also, this agency was federally-funded with a primary loyalty to federal priorities to keep programs in operation and with a service rather than an enforcement orientation toward local districts. No enforcement of the restrictions found in the 1981 bilingual statutes took place. Furthermore, administrative regulations for the 1981 statutes were formulated which permitted programs of instruction exceeding state limitations to continue. In 1984 new bilingual statutes were put into effect which removed the restrictions of the old statutes. The new statutes are discussed from the historical perspective of the earlier statutes.

Language education policy and its implementation have been controversial and ongoing issues throughout the United States, especially in the border state of Texas, with its large population of students who are learning English. This dissertation reports two studies, the first of which was a frame analysis of problems and solutions as represented by the five bills amending the Texas Education Code with regard to bilingual education and English as a second language programs. These laws, passed in 1969, 1973, 1975, 1981, and 2001, have been enacted since 1968, the year the Bilingual Education Act (BEA) was passed. The problem framed consistently by these state policy documents was inadequate instruction for children who come to school speaking languages other than English. More variability was seen in the framing of solutions, with approaches changing from the authorization of instruction in languages other than English, to the establishment of mandated bilingual programs, to the extension of special language programs, and to the establishment of dual language immersion programs. The primary ideology influencing the policy documents was the monolingual English ideology; however, alternative ideologies are apparent in the policies that allow for dual language immersion programs. Geographic information systems (GIS) analysis was used in the second study to investigate the geographic locations of particular programs and the demographics of students they served. Choropleth maps showed variability in program distribution across the state with distinct patterns apparent in only two programs. The maps indicated that districts with high percentages of student enrollment in one-way dual language programs tended to be located in and near the major metropolitan areas, whereas many districts offering early exit transitional bilingual programs tended to be located along the Texas-Mexico border. Despite the literature on bilingual/ESL program effectiveness, the predominant program in the border region of Texas is among those considered least beneficial to students learning English. This pair of studies illustrates the influence of monolingual English ideology on educational practice and policy through the implementation of programs by districts as well as the framing of bilingual education in legislation.

This paper is divided into four chapters. Chapter one presents an introduction and overview of the nature of the problem, its significance and implication for public policy, and a presentation of the research design and methodology. Chapter two reviews the historical and legal background of bilingual education policy. Chapter three presents a literature review of bilingual education policy making, and examines the impacts and effects of federal aid in practice. Chapter four provides a summary of survey findings and recommendations for reform of the funding criteria for Title VII ESEA bilingual education grants.

This project explored the impact of the implementation of Proposition 227 on SAT-9 scores in grades 2-11 of the Leander Unified School District. Minimal growth in test scores was found as a result of replacing the bilingual programs with English-only programs, contradicting claims by proponents of the proposition.

The current language policy in education in Malawi allows pupils to be taught through local languages form Standard 1 to 4 and through English from Standard 5 upwards. However, classroom observation suggets that teachers use Chichewa as the language of learning even in areas where Chichewa is not the home language of the majority of pupils. Surveys indicate that generally parents feel that their children would be learning better if they started learning through English earlier than in Standard 5. This study was conducted with a view to finding out whether English is the most appropriate language of learning for senior primary school children in Malawi. The study specifically addressed the question of whether or not the use of English as the language of learning in Social Studies resulted in better academic performance among Standard 7 pupils in Malawi. The study also addressed the question of whether the use of English as the language of learning increased pupil participation in the learning process and whether the use of Chichewa as the language of learning favoured Chichewa home language pupils more than Chiyao home language pupils. The findings suggest that primary school children in Malawi are not linguistically prepared for instruction through the medium of English. Standard 7 pupils, the target of the study, found it difficult to learn Social Studies through English although they had had three years of English as the language of learing. Their participation in academic work was hampered by their limited mastery of the language. Pre-test and post-test results show that Standard 7 pupils receiving instruction through Chichewa obtained higher scores than those who were taught in English. When Yao and Chewa children were taught together through the Chichewa medium, the Yao children scored as well as their counterparts whose home language was Chichewa. Thus the study suggests that the use of Chichewa benefited both groups while the use of English seemed to retard their performance. These results imply that the language policy in Malawi and the way teachers are currently trained to teach English in primary schools need to be re-examined and reviewed.
English Studies
D.Litt. et Phil. (English)