ERIC Number: EJ822843
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2005-May
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1466-4208
EISSN: N/A
Rethinking Language Planning and Policy from the Ground Up: Refashioning Institutional Realities and Human Lives
Ramanathan, Vaidehi
Current Issues in Language Planning, v6 n2 p89-101 May 2005
At a time when connections between English and globalisation seem stronger than ever, and at a time when the "dominant" status of English "vis-a-vis" other languages is very prominent, it seems imperative for the LPP scholarship to make room for grounded explorations regarding English and its relationship to vernacular languages in non-Western educational contexts. Drawing on an eight-year ethnographic study of English-and-vernacular-medium education in Gujarat, India, this paper argues that it may be time for language planning and policy studies to adopt a situated approach that begins addressing issues around language planning- and policy-related inequities by first focusing on what is on the ground. By gaining insight into how divides between English and other languages are perpetuated by the enforcement of particular policies and by understanding how institutions and humans "refashion" and "re-plan" theirs and others lives by countering language policies, such an orientation opens up a way for us to go beyond thinking of language policies as entities that "happen to" humans by allowing us to view language policies as hybrid entities that draw their force and movement from the lives of real peoples and their motivations. Such an approach is partially intended toward countering the top-down tendency of much LPP scholarship. (Contains 2 figures and 7 notes.)
Descriptors: Language Planning, Ethnography, Foreign Countries, English (Second Language), Language Role, Second Language Learning, Language of Instruction, Educational Policy, Extracurricular Activities, Citizenship Responsibility, Indo European Languages, Native Language Instruction, Teaching Methods, Literacy, Educational Objectives
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: India
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A