Conference Agenda

Multilingual education refers to ‘the use of two or more languages in education provided that schools aim at multilingualism and multiliteracy’ (Cenoz 2009, 4). One goal of fostering multilingualism is to provide quality education that attends to learners’ needs whilst balancing them with contemporary political, cultural and social demands (Skutnabb-Kangas and Heugh 2012). Recent developments in multilingualism and multilingual education in minority-dominated regions in China highlight the importance of policy studies to support the national goals of achieving additive trilingualism (Feng and Adamson, 2015), especially in minority-dominated regions, such as remote western regions (i.e. Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region). The local autonomous power in educational policy making can serve to provide linguistic strength and empower minority groups, preserve the group’s cultural integrity and help boost the nation’s global competence.

This study investigates how language policies in education have been designed to respond to the challenges of the socio-political ecology of the minority-dominated regions and, how, as a consequence the policies have reshaped that ecology. The data mainly comprise policy documents issued at the national, regional and institutional level, supplemented by interviews with policy makers at regional and local levels. The study finds that, while the policies at both national and regional levels regarding language education in China are supportive of multilingualism and multilingual education, in reality, some of the implemented practices at local school levels are not totally consistent with the policy goals by reinforcing the status of the national and international languages. The paper advocates the strengthening of additive multilingual education in the region which will help strengthening students’ competence in national and international languages.

Dual language immersion (DLI) research in the US often promote the implementation of translanguaging pedagogies in DLI classrooms, citing its potential for providing greater support for content knowledge development, validation of bilingual identities, and support of bilingual and biliteracy development (e.g., Sánchez, 2023). Most proponents of translanguaging pedagogies in DLI worked in Spanish/English contexts with a sizable racialized Spanish speaking student population. Some scholars who worked with programs with mostly white, English-dominant speakers raised concerns with the hegemony of English crowding out spaces for partner languages when teachers encourage students to draw on their entire language repertoire in the classroom (e.g., Tian 2021).

Adopting a nexus analytical framework (Hult, 2015), I examined the tensions experienced by a Chinese American teacher who navigated highly complex layers of language policies that are often in conflict with each other, as reflected by the discourses of a range of policy actors in a Chinese DLI program, and how he came to establish and maintain his language policy in a 5^th grade Chinese DLI classroom. This is a strand program consisting of an overwhelmingly white and English-dominant student population, housed in a mainstream English school. My multi-layered analysis based on a year-long classroom observation of the focal teacher, interviews with policy actors in the Chinese DLI program, and Chinese DLI policy documents revealed that despite enduring worries about potential consequences from breaking de jure strict language separation policies by activity translanguaging in the Chinese DLBE classroom, the teacher chose to do so because of concerns to do with 1) ensuring students feel a connection with the teacher, 2) English standardized testing requirements and 3) concerns with Chinese DLBE student retention. I conclude with a discussion of implications for supporting minoritized teachers in implementing contextualized language policies, especially in programs primarily serving white and English-dominant students.

Following the fall of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds in Iraq achieved the official recognition of Kurdish at both regional and federal levels, with Kurdish serving as the primary medium for education, media, and public administration for over two decades. However, concerns have been raised by literary figures and scholars about the declining quality of Kurdish use, particularly in education. This study explores the education system's role in preparing students for appropriate Kurdish usage, drawing on language policy and planning theories. Questionnaires were administered to 162 students, 28 teachers, 32 parents, 18 school inspectors, and 4 school principals in three schools in Hawler (Erbil), representing diverse socio-economic zones and genders. Additionally, a semi-structured interview was conducted with the Director General of the Curricula Department affiliated with the Ministry of Education. Findings indicate the ministry's attention to literary Kurdish, but highlight the need for increased support, particularly where Kurdish competes with English. Recommendations include improved curricula planning, editing, and proofreading of teaching materials, teacher training in modern methods, and consideration of local student characteristics. The democratization of the education system in Kurdistan-Iraq is essential to incorporating perspectives from all stakeholders, including students, teachers, and parents.