This book presents research on the situation minority language
schoolchildren face when they need to learn languages of international
communication, in particular English. The book takes minority languages
as a starting point and it bridges local and global perspectives in the
analysis of multilingual education contexts. It examines the interaction
of minority languages and cultures, majority languages and lingua
franca-s in a variety of settings across different regions and countries
on all continents. Even though all chapters in this book involve
minority languages, the issues discussed are relevant to any context in
which more than language is used in education. The book reveals
challenges and opportunities of multilingual education by discussing
issues such as Northern and Southern concepts, language education
policies, language diversity, interethnic understanding, multimodal
language practices, power, conflict, identity and prestige, among many
others. "This is the volume that finally accounts for multilingual
education from a truly multilingual perspective by involving proposals
and research from a variety of multilingual speech communities in the
world. The (linguistically) rich Ethiopia and Mexico can teach the poor
Europe and other Northern countries about multilingual education. CLIL
promoters may learn from Finnish Sámi and Canadian Innu and Mi'gmaq
indigenous communities as well as from Basque results. Speakers and
teachers of minority and international languages will certainly be glad
to hear the news. There is no need for a monolingual bias or tunnel
vision in acquiring English in non-English speaking communities. This
volume includes new challenging pedagogical perspectives while pointing
to interesting conclusions for worldwide educational authorities". Maria
Pilar Safont Jordà, Universitat Jaume I, Castelló, Spain
