Based on policy analysis and empirical data, this book examines the
problematic consequences of colonial legacies of language policies and
English language education in the multilingual contexts of the Global
South.
Using a postcolonial lens, the volume explores the raciolinguistics of
language hierarchies that results in students from low-income
backgrounds losing their mother tongues without acquiring academic
fluency in English. Using findings from five major research projects,
the book analyzes the specific context of India, where ambiguous
language policies have led to uneasy tensions between the colonial
language of English, national and state languages, and students'
linguistic diversity is mistaken for cognitive deficits when English is
the medium of instruction in schools. The authors situate their own
professional and personal experiences in their efforts at dismantling
postcolonial structures through reflective practice as teacher
educators, and present solutions of decolonial resistance to linguistic
hierarchies that include critical pedagogical alternatives to bilingual
education and opportunities for increased teacher agency.
Ultimately, this timely volume will appeal to researchers, scholars,
academics, and students in the fields of international and comparative
education, English and literacy studies, and language arts more broadly.
Those interested in English language learning in low-income countries
specifically will also find this book to be of benefit to their
research.
