Multilingual policy Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
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Globalization has brought about a phenomenal spread of English. This spread has led to the emergence of the newborn varieties which has created serious challenges to language teaching pedagogy and language education policy. Bangbose... more
Globalization has brought about a phenomenal spread of English. This spread has led to the emergence of the newborn varieties which has created serious challenges to language teaching pedagogy and language education policy. Bangbose (2003) has clearly pointed to this issue, stating "as researchers in world Englishes, we cannot consider our job done if we turn a blind eye to the problems of educational failure or unfavorable language policy outcomes" (as cited in the Council of Europe, 2007, p. 31). It seems that there is a mismatch between the advances that happened in the field of applied linguistics and language education policy. This paper focuses on language education policy in the context of global English because it is considered one of the influential factors in the gap between English lingua franca reality and English as a native language. First, it gives a brief overview of the recent situation with regard to English and shows the recent reality of multilingual English and its multifarious aspect (Rahal, 2018 & 2019). It also discusses the conceptual gap in language education policy. It points to the conceptual gap between the sociolinguistic reality of English and the language education policy that is still oriented towards English as a native language. Then, the paper points to the need for a language policy that includes linguistic diversity.
Wikipedia defines itself as “the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the internet“, thus featuring an explicit language policy in its mission statement. Bearing in mind that the site has become the most popular source of... more
Wikipedia defines itself as “the biggest multilingual free-content encyclopedia on the internet“, thus featuring an explicit language policy in its mission statement. Bearing in mind that the site has become the most popular source of encyclopaedic information online, its significance for public encounters with multilingualism should not be underestimated. This article offers a critical and multimodal discourse analytical approach to Wikipedia's explicit and implicit multilingual policies and practices. I examine, under “explicit metalinguistic practice“ (Woolard 1998), public disclaimers and exemplary user practice and talk on the “Multilingual Coordination“ entry. Under “implicit metapragmatics“, I shall offer a multimodal analysis of Wikipedia's multilingualism-oriented interface design; the corporate logo and its paratextual meta-commentary on a number of linguistic and journalistic websites; and a code-critical reading of Wikipedia's “Babel“ user language templates. My observations are discussed against the backdrop of postcolonialist theories on the role of English as lingua franca of the information age.