Language Education in the School Curriculum

Reviews / Votes

This book provides a welcome, powerful and insightful perspective on contemporary language education in schools focusing on the learning of languages other than English. Drawing on a robust five-year multilevel study into the provision and uptake of languages in schools in New South Wales, Australia, this research problematizes a wide range of social, cultural, educational and political issues in English-speaking contexts which signal a decline in the realization of inclusive multilingual and multicultural ideologies and their translated practices. In the face of increasingly exclusive provision and take-up, lack of continuity and concerns over achievement and accreditation, alongside the generally poor status of languages within the broader curriculum, the study details the complex nature of 'enactment' across case study schools. Data provide in-depth lived-through accounts of the complex factors which in some instances have led to the marginalization and inequitable access of language education and in others to successful experiences for young people and their communities. I strongly recommend the book to educators and researchers interested in Language Education not only in English-speaking contexts but across the globe - the message is thought-provoking and informative, uncomfortable and inspiring. * Do Coyle, Professor in Language Education and Classroom Pedagogy, School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, UK * The unique contribution of this important book to regenerating the study of languages in English-dominant societies is its tight and coordinated analysis of geography, SES, school system and language. The authors throw new light on the current "retreat from policy" and point towards the action needed to reverse the decline of language study. * Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor of Language and Literacy Education, University of Melbourne, Australia *