Now my hope is clear for building my future. How two young refugees build social connectedness

This chapter describes some findings from an ethnographic study of the relationship between language training and settlement success. Using a social practices perspective, I describe how two young, male refugees build social connectedness. I show how social networks provide each young man with an important social resource and act as mediators of literacy and culture. I use the notion of in-betweenness to interpret their experience of coming to terms with the past, adjusting to a new culture, learning a new language and making sense of their lives in their new country. I then describe some practices that support their progress towards oral and literate proficiency in English. Finally, I suggest that teachers have much to gain from ethnographic studies that can help them to understand the experience of refugee learners more deeply and elicit rich funds of knowledge that can be drawn upon to support learners’ educational and literate success

Knowing Who You Are: Heritage Language, Identity and Safe Space in a Bilingual Kindergarten

Evidence shows that when young children’s diverse language heritages are valued and supported, there are benefits for their linguistic and conceptual development, their sense of identity and their learning. However, there are few early learning settings in Australia which nurture young children’s bilingual repertoires. And, while it is well established that early childhood is a critical period for first and second language acquisition, there is a lack of empirical research available on children’s bilingual development in institutional early childhood education and care. Against this backdrop, our article reports on a study of a bilingual Samoan community kindergarten (a’oga amata) in southeast Queensland. In this paper, we focus on how the a’oga amata supported the maintenance of the children’s heritage language and culture. We explore language use in the a’oga amata, the cultural values underpinning the educators’ practices, and the positive responses of the children and parents in the study. We also examine the constraints on the community leaders and educators’ efforts to create an authentic bilingual experience in this English-dominant environment. Finally, we revisit the notion of safe spaces for young bilingual learners (Conteh & Brock, 2011) and rearticulate the need for clear language policies that support heritage language education

Política linguística para as línguas oficiais em Timor-Leste : o português e o Tétum-Praça

O presente artigo tem como objetivo analisar a política e o planejamento linguísticos para o português e o Tétum-Praça em Timor-Leste, já que ambas as línguas são asseguradas pela cons-tituição do país, que data de 2002, como línguas oficiais. Desta forma, em (2), serão discutidos o alçamento do status e do corpus do Tétum-Praça; em (3), será examinada principalmente a questão do status da língua portuguesa em território leste- -timorense; e, em (4), serão elaboradas grades de análise para avaliar a eficácia do planejamento linguístico leste-timorense em diferentes momen-tos de sua história.This paper intends to analyze language policy and language planning for Portuguese and Tétum- -Praça in Timor-Leste in view of the fact that both languages are guaranteed as official languages in the 2002 National Constitution. Hence, in (2), corpus and status planning for Tétum-Praça will be discussed, followed by the examination of the higher status that Portuguese language presents in the country, in (3). Finally, in (4), analytical grids will be elaborated to evaluate the effects of language planning in various periods in East Timorese history

Multilingual education : the role of language ideologies and attitudes

This paper overviews issues relating to the role of ideologies and attitudes in multilingual education (MLE). It argues that ideologies and attitudes are constituent parts of the language planning process and shape the possibilities for multilingualism in educational programmes in complex ways, but most frequently work to constrain the ways that MLE is conceptualised and delivered. This consideration of the role of ideologies and attitudes provides a contextualisation of the current volume

Micro language planning for multilingual education : agency in local contexts

This paper overviews some of the domains of application of micro-level language planning approaches to foster multilingual education. It examines the language planning of local agents and the contexts in which their work contributes to multilingual education, either to expand or limit educational possibilities. It identifies four broad contexts of language planning activity in which local agents work: the local implementation of macro-level policy, contestation of macro-level policy, addressing local needs in the absence of macro-level policy and opening new possibilities for developing multilingualism. These contexts provide a way of framing the contribution that micro language planning work and local agents can make to multilingual education

Macro-language planning for multilingual education : focus on programmes and provision

This overview identifies some common features of macro-level language planning and briefly summarises the changing approaches to the analysis of macro-planning in the field. It previews six cases of language-in-education planning in response to linguistic diversity presented by the contributors to this issue. The cases show how macro-planning can either fail to recognise diverse ethnolinguistic identities or work to acknowledge them. Three common themes in language planning for multilingual education can be identified from the contributions: (i) top-down definitions of what counts as mother tongue can have both intended and unintended outcomes; (ii) language-as-problem responses to linguistic diversity can work to reinforce social exclusion; and (iii) the acknowledgement of diversity and minority language rights needs to flow through from statements of intent to on-the-ground implementation if they are to become a reality

The global versus the local in East Timorese language policy and planning

The contemporary language ecology in East Timor is the product of local versus regional and global tensions. These tensions exploded with the civil war and declaration of independence from Portugal in 1974, followed by the country’s immediate annexation by Indonesia, culminating in the devastating violence of 1999. Since the arrival of the United Nations in the country, tensions between the local and the global have increased with the entry of English into the linguistic ecology. Global versus local tensions prevail across all sectors from the economy and agriculture to aid and reconciliation, as the country struggles to come to terms with its past, establish a national identity and hold its own in the era of globalisation. Education, the judiciary and the media are three sites for discourses and counter discourses concerning language and identity in this highly multilingual society. In this paper I discuss whether East Timor can succeed in resolving these tensions, achieve the standardisation of its co-official language, Tetum and reverse language shift from Indonesian to Portuguese, the other co-official language, in the face of pressure from global and regional languages

Issues and challenges in language policy research in Timor-Leste

In this paper, I describe my experience of undertaking linguistic research in Timor-Leste. I set the context by briefly describing the language situation and the tensions between global and local languages in this multilingual polity. I discuss my experience of negotiating with language planning agents. In so doing, I highlight the challenge of maintaining an ethical and objective stance in a situation where language politics are highly politicised and culturally sensitive