More than 1,200 languages are spoken in Southeast Asia. The language policies have traditionally emphasised the official and national languages. Over the past two decades, a movement towards multilingual education has arisen in Southeast Asia. Increased use on non-dominant languages (NDL) in education can also be observed in several countries. Support for non-dominant languages in education ranges from the Philippines’ and Vietnam’s strongly supportive written language policies to Brunei and Laos, where the use of NDLs in education is currently impossible. Multilingual education which includes learners’ first languages is increasing in Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Timor- Leste.

In this chapter, we problematise the concept of mother tongue education in Africa in regard to the following: (i) UNESCO’s problem-solving paradigm applied to the African educational scenario; (ii) the role played by literacy as an epistemological framework in mother tongue education; (iii) the role of public education vs non-state actors as well as the role of language activism in this context; and (iv) mother tongue education as a bridge to reinforce a sense of community and sharing. We also discuss the politics of mother tongue education in Zimbabwe. By doing so, we prioritise the Zimbabwean perspective and experience in regard to language issues, avoiding the reproduction of South African-dominant interpretations of Zimbabwe.

This chapter reviews the different approaches to multilingual education that are prevalent today and the ideologies about people and nations upon which they rest. We first review the ideologies surrounding language as monoglossic or heteroglossic and the resulting manifestations in language education. We then review each of what are usually seen as separate fields – foreign language, heritage language, second language, and bilingual education. We discuss their histories and approaches, and describe how their monoglossic conception has worked against their aims of developing multilingual people. We end by discussing two newer paradigms, plurilingualism and translanguaging, focusing more directly on translanguaging approaches in multilingual education.

This chapter discusses the issue of dual-language instruction in Cameroon and South Africa, the only African countries where dual-language instruction, involving French and English in the former and Afrikaans and English in the latter, is practised beyond the 3rd grade. The chapter discusses the issue in light of theoretical developments in language economics, a field of study that analyses the interplay between linguistic and economic variables in the success or failure of language policies. It argues that Africa’s Indigenous languages are not used in schools because, unlike former colonial languages, they are not associated with economic returns on the formal labuor market. Drawing on language economics, the chapter suggests ways in which dual-language instruction involving an African language and a former colonial language can succeed so that both languages are used throughout the entire educational system one in addition to rather than at the expense of the other.

In this chapter, we delve into the current state, revitalisation efforts, and educational aspects of the Kashubian language in Poland. We explore its unique characteristics, geographical distribution, and the community of its speakers. By tracing its evolution from a marginalised ‘dialect’ to a recognised regional language, integrated into the formal system of education in Poland, we uncover the concerning decline in young speakers of Kashubian and their low interest in learning the language at the secondary education level. Despite the secured legal position of Kashubian, our findings signal the need for taking protective measures to prevent language loss.

In many different educational contexts, learners learn effectively in a second/additional language in terms both of subject knowledge and language ability. In other contexts, however, disadvantaged learners, including language minorities in the Global North and majorities in the Global South, fail to learn effectively in a second/additional language. The experience can damage their education and, in the case of low-income countries, the national economy. This article outlines a series of detriments to education which arise from learning in an unfamiliar language, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. It proposes multilingual education as a way of reducing these detriments and outlines what are considered to be its benefits especially in this region, as well as the views of ministries and communities which often oppose it. By way of illustration, it shows how the processes of multilingual education have been introduced in textbooks for Rwanda and Tanzania.

This chapter canvasses the latest empirical evidence on bilingual education and looks back to track the progress we have made in order to allow CLIL programmes to continue moving forward unfettered. In doing so, it centres on ten key issues which are at present hot topics on the CLIL agenda and traces, for each one, where we started, where we currently stand, and where we need to go, mapping out future pathways for progression. The chapter draws to a close by extracting the broader takeaways which stem from this empirically oriented overview and which should guide the future development of the CLIL agenda.

This chapter focuses on internationalisation through the lens of English Medium Instruction (EMI), a burgeoning global phenomenon. Our focus is the emergence of EMI as a critical tool for internationalisation in Asian higher education. We review common definitions of EMI before interrogating current theory around the meaning of internationalisation. We subsequently merge these threads in a critical analysis of EMI implementation in ten Asian localities. Through this approach, we observe how English is utilised as a means for achieving internationalisation agendas. Neither EMI nor internationalisation emerge as monolithic concepts; instead, each is nuanced in different ways in each polity.

This chapter situates the Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) concept against the background of teaching foreign languages and the results of research on its effectiveness in Poland. It briefly presents the history of CLIL as one of the forms of bilingual education, models of its implementation, and its distinctive features in Poland. The article also collects current numerical data regarding implementing CLIL-based bilingual programmes at all stages of education in Poland. It further discusses research on the effectiveness of CLIL, as well as challenges and prospects for CLIL in the Polish education system and society.

This chapter examines the ways that language-in-education policies respond to the multilingualism of student populations and outlines some key issue that have contributed to children’s first languages being relatively marginalised in language policy and implementation. It considers contexts in which multilingual educational programmes have been normalised in policy. It then examines some of the ideological positions about education that conflict with the aims of multilingual education. It examines how different understandings of the nature and purpose of education shape the wider context in which language-in-education policies are developed and implemented to identify some key constraints that operate in such contexts.

When students make the transition from a secondary school environment (high school) to a tertiary (university) one, they are almost inevitably presented with a number of challenges. With the increasing use of English Medium Instruction (EMI), sometimes in both phases of education, the scale of those challenges is likely to increase. We first provide a theoretical account of those challenges and then exemplify them from the perspective of two different linguistic and geographical contexts: Italy and Hong Kong. We conclude that currently there is insufficient research on the transition between phases of education with regard to EMI.

This chapter introduces new plurilingual approaches to foreign language instruction in Japan, in the context of the generalisation of English as a lingua franca, and against the background of a push for Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL). Grounded in a brief historical exploration, we use three examples of plurilingual CLIL-like ‘islands’ in elementary schools to explore the whys and hows of weaving content and language within a plurilingual mindset. We argue that these small-scale frames open up affordances to develop multimodal literacies within an interdisciplinary framework in contexts where full immersion is not often feasible nor institutionalised.

The purpose of this chapter is to elaborate on the theory, policy, and practice of English medium education (EME) – teaching academic subjects in English – in the multilingual contexts of fourteen former republics of the Soviet Union. We show that there is more space for multilingual education in secondary education, and limited use of EME and minority languages in higher education, depending on the country. Across contexts, empirical research demonstrates both opportunities and challenges of EME for institutional policy, social mobility, cultural exchange, multilingual pedagogy, and linguistic development.

The global ascent of English as a medium of instruction (EMI) has sparked concerns about the potential erosion of local languages, in a process of “Englishisation” (Kirkpatrick, 2011). In the UAE, EMI is a cornerstone of higher education; furthermore, English has emerged as the preferred lingua franca in a nation where 85 per cent of the population hails from 100+ countries. This chapter delves into the resulting tension between English and Arabic (the local and regional language) within EMI contexts, scrutinising its impact on UAE higher education, sociolinguistic formations, and language policy. It explores future trajectories for EMI and Arabic, proposing strategies to integrate the two in institutional culture.

This chapter describes policies for the use of languages in education in South Africa, particularly the use of English. From a multilingual perspective, we discuss the language policy in South Africa and its effect on the education system in South Africa. A variety of translanguaging strategies is discussed, including technological support like the Mobilex mobile phone application. We also discuss the possibilities for multilingual education by considering the degree to which the funds-of-knowledge concept could be used to determine and encourage the use of African languages among off-campus students, specifically when students studied remotely (in response to the Covid-19 pandemic).

Faced with rapid social changes, language education is witnessing a turmoil of ideas and great proliferation of terms. Securing quality education for everybody is a key question of social justice, as is protecting linguistic and cultural diversity against the hegemony of dominant languages. This chapter highlights the need for openness to linguistic and cultural diversity in communities, classes, and individual repertoires. Building on the distinction between multilingual and plurilingual education, it discusses the way in which different terms leverage reflection on different visions of the role of languages in education and their potential to promote openness, awareness, and creativity.

This chapter contributes to the emerging literature on translanguaging as a resource for second language (L2) teaching and learning. Situated in Japanese higher education, it focuses on the translanguaging practices of Japanese L2 students or emergent bilinguals, who are ‘actively in the process of acquiring knowledge of a second language and developing bilingual languaging skills for use’ (B. Turnbull, 2018a: 1043), by addressing how they deploy translanguaging in L2 written practices as an indicator of the interplay of their complex linguistic repertoire.

This chapter outlines relevant aspects of theory and practice in the field of second language research for multilingual approaches to (language) education. We argue that what has been gleaned from the general field of second language acquisition research should not be ignored in any discussion of multilingualism or multilingual education. We contend that second language research – theoretical, empirical and applied – should continue to be part of the language education toolkit available to teachers, course designers, administrators and researchers; indeed, anyone involved in multilingual education.