Summary
This volume analyses the policymaking, expectations, implementation, progress, and outcomes of early language learning in various education policy contexts worldwide. The contributors to the volume are international researchers specialising in language policy and early language learning and their contributions aim to advance scholarship on early language learning policies and inform policymaking at the global level.
The languages considered include learning English as a second language in primary schools in Japan, Mexico, Serbia, Argentina, and Tanzania; Spanish language education in the US and Australia; Arabic as a second language in Israel and Bangladesh; Chinese in South America and Oceania; and finally, early German teaching and learning in France and the UK.
Reviews
“Zein and Coady’s edited volume brings together an excellent collection of case studies on different dimensions of early language policy. Both well informed scholars and lay readers will appreciate the detailed description of the case studies, as well as the thought-provoking suggestions to improve the conditions of early language teaching. … future policy directions are clearly proposed, and researchers working in this field will find these discussions to be essential reading.” (Asier Calzada, Language Teaching for Young Learners, Issue 2, 2022) “This exciting book brings all new attention to an often overlooked but critically important issue. Zein and Coady make a compelling argument to move beyond debates over critical periods and benefits of early language learning, and instead engage in practical language policy research that best informs the conditions under which early language learning programs can be most successful for teachers and young children. The rich international examples from expert scholars across six continents and several world languages perfectly captures the complexities of early language learning policy making and implementation.”
— Wayne Wright, Professor, Purdue University, USA
“Zein and Coady break new ground with this publication – an edited collection of papers providing insights to the implementation of widely spoken languages in the primary school curriculum. Policies for the introduction of Arabic, German, Kiswahili, Mandarin Chinese and Spanish are discussed alongside English as a foreign language, adopting a historical approach in accounting for how the neoliberal turn presents a continuing challenge to valuing languages other than English. Each chapter is informed by the author’s detailed knowledge of the policy context, including countries as diverse as Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Chile, Israel, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Paraguay, Serbia, Tanzania, United Kingdom and United States. Together, this collection serves as a rallying call to policy makers for comprehensive investment in additional language programmes for early language learners. I strongly recommend this volume for graduate students, researchers and decision-makers interested in understanding the challenges of early language teaching policy and practice worldwide.”
— Janet Enever, Professor Emerita, Umeå University, Sweden
“… this book provides valuable information from a global perspective on ELL policy developments and is likely to be of interest for graduate students, researchers, teachers, and decision makers who want to understand early language learning policy and practice around the world. Reading this book as a whole is like putting together a puzzle, the two parts taken together reveal the complete picture. The editors of this book have succeeded in breaking new ground by publishing this collection of papers and providing insights into the implementation of language policies and ELL in a coherent and interesting manner and providing a comprehensive study of ELL at the global level. The initial foreign language teaching policy needs to be explored again because of the increasing demands for international interaction. Therefore, language education decision making needs to adapt quickly so that there are no gaps…” Read More
— Aizzatin Habibah, Halimatus Sa’diyah & Marjai Afan, Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Review appearing in 2022 in Journal of Educational Policy. doi:10.1080/02680939.2022.2033933
“Zein and Coady’s edited volume brings together an excellent collection of case studies on different dimensions of early language policy. Both well informed scholars and lay readers will appreciate the detailed description of the case studies, as well as the thought-provoking suggestions to improve the conditions of early language teaching. … future policy directions are clearly proposed, and researchers working in this field will find these discussions to be essential reading…” Read More
— Dr. Asier Calzada, Universidad del País Vasco, Spain
Review appearing in 2022 in Language Teaching for Young Learners. doi: https://doi.org/10.1075/ltyl.00024.cal