DECOLONISATION, GLOBALISATION: LANGUAGE-IN-EDUCATION POLICY AND
PRACTICE. Angel M. Y. Lin and Peter W. Martin (Eds.). Clevedon,
UK: Multilingual Matters, 2005. Pp. xix + 204. $89.95 cloth, $39.95
paper.
This collection of 10 studies from Asian and African contexts begins
with a general introduction by Luke that links many strands and challenges
to current radical educational thinking as well as an introduction by the
two editors; it terminates with a conclusion with reflections by
Canagarajah. The editors present an intellectually challenging framework
for reading the country studies and draw on themes to articulate a case
for rethinking much language-in-education policy. Their hope is that the
volume goes beyond state-of-the art description and theorization and can
lead from coherent deconstruction to proactive reconstruction. This is
needed because many of our analytical categories remain simplistic, and
inadequate educational policy leads to the perpetuation of social
inequalities. A key paradox is the widespread demand for more English,
although English does not serve all equally well. Many do not develop
high-level competence, whereas dominant groups or classes are groomed for
the economy of globalization that has dashed most decolonization hopes.
Across differing country reports, the pattern is of an “emptying out
of the ‘linguistic local’ and the one-sided pursuit of the
‘linguistic global’” (p. 9).