The Politics of English Language Education and Social Inequality: Global Pressures, National Priorities and Schooling in India

.Global Pressures, National Priorities and Schooling in IndiaBased on policy analysis and empirical data, this book examines the problematic consequences of colonial legacies of language policies and English language education in the multilingual contexts of the Global South. Using a postcolonial lens, the volume explores the raciolinguistics of language hierarchies that results in students from low-income backgrounds losing their mother tongues without acquiring academic fluency in English. Using findings from five major research projects, the book analyzes the specific context of India, where ambiguous language policies have led to uneasy tensions between the colonial language of English, national and state languages, and students’ linguistic diversity is mistaken for cognitive deficits when English is the medium of instruction in schools. The authors situate their own professional and personal experiences in their efforts at dismantling postcolonial structures through reflective practice as teacher educators, and present solutions of decolonial resistance to linguistic hierarchies that include critical pedagogical alternatives to bilingual education and opportunities for increased teacher agency. Ultimately, this timely volume will appeal to researchers, scholars, academics, and students in the fields of international and comparative education, English and literacy studies, and language arts more broadly. Those interested in English language learning in low-income countries specifically will also find this book to be of benefit to their research.Additional ISBNs9780367646189, 9781003125488, 9781000825671The Politics of English Language Education and Social Inequality: Global Pressures, National Priorities and Schooling in India 1st Edition is written by Maya Kalyanpur; Padmini Bhuyan Boruah; Sarina Chugani Molina; Sunaina Shenoy and published by Routledge. ISBNs for The Politics of English Language Education and Social Inequality are 9781000825688, 100082568X and the print ISBNs are 9780367646165, 0367646161. Additional ISBNs include 9780367646189, 9781003125488, 9781000825671.