Language, Education and Nation-building: Assimilation and Shift in Southeast Asia (Palgrave Studies in Minority Languages and Communities)

Worldwide migration and unprecedented economic, political and social integration in Europe present serious challenges to the nature and position of language minorities. Some communities receive protective legislation and active support from states through policies that promote and sustain cultural and linguistic diversity; others succumb to global homogenisation and assimilation. At the same time, discourses on diversity and emancipation have produced greater demands for the management of difference. This series publishes new research based on single or comparative case studies on minority languages worldwide. We focus on their use, status and prospects, and on linguistic pluralism in areas with immigrant or traditional minority communities or with shifting borders. Each volume is written in an accessible style for researchers and students in linguistics, education, anthropology, politics and other disciplines, and for practitioners interested in language minorities and diversity. v Contents ## List of Figures, Tables and Maps vii Series Editors' Preface viii Acknowledgements ix ## Notes on Contributors x Language, Education and Nation-building in Southeast Asia: An Introduction Front Matter....Pages i-xiv Language, Education and Nation-building in Southeast Asia: An Introduction....Pages 1-21 Brunei Darussalam: Issues of Language, Identity and Education....Pages 22-44 Diversity and ‘Development’: The Challenges of Education in Cambodia....Pages 45-67 From Sentimentalism to Pragmatism? Language-in-education Policy-making in Timor-Leste....Pages 68-86 Language Shift and Language Maintenance in Indonesia....Pages 87-105 Language/ing in Education: Policy Discourse, Classroom Talk and Ethnic Identities in the Lao PDR....Pages 106-130 Political, Educational and Socioeconomic Motivations for Language Shift in Multilingual Malaysia....Pages 131-147 Language, Education and Nation-building in Myanmar....Pages 148-164 A ‘New’ Politics of Language in the Philippines: Bilingual Education and the New Challenge of the Mother Tongues....Pages 165-180 The Minoritization of Languages in Singapore....Pages 181-199 Languages, Identities and Education in Thailand....Pages 200-231 Language Policies in Modern-day Vietnam: Changes, Challenges and Complexities....Pages 232-244 Epilogue — The Dwindling Cultural and Linguistic Diversity of Southeast Asian Societies: Comparative Reflections from an Anthropological Perspective....Pages 245-261 Back Matter....Pages 262-264 Cover 1 Contents 6 List of Figures, Tables and Maps 8 Series Editors’ Preface 9 Acknowledgements 10 Notes on Contributors 11 Language, Education and Nation-building in Southeast Asia: An Introduction 16 1 Brunei Darussalam: Issues of Language, Identity and Education 37 2 Diversity and 'Development': The Challenges of Education in Cambodia 60 3 From Sentimentalism to Pragmatism? Language-in-education Policy-making in Timor-Leste 83 4 Language Shift and Language Maintenance in Indonesia 102 5 Language/ing in Education: Policy Discourse, Classroom Talk and Ethnic Identities in the Lao PDR 121 6 Political, Educational and Socioeconomic Motivations for Language Shift in Multilingual Malaysia 146 7 Language, Education and Nation-building in Myanmar 163 8 A 'New' Politics of Language in the Philippines: Bilingual Education and the New Challenge of the Mother Tongues 180 9 The Minoritization of Languages in Singapore 196 10 Languages, Identities and Education in Thailand 215 11 Language Policies in Modern-day Vietnam: Changes, Challenges and Complexities 247 Epilogue – The Dwindling Cultural and Linguistic Diversity of Southeast Asian Societies: Comparative Reflections from an Anthropological Perspective 260 Index 277 "This volume tracks the complex relationships between language, education and nation-building in Southeast Asia, focusing on how language policies have been used by states and governments as instruments of control, assimilation and empowerment. The individual chapters each represent one of the countries in the region, namely Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Written by established and well-known scholars of language, education and politics in Southeast Asia, the chapters examine the place of minority or non-dominant languages in nation-building agendas and practices, as well as their impact both on the linguistic ecology of specific countries and on the cultural, socio-economic and political well-being of their speakers. With a recent worldwide push towards multilingual education as one way to address the cultural, political and economic marginalization of millions of people around the world, this volume also examines the possibilities and challenges of implementing mother tongue-based education programmes in the region"-- Provided by publisher This volume tracks the complex relationships between language, education and nation-building in Southeast Asia, focusing on how language policies have been used by states and governments as instruments of control, assimilation and empowerment. Leading scholars have contributed chapters each representing one of the countries in the region.