Hanging on to all the languages, or just enough bits of them: Seeking spaces for change in language-in-education policy Fiona Willans, King’s College London Fiona.willans@kcl.ac.uk

Vanuatu as a linguistically diverse context: Implications for education Languages listed by the Ethnologue: 105 Austronesian languages Bislama (National variety of the English-based Melanesian Pidgin) English French (Population: 240,000) V broad overview of study – multilingual education; ethnographic study of what might be possible (former colonial languages)

Colonial LPP as competition 1906 - 1980 Colonial LPP as competition In terms of super-diversity, the globalisation of movement and communication across national borders that we have witnessed in the last decade or so has not (yet) done as much to disrupt and transform traditional communities and their language practices as the establishment of these colonial boarding schools brought together people from different islands (as well as blackbirders and the US forces during WWII). Since these points, it has been harder to capture the complexity of language use, although countries such as Vanuatu continue to be thought of as providing the best examples of traditional bounded communities that haven’t been too altered by global processes Important to note that there are no ‘Anglophone’ and ‘Francophone’ zones

Colonial LPP as competition 1980 Post-colonial LPP as compromise 1906 - 1980 Colonial LPP as competition 1980 Post-colonial LPP as compromise English-medium French-medium A dual submersion model

Colonial LPP as competition 1980 Post-colonial LPP as compromise 1906 - 1980 Colonial LPP as competition 1980 Post-colonial LPP as compromise English-medium French-medium A dual submersion model 2010 National LPP as another compromise K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Vernaculars Concerns for multilingual education, drawing on EU-based models of plurilingualism: “The plurilingualism concept which we promote regards the linguistic and intercultural competence of individuals as forming a single repertoire made up of complementary linguistic and behavioural skills enabling the speaker to react in the most appropriate and effective way to the most varied situations of communication and contact. Such plurilingual competence naturally involves a state of imbalance between the competence levels attained in the different languages and the various linguistic activities entailing comprehension and expression. It is also progressive because it is based on the individual and not on the different languages concerned.” (Education Language Policy Team, 2009, p.7) French English (Bislama) 1 A double-transitional model

1906 - 1980 Colonial LPP as competition 1980 Post-colonial LPP as compromise English-medium French-medium A dual submersion model 2010 National LPP as another compromise Each language will be kept separate, and all materials and assessments will remain monolingual Heteroglossic reality of daily life in schools is erased (‘enough’ L2 to avoid flouting the rules) The idealisation of English/French ‘bilingualism’ continues to exclude the resources of all other languages K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Vernaculars Are there spaces for change? What might an effective language-in-education policy look like? Who is buying into the discourse of ‘bilingualism’? French English (Bislama) 1 A double-transitional model

Integration of ideologies of both heritage and instrumentalism Vanuatu’s language policies and languages of instruction are part of the national identity and protection of culture, and are enshrined in the Constitution. Bilingualism in English and French is seen as a competitive advantage and a national asset. (Vanuatu Education Sector Strategy, 2006) Strong public support for knowing both English and French, and the creation of a ‘bilingual’ education system (justified through discourses of double opportunity and unique identity) My 2011 findings mirror earlier research from 1991 (Miles, 1998) Any proposal that might be taken to undermine either English or French will not even be considered BUT Current ELP proposals are a) pedagogically unsound and b) implementationally impossible

Language as a door to (double) opportunity 1: “Sapos yumi talem se wan bilingual uh (.) person? Bae hem nao bae hem i karem mo janis blong karem wan job? Compared to wan we hem i either Anglophone nomo o Francophone nomo.” 2:“Mi lukum long (.) tudei like you go anywhere? French mo Inglis nao hem i surround long ol eria/s o iven raon long ples ia yu luk.” 3:“Mi mi talem se wan pikinini blong mi mas skul French. Sapos yumi gat wan visita we i kam long haos we i toktok French? At least mi gat somebody we i andastanem.” (If we take a bilingual person? It’s him who will have a better chance to get a job? Compared to someone who’s either Anglophone only or Francophone only.) (I see today like you go anywhere? French and English now surround you everywhere and even around this area you see.) (I’ve said that one of my children must school French. If we have a visitor who comes to the house who speaks French? At least I’ll have somebody who understands.) (Anglophone teachers)

But ... Although an instrumental ideology is invoked explicitly, leading to arguments that both English and French must be mastered to reap double the benefits, data reveals that very small amounts of each of these ‘languages’ are required to count as knowing them. It’s not about being Francophone, or being French (although speakers of French may judge their competence according to NS norms. So it’s not about ‘authenticity’ – it’s the composite repertoire of features of both indigenous and colonial languages that makes somebody an admirable ni-Vanuatu

How much French ‘counts’ as French? ‘Good night’ (North-East Ambae) F: Bongarea tufala R: Nah mas talem bon nuit nomo nao. French gal! S: Awo, mi jalus long yu yu save Franis. F: Honest. Yu jalus blong smol Franis nomo. Lukaot i no naf! S: Nah be yu save Franis. Yu intres long hem. Yu fit. ‘Good night’ (French) Cf. Not knowing MT, anecdote from airport No but you know French. You’re interested in it.

Aru: Mi mi ting se olsem i gud blong yumi save both Inglis mo Franis ( Aru: Mi mi ting se olsem i gud blong yumi save both Inglis mo Franis (.) mi tingbaot wan (.) mi stap long Santo i gat wan woman i kam long Caledonia. I kam kasem long epot? Hem i no save Inglis? I no save Bislama. So (.) hemia? Olfala Ezekiel i stap long epot. So hem i traem bes blong speak Franis long hem. So mi tingbaot wan toktok we i talem i putum hanbag blong hem i go insaed finis i talem se (.) C’est tout? Afta woman i se Oui. Ale hemia nao i olsem se woman ia i harem se (.) olsem mi andastanem smol pat ia mi harem se olfala Ezekiel i win long smol pat ia nao blong talem C’est tout. <laughs> (3) So hem i helpem hem smol ples ia i helpem hem blong er= Claudine: =Blong communicate. He was trying his best to speak French to her. I remember one thing he said when she had put her bag in, he asked Is that everything? And the woman said Yes.

La Journée de la Francophonie

Implications for education policy (1) An idealised ni-Vanuatu repertoire comprises resources of vernacular(s), Bislama, English and French Two key issues ... While LPP frameworks continue to recognise (or ignore) languages as discrete media of instruction, there isn’t room for all of them within school While each language is treated as an autonomous tool to be mastered and then used for learning, the least familiar languages will be prioritised Re-inverting the issue – I started with discourses about languages, and have tried to understand these as discourses about groups of features ... However, in order to speak to policymakers, it seems necessary to repackage my findings in terms of discrete languages again

Implications of education policy (2) How much of each language is enough? A lack of competence in any vernacular is regarded as shameful; A lack of competence in French is a regret; and so on But it appears that very little is required in order to count as knowing these languages Provided that enough of the features associated with each language are incorporated, ni-Vanuatu can hang on to ‘English’ and ‘French’, whilst getting on with learning through whatever means necessary Provided that elements of vernaculars, Bislama, English and French have visible roles within official policy, the school landscape, and the school programme, there may be space for learning to proceed in whichever language(s) are available to be used

Implications for education policy (3) We need to move further from Medium ... to ... Media ... to ... Repertoires of Learning & Teaching Drawing on the way children learn to understand and participate in all other areas of life outside school Validating examples of pedagogic practice already in evidence in many primary schools Appreciating that each individual has no need or desire to become fully competent in each language While ensuring that there remains space for all languages that are considered important Visible – i.e. Symbolic Monolingual ideology to multilingual ideology to heteroglossic ideology