DR LIZZI OKPEVBA MILLIGAN The global injustice of English Medium Instruction in low income contexts DR LIZZI OKPEVBA MILLIGAN UNIVERSITY OF BATH

We live in a multilingual world…yet, most education systems ignore this multilingual reality. Equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all is only possible where education responds to and reflects the multilingual nature of the society’ (Wisbey, 2016:2)

Language-of-instruction in SDG4 Teaching and learning in the home language ‘should be encouraged’ ‘where possible’ and while ‘taking into account different national and subnational realities’ (UNESCO 2015:13) ‘Particular attention should be paid to the role of learners’ first language in becoming literate and in learning. Literacy programmes and methodologies should respond to the needs and contexts of learners, including through the provision of context-related bilingual and intercultural literacy programmes’ (UNESCO, 2015: 20) ‘The percentage of students in primary education whose first or home language is the language of instruction’ (optional indicator 4.5.18)

Why? Polarisation of the debate between rights of the child to mother tongue- based education and instrumental value of English. Issues related to processes of learning (or not learning) in EMI classrooms have been under-researched ‘There is little reliable data nor any theoretical underpinning/model for current EMI research, which is mainly descriptive and/or perceptions based’ (Simpson, 2017: 7) See: Milligan and Tikly, 2016

My argument…. Need to identify challenges and find ways to enable inclusive learning of English and in English so that children learning within policy demands for EMI are not disadvantaged. Theoretical framing of the issues as injustices as a promising way to understand the experiences of learners forced to sink or swim in EMI.

Some of the ways EMI impacts on educational access, experiences and outcomes Learner levels of ability in English are often too low for them to use the language effectively for learning. Curricular language demands far exceed learner language ability. Learners find it hard to understand teachers and don’t talk much in classrooms in English. Learners find it hard to write about cognitively complex contents and to read about them in textbooks. Learners cannot easily demonstrate knowledge in examinations in English. Ability in the MoI is linked with low school achievement Inequalities for particular groups – those who don’t speak English outside of school, children in rural/remote areas, those living in poverty, girls? See: Milligan, Desai and Benson, forthcoming

Some examples from recent work English Medium Instruction (EMI) in a Multilingual Francophone Context: An Investigation of the Learning Strategies and Resources of Primary School Children in Cameroon (2017-2018, the British Council) Some examples from recent work Improving learning outcomes through language supportive textbooks and pedagogy in Rwanda (2014-2015; UK Department for International Development)

The social (in)justice of learning in EMI Social justice in education as ‘Parity of participation’ (Fraser, 2008) or ‘epistemic democracy’ (Anderson, 2012) Global, national and local levels Different forms of injustices

Distributional justice (Fraser, 2008) Economic redistribution of resources needed to counteract the economic injustices (or maldistribution) that come about for particular groups. ------------------------------------ E.g. Material benefits fairly distributed both for quality schooling and through quality schooling. Epistemic justice (Fricker, 2009; Anderson, 2012) Countering the “wrong done to someone specifically in their capacity as a knower or as an epistemic subject” (Fricker, 2009:1). ------------------------------------------------ Education as a way to give all learners access to being knowers and as a key marker of credibility for who is deemed a ‘knower’. Links to postcolonial epistemic violence where ex-colonised fit into peripheries of ex-colonisers as second-class citizens’ (Heleta, 2016:4). Recognition justice (Fraser, 2008) Cultural recognition addresses the cultural injustices that arise through status inequalities for particular groups. ------------------------------------------- E.g. role of curriculum in countering pervasive deficit theories that assume certain knowledges and cultures are of less value.

Different injustices and EMI: some framing questions Maldistribution What materials are (not) distributed to which groups of children? (e.g. quality English language learning? language supportive materials) How does learning in English lead to certain groups’ poor outcomes and post-education opportunities? Misrecognition What values and knowledges are privileged in EMI curriculum? And global agenda, assessments and discourses? In what ways are other knowledges and languages (not) being recognised that could support children's’ learning? Epistemic injustice How far can learners engage in ‘meaning-making’ activities when learning in English medium classrooms? How does wider classroom practice (not) support this? How is communicating in (a particular form of) English a marker of credibility? How does EMI contribute to Global epistemic violence?

Going forward….a call to arms? African learners, after three years of minimal preparation, have to learn subjects through L2, but most developed countries would not contemplate it. We can do better than this. We educate children in L2 effectively elsewhere … It’s just that we don’t do it in SSA. Education establishments in developed countries pay little attention to all this. UK-based ELT, for example, is not very interested. IATEFL rarely deals with EM education in developing countries. In the ten years from volume 62 2008 to volume 71 2017 the ELT Journal published no articles on English in SSA … African teachers are perfectly capable of teaching bilingually and African learners equally capable of learning bilingually. They deserve better than we are giving them. We could easily provide that if we did in Africa what works elsewhere. We should start doing it now. (Clegg, 2019: 89-91)