Bilingual and multilingual education and the use of local languages : an overview of documents, main themes and core concepts within the international development discourse on education in multilingual communities

Abstract

The Centre for Intercultural Communication (SIK) was commissioned by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research (KD) to present an overview of the field relevant to bilingual/ multilingual education and the use of local languages, upon request by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). The first part of this report discusses the key terms and expressions in use and suggests a division in three main categories to facilitate the reading. The three categories are terms and expressions describing the complex reality of language as a social and individual phenomenon, terms/expressions describing the use and function of languages in societies, and terms/expressions describing the use and function of languages in education. The following chapters present an overview of publications by governmental and non- governmental organizations concerning education and language in developing countries, and of related work focusing on politics and political initiatives and gives an outline of the main themes in the discourse on language of instruction in multilingual communities of cooperation. Finally the document presents an overview of resources, knowledge and scientific environments relevant to education and language, as well as networks and conferences relevant to this discussion in Norway and internationally with a special focus on Sub-Saharan Africa.