The Politics of English Language Education and Social Equality: Global Pressures, National Priorities and Schooling in India
Year: 2024
Type: book-review
Abstract: The book ‘The politics of English Language Education and social equality: Global pressures, national priorities and schooling in India’ is published in Routledge’s latest series titled Education, poverty and international development. It contributes to the global debates about how to achieve Education for All (EFA), shedding light on frameworks to address social inequalities and striving to create more equitable access to English Language Education in a complex landscape of uneven socio-economic realities. Extending the work of scholars like Mohanty (2010, 2019), Phillipson (1992), Skutnabb-Kangas and Philipson (2022),Canagarajah (2022) and others, this book is an excellent contribution to the field of language politics and policies with a focus on Global South in general and India in specific. The contributing authors provide useful data from the Indian context, lucidly define the core terms, include a useful glossary at the end of the book, and powerfully synthesises existing research studies in the global context. The authors connect the findings from the global context to the specific challenges and issues in the Indian scenario by aptly using their experiences and stories and align theory with practice. Researchers working in the field of language education in the Global South would find this book particularly relevant. The key focus of the book is to contribute to the narrative of creating resistance to hierarchy of languages and add to the project of decolonizing educational research and classroom practice. The prologue of the book is creatively written where four women authors share their language stories. It is a powerful beginning as they instantly connect with their readers and set a strong backdrop for theorising to emerge in the rest of the book. Their stories have the power to resonate with the experiences of a range of readers as they unravel their complex thoughts of living with multiple language identities, often facing inner struggles and apprehensions while making those experiences a site for self-reflection, introspection, and personal and professional growth. Each of their stories represents their unique connection with their homeland — India.
DOI: 10.67372/8549jm33
Author: Monishita Hajra Pande
Institution: English and Foreign Languages University
Language: English
Subfield: Linguistics and Language
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7204232960