Klaipėdos universitetas

This paper examines language policy options as they relate to post-colonial primary education in Creole-speaking multi-ethnic Caribbean states. It first discusses the different roles of English and vernacular languages, the former as the language of instruction in formal education and the latter as interactional languages within local communities. It concludes with theoretically based practical notes on language teaching appropriate to each policy option. This paper uses as an illustrative example the language policies in bi-ethnic Guyana and addresses the critical issue whether the Ministry of Education, through social aspects of its policies, should take responsibility for community languages or ignore community languages in order to focus on early proficiency in the English language. The controversial decision is to what extent primary education should emphasise high English inputs for early academic attainment or prioritise community language inputs for promotion of social equity. This paper considers three language policy options, one policy option matching each of these extremes and one addressing the middle ground. Each policy option is contingent on three decision criteria: density of entry languages, available resources and the extent to which communities value their languages. These policy options are: (i) English language immersion, (ii) Transitional language policy and (iii) Bilingual policy. The three policies options are illustrated with comparative examples from several pluri-ethnic states.

Estonia was a post-imperial country where the question of how to develop a citizen loyal to the new nation-state arose after the First World War. Seen by some as being composed of the ‘best part of the Estonian nation’, the army was considered to be a good tool for the effective training of citizens. In order to fulfil the idea of the army as a ‘school of nation’, the crucial issues were the creation of its own military traditions, language policy, and the education of personnel. The leadership of the army tried to eliminate the influence of the former Imperial Russian army, invented new military traditions in the national spirit, and actively cultivated nationalist ideas. The article analyses the education of Estonian military personnel in this regard, discussing how nationalism, language policy, cultural training and history lessons helped to embody the vision of the army as the school of nation.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the growing concern over the treatment of multilingualism in the main cities of Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda) with the focus on the population’s national identity and self-consciousness identifying the prospects of preserving the language-related national identity. The main problem seems to be deciding on which language of instruction would be most beneficial to balanced communication. This is a task requiring thoughtful planning and is surrounded by debate. Somebody prefer instruction only in the official language, but some aim to foster linguistic and thus social diversity by encouraging teaching in several languages, emphatically amplifying the English.