Language, cultural pluralism and the silencing of minority discourses in England and Wales

Abstract

Abstract This paper locates the ethnic minority language issue within the broader context of national language policy within the pluralist nation‐state. It is divided into three sections. Section one provides an historical overview of the second language ‘debate’ in England and Wales during the past three decades and discusses it within the absence of a coherent national language policy framework. Section two draws on ethnographic case‐study material obtained in interviews within one school and LEA, and analyses the extent to which, during the last decade, education policy concerns nationally have shifted school priorities in terms of educational provision for second language learners. Section three draws on key issues related to the potential social exclusion of the ethnic minority groups identified in the previous sections. These are discussed within the context of changing migration patterns globally. The dilemmas facing definitions of citizenship within the framework of the projected cultural, economi...