Monoglot Ideologies in Multilingual Ecologies: Case Study of Language-in-Education Policies in India and Indonesia

Abstract

The creation of language policies is a socially embedded process that affects the socioeconomic well-being of those who live in a given language ecosystem. Unrealistic presumptions about a nation’s linguistic landscape on the part of its government run the risk of perpetuating an unequal social climate in which some demographic groups are given more possibilities for social mobility, while others are pushed into a marginalized position of powerlessness. In multilingual societies, the power structures that exist mirror the roles that various languages are given in social, educational, and other domains. The current study examines the ecology/practice of language in multilingual Indian and Indonesian contexts and strives to determine if it receives adequate reflection in the language policies (LPs) of both nations. To comprehend how multilingual social practice is managed and planned through official policy framing, it construes these situations as case studies. In social contexts where societal multilingualism is the norm, the current study takes a critically reflexive approach toward the formulation and application of policy. To determine whether there is a correlation between contentious LPs in multilingual situations and social justice, in terms of equal access to high-quality education, it links top-down government language management with local linguistic realities. Moreover, it draws its own conclusions regarding the implications of policy analysis for fair language management in multilingual contexts and teachers’ participation in policy implementation as part of their regular professional activities.