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Language Diversity and Language Policy in Educational Access and Equity

T article examines the role of language policies in mediating access and equity in education. By examining a range of research and case studies on language policies, we explore how educational language policies serve as a central gatekeeper to education itself, as well as to quality education that may fundamentally depend on language ability, not only for literacy and classroom interaction but also for textbooks, materials, assessment, and other language-related aspects of education. Our analysis offers an argument for placing language policies at the center of debates about educational access and equity, as well as a broad range of sociopolitical processes that shape learners’ educational achievement. We begin with the principles of the concept of “Education for All,” based on the key organizing document (UNESCO, 1990) in the worldwide movement to improve educational access and equity. Then we focus on the role of globalization in the economy and politics, particularly its profound consequences for language learning and language use and its multiple implications for language policies in education. We specify three processes of globalization—migration, urbanization, and changes in the nature of work—that place language policies in education at the center of the processes shaping language learning. Then we examine specific cases in Asia and Europe in which language policies affect educational access and equity. Our emphasis in these cases is primarily on policies and practices of state institutions; due to space limitations, we do not examine the policy implications of important research on micro-level classroom practices (e.g., Pérez-Milans, 2013). Finally, we offer suggestions for how language policies may be used to open greater access and reduce inequalities in education.