Assessment: Complete the table below:

Country Language Programs and Description

Policies
Brunei Bilingual Education Policy In Brunei, Standard Malay,
is the official language, but
English is viewed as the
principal language of
business. The Bruneian
government began its
bilingual education
policy soon after
independence in 1984.
English medium instruction
is mandatory for all
students commencing in
Year 1 of primary school in
the key subject areas of
mathematics, history,
science and geography as
well as English. Since then,
the Bruneian government
has remained committed to
its bilingual education
policy. Its government has
strengthened and widened
in scope from a key
recruiter of high-quality
teachers, to developing a
range of English-related
education, assessment and
professional development
projects across Brunei.

Cambodia Teaching Khmer Language As a means of

to Ethnic Minorities by communication, the
Using Minority Languages language plays an
(Learner’s Mother Tongue) important role in the
society. Through language,
the people are able to know
the civilization and culture
of any nation, their identity
and the rhythm of their daily
life. Providing language
 education to ethnic
minorities- who do not
speak Khmer in some
remote areas of Cambodia
is a priority task of the
Royal Government of
Cambodia. To meet this
goal the Government is
looking into all possible
ways to help ethnic
minorities. This is done, for
example, by constructing
community schools, where
the ethnic minority children
can learn their minority
languages (mother tongue)
first, and then they learn to
speak, read, and write
Khmer. In addition, literacy
classes are established,
and ethnic minority people
are encouraged to attend
them, as well as school-
aged ethnic minority
children are encouraged to
attend the community
schools. Further, the
Government collaborates
with international NGOs in
orthography development
for minority languages and
in establishing literacy
classes in ethnic minority
communities.
Indonesia Language-in-Education
Policy

1. Language of When Dutch colonialism

Instruction in began in Indonesia, in late
Historical 1600, it was part of the
Perspective colonial policy that they
should impose and transmit
their aims and culture by a
means of the Dutch
language. The Dutch
colonial policy concerning
 languages to be used and
taught in formal education
would be interesting. It is
mainly because long before
the Dutch arrival in
Indonesia, a 3 coherent
idea of the culture and
linguistic unity of the region
has already been in
existence.

Indonesia declared her

2. Language of independence on August
Instruction after 17th, 1945. The
Independence proclamation of the
independence was written
in Indonesian and so was
the 1945 Constitution which
the Republic promulgated
on the following day of her
independence. It is
stipulated in the
Constitution, Chapter XV,
Article 36 that the language
of the state is Indonesian. It
should be noted that
Indonesian has been
adopted as the national
language from the Malay by
the congress on October
28th, 1928, known as
“Sumpah Pemuda” or the
Youth Pledge. The
resolution of the historic
congress reads in
translation as follows.

The use of local languages

3. The Oral Use of in education is not
Local Languages prohibited. In practice, local
languages are preferably
used to create conviviality
between teachers and
students. In classrooms, a
 joke is often expressed in
local languages. It is not
surprising to see that
university students and
lectures who have just
come from other regions
are trying to master the
regional language of the
new region because they
do not want to become the
victims of the joke. At this
point, it should be noted
that local languages in
education well serve their
function as phatic
communion (to establish a
pleasant atmosphere)
rather than as the means of
academic communication.

As a matter of fact, school

4. Matters of Teacher teachers provided for the
Provision children in basic education
are not necessarily
educated in the community
where the children are
brought up by the parents.
Ideally, at school, teachers
are able to take over the
position of their parents and
use the same language as
one spoken at home. In
such an ideal situation,
more active participation
can be achieved easily and
more effective teaching
method can be employed
by the teachers for
classroom instruction.

Laos Focus on Policy: Language children are learning to

and Inclusion, Lao, PDR speak, read and write Lao
as a second language.
These learners are at an
enormous disadvantage
 and often have significant
linguistic difficulties –
contributing to learning
breakdown. Low
expectations,
discrimination, and a lack of
role models and cultural
peers mean that children
who do not speak Lao as
their first language are
more likely to drop out of
school. Anupam Ahuja
demonstrates the link
between linguistic exclusion
and school failure, and
describes the Lao
Government’s strategy to
address this issue.
In order to promote Lao as
the national language, the
education policy requires
that it be used as the
medium of instruction in
schools. This is problematic
as there are 82 officially
recognized languages in
Lao PDR and many
different dialects. All are
living languages, but not all
have scripts. Although the
law states that minority
languages can be used for
teaching, in reality the Lao
language is used. Mother-
tongue teaching is difficult,
as it is not clear which
language(s) should be
used.

Malaysia Education Policy- The language medium

Language Medium Policy policy refers to the medium
of instruction in schools.
The language medium
policy in Malaysia’s
educational system is as
 follow:
i. National School
Primary: use
Malay (5393),
Mandarin (1284),
Tamil (526) and
English as
medium of
instruction
(Science / Math).
Secondary: use
Malay (1645) and
English as
medium of
instruction.
Tertiary: use
Malay and
English as
medium of
instruction.

ii. Private School -

Primary: use
Malay, Mandarin,
Tamil, English
and Arabic as
medium of
instruction.
Secondary: use
Malay, Mandarin,
English and
Arabic as
medium of
instruction.
Tertiary: use
Malay, Arabic
and English as
medium of
instruction.
Myanmar Building a National Since 2014 all across
Language Policy for Myanmar discussion has
Myanmar been underway on
language policy. Sponsored
by the Language and Social
Cohesion (LESC) Initiative
of UNICEF under the
Programme for
Peacebuilding, Education
and Advocacy (PBEA), in
close cooperation with the
Myanmar Ministry of
Education, 16 "Facilitated
Dialogues", several
research projects, a large
number of direct
consultations and site visits,
interviews, observations
and professional training
activities have been
implemented. At state level
there have also been
writing teams, information
gathering, discussion
groups, learning circles and
other activities addressing
co-ordination issues,
multilingual program
delivery, curriculum,
textbooks, teacher support,
and the role of policy and
how citizens can participate
in policy debates. Working
in close cooperation with
civil society partners, ethnic
language and culture
groups, teachers, civil
servants and parents this
process has been designed
and guided by Professor
Joseph Lo Bianco,
Graduate School of
Education, University of
Melbourne and has
involved many hundreds of
people, both professionals
and community
representatives. Through
this process a wealth of
ideas has been generated
about the best ways for
Myanmar to make the most
of its rich linguistic
 resources. This brief
progress report discusses
some of the key
achievements and steps so
far, and sets out the
remainder of the process.
Philippines Mother Tongue-Based Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education Multilingual Education
(MTBMLE) institutionalized in 2019
through the Department of
Education (DepEd) Order
No. 74. The law stipulates
the use of mother tongue
as the primary medium of
instruction in kindergarten
and the first three years of
elementary education.
Moreover, the Filipino and
English languages are to be
introduced through
programs from the 4th to
6th grade.

Bilingual education in the

The Philippine Bilingual Philippines is defined
Education Policy (BEP) operationally as the
separate use of Filipino and
English as the media of
instruction in specific
subject areas. As embodied
in the DECS Order No. 25,
Pilipino (changed to Filipino
in 1987) shall be used as
medium of instruction in
social studies/social
sciences, music, arts,
physical education, home
economics, practical arts
and character education.
English, on the other hand
is allocated to science,
mathematics and
technology subjects. The
same subject allocation is
provided in the 1987 Policy
on Bilingual Education
 which is disseminated
through Department Order
No. 52, s. 1987.

Singapore Bilingual Policy in Singapore’s bilingual policy

Education (BPE) in education was instituted
soon after independence in
1965 and has been in place
for about forty years. While
many changes have taken
place in the education
system, including policies,
education structure and
curriculum, this policy has
remained largely
unchanged in its essence to
this day.

The study of an official

Mother Tongue Language
(Malay, Chinese, or Tamil)
is compulsory for students
in Singapore. Mother
Tongue Language is one of
the compulsory
examination subjects for
the Primary School Leaving
Examination (PSLE),
General Certificate of
Education (GCE) 'Normal'
(N), 'Ordinary' (O) and
'Advanced' (A) Level
Examinations. However,
from Secondary 1 onwards,
students who face
exceptional difficulties in
coping with Malay, Chinese
or Tamil may request to
offer Malay Language
Syllabus B, Chinese
Language Syllabus B, or
Tamil Language Syllabus
B. Syllabus B curricula are
easier, but serve the
important function of
ensuring that students who
 struggle with learning
Malay, Chinese or Tamil,
still have opportunities to
learn one of these
languages at a more
manageable level.
Thailand Bilingual Education The BEP was initiated in
Programme (BEP) Thailand following the
participation of ONFEC
officials at the UNESCO-
organised Regional
Workshop on Functional
Literacy for Indigenous
Peoples (26 November–01
December 2001). ONFEC’s
principal motivation in
adapting the concept of
targeted literacy
programmes for
marginalised groups, was
to improve school
attendance/enrolment and
completion rates among
Pwo Karen children through
bilingual educational
instruction. The programme
is currently being
implemented in Omkoi
district – Chiang Mai
province.

Vietnam Vietnamese Constitution of all minority groups have the

1946 and 1992 right to maintain their
mother tongues in their
schooling as well as to use
their languages to preserve
their ethnic cultures and
values.