Foregrounding Language Issues in Current Comparative and International Education Research

Abstract

This chapter reviews and synthesizes three major strands of recent research, alongside discipline-specific research design, from scholars of Language Issues in Comparative and International Education. The first strand is mixed methods research on the policy and practice of L1-based multilingual education programs, and their contribution to raising educational quality and addressing equity and inclusiveness worldwide. The second strand is qualitative, community-based research of educational programs aimed toward revitalization of minoritized, indigenous, and/or endangered languages. The third strand is empirical and theoretical research that seeks to document, contest, and reconceptualize the dynamics among dominant and non-dominant languages within and between international contexts. The authors explore points of synergy between studies, examine publication in the field from a meta-perspective, and suggest encouraging directions of future research, while highlighting the value of non-dominant languages as resources for education and life.

Citation

Benson, C., Brown, K.D. and Goodman, B. (2021), "Foregrounding Language Issues in Current Comparative and International Education Research", Wiseman, A.W. (Ed.) Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2020 (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 40), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 215-237. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920210000040013