PERSPECTIVES ON LANGUAGE EDUCATIONAL POLICY 1

RAVEN REDMOND-JOHNSON

Perspective on Language Educational Policy (LEP)

Introduction: Diverse and Informed Policymakers

This TESOL white paper seeks to help policymakers to see the importance of

understanding the population for which they are responsible. Before making decisions about

policies, policymakers should seek to understand the struggles of various groups. Instead of

making rigid rules with which everyone should uniformly conform, policymakers should be

empathetic in their dealings and decisions. In order to do this, certain steps must be taken.

Policymakers should understand that policies are not all-or-nothing standards, and therefore, they

should allow leeway for accommodations and modifications. They should be scrupulous in their

tactics to find out what is actually happening in the modern-day classroom and keep abreast of

newly discovered research in the field of second language acquisition. There is no policy that

should be enforced solely because of past enforcement. Over time, there becomes an increasing

need for up-to-date policies, and such decisions must be made by an informed body.

Background/Problems

Historically, language education policies have proved to be problematic. They do not fit

the ever-changing population of the people over which they rule. Language-education policies

are often exclusive of certain populations. Such policies often make the task of language

acquisition more of a task than acquisition. In addition, students who are subjected to the

unilateral obligations that such policies require are often left in the lurch and left behind in the

classroom. In addition, educators often experience a certain dissonance that causes them to rebel

against such policies in the classroom and give only a pretense of following these when under
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RAVEN REDMOND-JOHNSON

observation. As a result, they rightly differentiate instruction, but when students are given tests

that are standardized, their knowledge does not match.

Solution

The solution to this problem cannot be applied instantaneously. It is something that must

be implemented over a period of time. To begin this process, policymakers can transform

themselves into a more informed body by gathering information. This would include surveying

the public. Since governments have access to phone numbers, they could seek information

through phone surveys or even require that written surveys be taken throughout the school year.

They could also observe language courses in school districts to see what problems students face

often and ask school counselors for demographic information of students enrolled in language

courses. It would also be helpful if the policymakers’ makeup reflected the diversity of the

student population. Though it would not be possible for a true one-to-one correlation, the more

diverse the body of policymakers, the more insight to be given on cultural backgrounds. They

could attend conferences that emphasize multiculturalism and ways to accommodate an array of

cultures.

Conclusion

To the end of providing policy that actually furthers the goal of second language

acquisition and a more educated society, policymakers should look for opportunities to educate

themselves individually on new issues related to language education. Policymakers should

evaluate policies vicariously so that can honestly assess them. They should ask: Does this policy

have assumptions that place one language group over another? Why is that so? Do other policies

also have this effect? What can be done to amend this policy? What can be done to avoid such
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RAVEN REDMOND-JOHNSON

error in the future? In this way, language education policy can truly be a tool to direct language

acquisition along the right path.