Medium of instruction
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Medium of instruction is the language that is used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the territory.
[edit] Media of instruction in different countries and regions
- In Australia, most schools use English.
- In Belarus, Russian is used since the government closed all[citation needed] Belarusian language high schools.
- In Belgium, French and Dutch (and German in some parts of Brussels) are used.
- In Canada, English (or French in Quebec) is the medium in most schools, but Inuit languages are used in the north. See French immersion
- In the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Mandarin Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in most schools. In elementary and secondary schools for ethnic minorities, the minority languages - such as Mongolian, Tibetan and Korean are also used. However, the two special administrative regions (SAR) of the PRC have their own policies on the media of instruction:
- In the Hong Kong SAR, Chinese and English are used as the media of instruction in schools. Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese and English are spoken in some schools. Before 1997, most schools taught in Cantonese and used English textbooks except the subjects Chinese, Chinese literature and Chinese history, and took English public exams. Since 1997, the Hong Kong government has pursued a policy of encouraging schools to switch to mother-tongue teaching and has only allowed 114 of the region's approximately 400 government and aided schools to continue using English as the medium of instruction in Form 1 to Form 3.[1][2][3]. General public considered the students' English level is important. The EMI schools often absorbed the top students and therefore had better performance in public exams. Some parents moved to areas with more EMI schools or applied primary schools linked to an EMI secondary schools to increase the chances to enter the EMI schools. The lawsuits in 2001 on central allocation of schools divide the quota between sexes under Sex Discrimination Ordinance led to the mixed allocation thereafter. Following recommendations from the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research the government has announced that from 2008 onwards, secondary schools will only be permitted to use English as the medium of instruction if at least 85% of students enrolling in F. 1 fall into the top 40% of students for English, mathematics and Chinese in primary school assessments, as it has deemed that only students who are in this category are able to benefit from E.M.I. This move has been controversial as parents are eager to send their children to E.M.I. schools which they consider will offer them better career opportunities, as there are fears that switching to C.M.I will make it more difficult for students to gain university places in the territory, English being the principle medium at tertiary level, and as members of non-Chinese medium ethnic minorities are expected to find it more difficult to get school places. Some schools shifted from aided schools to private schools. Alternatively, for children coming from families who can afford the tuition, some attend the English Schools Foundation (ESF) schools, other international schools, private English schools and overseas boarding schools. But there are some disadvantages in this policy, e.g. 1) adopting mother-tongue teaching, most of the time, to mother-tongue teaching, and students to the teaching of English, the English less contact time.2) mother-tongue teaching under-trained students enter tertiary institutions in English learning environment, is often difficult to adapt to. Hong Kong students has been declining standard of English. However, the goal of education is not just learning English, but biliterate and trilingual. If all English teaching can improve the English proficiency of students, then the mother-tongue teaching can also improve the ability of the mother tongue of students, Putonghua teaching can also improve their Putonghua proficiency. In the two languages and three under the premise of the phrase, no overwhelming reason for a full English teaching.
- In the Macau SAR, Chinese and Portuguese are the two official languages of the region. Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in many schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Portuguese is used in Portugal-backed schools. English, which is not an official language of the region, is also used in a lot of schools.
- In Estonia, Estonian is used with 26 schools in the south teaching Võro once a week. The use of Russian is being limited since restoring independence.
- In Finland, Finnish is the language used in most schools, but Swedish, which is also an official national language, is used in a number of schools along the coast and Abo Akademi. The right to education in Swedish is based in the constitution. There are also a few schools where education is given to some extent in Sami in the north. See also Mandatory Swedish.
- In France, legislation restricts languages other than French in state schools. Other languages of France are the medium of instruction in non-state schools such as Diwan Breton language-medium schools and the Calendretas in the south that use Occitan. See Language policy in France
- In India, media of instruction switch among English, Hindi, and the respective states’ official languages. Private schools usually prefer one of the first two choices, while public schools tend to go with one of the last two.
- In the state of Goa, English or Konkani is used.
- In the state of Maharashtra, English or Marathi is used.
- In the state of Andhra Pradesh, English or Telugu is used.
- In Ireland, English is used in most schools with a growing number of gaelscoileanna using Irish.
- In the Isle of Man, English is used, but Manx is being revived with one Manx-medium school at St. John’s.
- In Moldova, Moldovan (Romanian) is used but Russian is slowly being introduced[citation needed].
- In New Zealand, English is used in many schools, but a growing number of kohanga reo (kindergarten) and kura kaupapa (primary and secondary school) are using Māori instead.
- In Norway, the medium of instruction is Norwegian.
- In Pakistan, most[citation needed] schools and all universities use English as a medium of instruction.
- In the Taiwan Area of the Republic of China (ROC), Mandarin Chinese is used as the medium of instruction.
- In Romania, the medium of instruction is Romanian but minorities, such as Hungarian and German, are allowed to teach in their respective languages.
- In the United States, English is used, but in some schools, Spanish, French (in Louisiana,) Hawaiian (in Hawaii) and local Indian languages are used as well.
- In Scotland, English is used the most because there is little or no education in Lowland Scots, and Scottish Gaelic is only just starting to be used again: See Gaelic medium unit.
- In Slovenia, Slovenian is used throughout the country, but the Hungarian and Italian minority are entitled to primary and secondary education in their language.
- In Switzerland, German, French, Italian, and/or Romansh are used in most schools.
- In Tanzania, Swahili is used in primary schools (seven years), whereas English is used secondary schools (four to six years) and universities.
- In Wales, while the majority of schools teach through the medium of English, an increasing number teach through the medium of Welsh.
[edit] See also
- Bilingual education
- Native-language instruction
- English medium education
- Language policy
- Language revival
