'Accepted manuscript' versions of most journal articles are uploaded at the bottom of this page.
Willans, F. & R. Prasad (forthcoming). Multilingual, multimodal insights into the online learning experience: Getting in the zone. In B. Samuelson & S. Silvhiany (Eds.). Learning to research multilingually: Rethinking practices, challenging policies. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.
In this chapter, we discuss strategies used to incorporate our participants’ perspectives within a study that entailed a multilingual, multimodal approach to collecting and presenting data. The study evaluated learner engagement in a revised undergraduate linguistics course offered via online and blended modes to students located across the South Pacific. In addition to quantitative analysis of assessment data and e-learning analytics, it was important to seek to understand the student experience through their own eyes and words. To this end, we conducted think-aloud protocols and individual and group interviews in Kiribati, Fiji and Vanuatu, assisted by screencast software. The aim was to use the students’ dominant languages (Te Kiribati, Hindi, Fijian and Bislama), wherever possible, for these purposes.
We begin by discussing the practical aspects of multilingualism within the research, since the researchers do not speak all the languages of their interviewees, so decisions had to be made about when to use English instead, and when to use additional assistants for the purpose of translation. We then examine the interpersonal aspects of researching multilingually. Sometimes it was clear that participants felt more comfortable using English, even when both interviewer and interviewee were proficient speakers of another language. At other times, the lengths we would have had to go to in order to avoid using English would have been more about our determination to research multilingually than about hearing the students’ perspectives. We end by sharing our surprise at the positive reaction we have received after conference presentations in which we have played clips of students sharing their experiences so frankly in their own languages, with English subtitles displayed on screen for the benefit of the audience. It appears that the unmarked position is still to prioritize the (perceived) communicative preferences of the academic community over those of research participants. In reflecting on our attempts to work multilingually and multimodally, we put forward the notion of a linguistically constructed research zone in which both interviewer and interviewee must negotiate their freedom to use different languages.
We begin by discussing the practical aspects of multilingualism within the research, since the researchers do not speak all the languages of their interviewees, so decisions had to be made about when to use English instead, and when to use additional assistants for the purpose of translation. We then examine the interpersonal aspects of researching multilingually. Sometimes it was clear that participants felt more comfortable using English, even when both interviewer and interviewee were proficient speakers of another language. At other times, the lengths we would have had to go to in order to avoid using English would have been more about our determination to research multilingually than about hearing the students’ perspectives. We end by sharing our surprise at the positive reaction we have received after conference presentations in which we have played clips of students sharing their experiences so frankly in their own languages, with English subtitles displayed on screen for the benefit of the audience. It appears that the unmarked position is still to prioritize the (perceived) communicative preferences of the academic community over those of research participants. In reflecting on our attempts to work multilingually and multimodally, we put forward the notion of a linguistically constructed research zone in which both interviewer and interviewee must negotiate their freedom to use different languages.
Willans, F. (2021). Working sideways for change: Extending the notion of ideological and implementational space. In K. Raza, C. Coombe & D. Reynolds (Eds.) Policy Development in TESOL and Multilingualism: Past, Present and the Way Forward (pp.189-99). Springer Nature.
This chapter puts forward a sideways model of policy change in which engagement is required simultaneously with high-level decision makers; classroom influencers such as curriculum developers, assessment units and teacher trainers; teachers; and the communities that they serve. This model moves the discussion beyond the typical dichotomy between top-down and bottom-up approaches, reminding us that language policy is a constantly evolving process that is created and sustained through overlapping and interrelated practices and discourses. A change in medium of instruction policy in Vanuatu is used as the focus for the discussion. Despite the policy opening up exciting opportunities for a multilingual and pedagogically supportive approach to the teaching of both content and language, a number of widely held beliefs continue to circulate unchecked that appear to challenge these opportunities. Hornberger’s (2002) notion of ideological and implementational spaces is operationalised here by separating its ideological and implementational aspects, and noting how implementational space may be left unutilised for two main reasons – the absence of ideological space, and the limitations of ‘implementational tolerance’ without the addition of ‘implementational support’. At every level of the education sector of Vanuatu, there are discourses and practices underpinned by complex ideological configurations that are serving to keep spaces shut, but there are clearly also counter-discourses and practices that indicate new spaces opening up for alternatives. By working sideways, it becomes easier to involve actors at all levels in the interrogation and occupation of the ideological spaces that emerge.
Crocombe, M., R. Dixon, R. Early, W. Fimone, R. Fiu, J. Gragg, T. Ioane, M. Jione, S. Johansson-Fua, B. Lisimoni-Togahai, A. Lolohea, S. Nicholas, S. Naisau, V. Papatua, R. Rafai, H. Taleo, M. Taumoefolau, T. Thompson, A. Veikune & F. Willans (forthcoming). NEW degree programmes in pacific languages at the university of the south Pacific: stories of success and determination. UNESCO.
At the University of the South Pacific’s 50th anniversary, we celebrated the introduction of degree programmes in Cook Islands Māori, Rotuman, Tongan and Niuafo'ou, Vagahau Niue, and Vanuatu Language Studies, alongside Fijian, the only language indigenous to the region that had previously featured in our curriculum. For the first time, English is being challenged as the only language through which high-level concepts can be discussed, and through which academic research can be conducted. Pacific languages will now be taught in schools by teachers who are qualified to do so, rather than by fluent speakers trained to teach other subjects. Students can now submit assignments in their dominant language. The possibility of studying a Pacific language is becoming normalised. Our coming together here is to share the complexity of this story. We need to engage with this complexity and keep talking about why all of this matters. We need our institutional and political leaders and allies to understand that the actions we take at our university will impact the way the languages and cultures of this region are valued, used and transmitted to the next generations.
Willans, F. & R. Prasad (2021). From Hindustani to (Fiji) Hindi and back to Fiji Baat? Metalinguistic reconstructions of the national variety of Hindi in Fiji. Journal of Pacific History, 56/2, 101-118.
One factor that has united Fijians of Indian descent is the language of Fiji Hindi, or Fiji Baat. Developed on the plantations of the indenture period, it is now the mother tongue of virtually all Indo-Fijians, distinct from the Standard Hindi that is taught in schools. This paper examines the way these two varieties of Hindi have been metalinguistically reconstructed from the early colonial period to the present day, focusing particularly on the labels Hindustani, Hindi, Fiji Hindi and Fiji Baat. We examine the extent to which Fiji Hindi fits into the pan-Fijian identity that is supposed to unite all Fiji citizens without drawing attention to ethnic difference. We argue that the acceptance of Fiji Hindi as part of a hybrid national identity is impeded both by this political erasure of ethnicity, and by the lingering negative attitudes expressed by its own speakers about the intralingual variation within Hindi.
Willans, F. (2021). Mapping the curriculum or doing curriculum mapping? A view from Linguistics and Language programmes. Directions: Journal of Educational Research, 35/1, 29-37.
This article uses examples from three language programmes to discuss different points in a programme’s lifecycle at which it is valuable to map the curriculum. Firstly, when a new programme is proposed, it is obviously important to determine what its overall programme outcomes will be, and to align these with the outcomes, activities and assessments of each individual course within it. Secondly, when a programme is struggling to attract student numbers, this invites us to revisit similar processes, asking what the programme is for, how well the different courses are currently achieving their intended outcomes, and what changes might help students see the value of this programme. Finally, when different stakeholders have conflicting views about what a programme is for, programme outcomes in particular help to frame the conversation. BA programmes in Cook Islands Māori, Hindi Studies, and Linguistics, respectively, will be used to illustrate the types of questions that have been asked of the curriculum in each of these scenarios.
Throughout, I argue that asking these questions of a curriculum is vital, but that care must be taken to ensure that the process of ‘mapping’ does not take on a life of its own, leaving the curriculum in its wake. As soon as discussions become dominated by surface-level attention to the phrasing and formatting of templates, at best, the process simply becomes an administrative distraction from teaching and, more worryingly, can lead misunderstandings of curriculum alignment to be recirculated and reinforced at increasing levels of authority.
Throughout, I argue that asking these questions of a curriculum is vital, but that care must be taken to ensure that the process of ‘mapping’ does not take on a life of its own, leaving the curriculum in its wake. As soon as discussions become dominated by surface-level attention to the phrasing and formatting of templates, at best, the process simply becomes an administrative distraction from teaching and, more worryingly, can lead misunderstandings of curriculum alignment to be recirculated and reinforced at increasing levels of authority.
Willans, F. (2021). Developing teachers’ critical awareness through dialogic e-reflections. In A. Selvi & B. Yazan (Eds.) Language teacher education for Global Englishes: A practical resource book (pp.50-55). Routledge.
This chapter discusses a continuous assessment activity from a University of the South Pacific course for pre- and in-service English teachers called ‘English in the Pacific’. Each week, students are asked to post on a Moodle discussion forum in answer to one or more of the questions assigned that week. These questions push them to reflect on the week’s material, as well as to share their ideas with classmates who come from countries across the Pacific. Students are automatically assigned 1% each week provided they post a minimum of 200 words before the deadline, while a further 1% is based on the depth of critical engagement. At the end of the semester, students submit a cumulative portfolio, worth a further 20%, in which they export all their posts from throughout the course, reflect on the extent to which their views about English have changed during the semester, and discuss implications for the way the language is taught in the region.
The ongoing nature of the activity is effective, as students develop internal critical awareness gradually throughout the semester, in a low-stakes assessment and in a collaborative environment. This internal critical awareness develops through engagement with a range of ideas from the very different patterns of colonialism experienced across the Pacific, whether one or more new Englishes exists or is developing in the region, how to embrace variation in English while recognising that certain varieties so carry higher prestige, and how English fits into the complex linguistic ecology of the Pacific. The cumulative portfolio enables them to synthesise and transform these views into external critical awareness. Challenges do arise when trying to foster a collaborative and reflective learning environment while also maintaining strict expectations for deadlines and minimum word limits, but course evaluation feedback is overwhelmingly positive about this activity.
The ongoing nature of the activity is effective, as students develop internal critical awareness gradually throughout the semester, in a low-stakes assessment and in a collaborative environment. This internal critical awareness develops through engagement with a range of ideas from the very different patterns of colonialism experienced across the Pacific, whether one or more new Englishes exists or is developing in the region, how to embrace variation in English while recognising that certain varieties so carry higher prestige, and how English fits into the complex linguistic ecology of the Pacific. The cumulative portfolio enables them to synthesise and transform these views into external critical awareness. Challenges do arise when trying to foster a collaborative and reflective learning environment while also maintaining strict expectations for deadlines and minimum word limits, but course evaluation feedback is overwhelmingly positive about this activity.
Willans, F., J. Gure & S. Koro (2020). Signs of multilingualism in the urban linguistic landscapes of Fiji and Vanuatu: Reflections of national identity. Social Identities, 26/4, 475-498.
This paper examines the visibility of different languages within the landscapes of two capital cities, Suva (Fiji) and Port Vila (Vanuatu),as an exploration of symbolic constructions of national identity. Data from digital photographs is analysed from four different angles: the languages that appear to be used to serve and sell to the multilingual public of each city; the languages that are found on top-down official signage; the presence or absence of the indigenous languages of the land from which independent nations have been created; and the fusions of multiple linguistic resources together as signs of a national linguistic hybridity that is meaningful to all.
Willans, F. (2020). Old languages in new academic spaces: Emergent pedagogy for tertiary programmes in Pacific languages. The Language Learning Journal, 48/3, 346-355.
This paper considers an appropriate pedagogy for indigenous language programmes at tertiary level in a context in which a former colonial language has become the default as both medium of instruction and subject of academic study. This pedagogy is guided by an overarching commitment to decolonisation of the academic space, is grounded in the sociolinguistic realities of each specific context, and remains flexible enough to accommodate the complexities that are inevitable when a language is made welcome for the first time in a new domain. A recent expansion in the number of languages offered for study at the University of the South Pacific serves as the backdrop to this discussion.
Willans, F., R. Buadromo, T. Bryce, R. Prasad & A. Fonolahi (2020). Supporting the transition to tertiary level: How students engage with academic literacy materials embedded into a mainstream course. In S. Naidu & S. Narayan (Eds.). Teaching and Learning with Technology: Pushing boundaries and breaking down walls (pp.137-163). Suva: University of the South Pacific Press.
This research responds to the need to do more to support our students in making the transition to tertiary studies, particularly through the medium of English as a second language. In our study, we set out to discover whether it’s possible to support academic literacy (the ability to engage with and demonstrate learning of content in the ways expected in the disciplinary area) at the same time as teaching core content. We tested this by embedding additional materials and activities into the Moodle shell of a course to support the development of reading, writing, listening and speaking in the context of the discipline. We’ve shown that it’s possible to design a course in which we can explicitly teach and assess the type of academic and communication skills that students need in order to do well, without reducing the amount or depth of discipline-based content. Moreover, we’ve discovered that, by using a VLE such as Moodle to host additional materials, it’s possible to provide more content rather than less, thus disproving the main argument usually made against such an approach that adding language support will reduce the amount of content that can be covered.
As a preliminary step towards finding out whether this type of course design has a positive effect on students’ acquisition of academic literacy, we have evaluated the way the first cohort of students engaged with the additional resources and activities that were embedded into the Moodle shell. Given that USP has moved relatively quickly to embrace online and blended modes of learning and teaching across the institution, and given that it continues to invest in new tools and technologies through which to support flexible learning, understanding how students engage with the course materials and activities that we design is essential.
As a preliminary step towards finding out whether this type of course design has a positive effect on students’ acquisition of academic literacy, we have evaluated the way the first cohort of students engaged with the additional resources and activities that were embedded into the Moodle shell. Given that USP has moved relatively quickly to embrace online and blended modes of learning and teaching across the institution, and given that it continues to invest in new tools and technologies through which to support flexible learning, understanding how students engage with the course materials and activities that we design is essential.
Willans, F. (2019). 50 years of the University of the South Pacific’s languages: Who will take them forward? Directions: Journal of Educational Research, 33(1), 79-89.
This paper provides an update to Lynch and Mugler’s (2002) article on Pacific languages at the University of the South Pacific(USP). I begin with a brief overview of how Pacific languages have been incorporated within the curriculum and research priorities of USP during its first 50 years, highlighting a number of recent initiatives that we have implemented to bolster the institutional visibility and status of the languages of this region. I then turn to the question in the subtitle: Who will take them forward? This is a deliberately ambiguous question with at least three potential interpretations: It is, firstly, an academic question about whether the languages of the region are being passed on to future generations, and how worried we should be about their sustainability. It is, secondly, a speculative question about how USP can work together with partners across member countries and beyond to build and sustain our teaching and research in and about so many languages. It is, thirdly, a slightly awkward question about who gets to talk and teach and do research about Pacific languages, addressing issues such as insider/outsider claims to knowledge as well as institutional constraints that may be serving to silence certain voices. I write as the discipline coordinator for Linguistics and Languages, but also as an outsider to the region.
WILLANS, F., A. FONOLAHI, R. BUADROMO, T. BRYCE, R. PRASAD & S. KUMARI (2019). EVALUATING LEARNER ENGAGEMENT WITH ACADEMIC LITERACY SUPPORT: MAKING THE MOST OF MOODLE. JOURNAL OF UNIVERSITY TEACHING & LEARNING PRACTICE 16/4, AVAILABLE FROM: HTTPS://RO.UOW.EDU.AU/JUTLP/VOL16/ISS4/5
This paper reports on the evaluation of an ambitious attempt to embed academic literacy support within a core content course for first-year students at the University of the South Pacific. The course is offered in both blended and online modes, catering for on-campus and off-campus students, respectively, using Moodle as the virtual learning environment (VLE). We begin by explaining how we have made the most of Moodle as a learning platform, enabling us to supplement the core content resources with additional components that support students’ academic literacy development, rather than sacrificing content to create this space. Since the additional material is embedded into the main learning design of the course, students acquire academic literacy within the disciplinary context of their academic programme, rather than through standalone ‘study skills’ provision that is devoid of content. We then devote the majority of the paper to discussing the evaluation of this course design, again explaining how we have made the most of Moodle to do so. We have used learning analytics data from Moodle tracking and completion reports to calculate engagement scores for each student, focusing on a composite of their access to resources, their compliance with sequencing and timing, their investment in activities, and their overall achievement. We have then examined the extent to which the different elements of engagement appear to impact achievement in assignments, demonstrating that the students who achieved the highest grades were those who accessed more materials, kept up with the intended schedule, and invested more than they needed to in activities, despite no immediate rewards for doing so.
WILLANS, F. (2019). SYMBOLIC AND FUNCTIONAL BILINGUALISM: INSIGHTS FROM AN ANGLOPHONE SCHOOL AND A FRANCOPHONE SCHOOL. IN L. ARSAC, P. METSAN, J.-M. VIRELALA, & A.-S. VIVIER (EDS.), FROM LINGUISTIC PLURALITY TO UNIVERSITY BILINGUALISM: REALITIES AND CHALLENGES (PP. 55-70). PORT VILA: VANUATU MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING.
This chapter distinguishes between two versions of English-French bilingualism in Vanuatu. I will refer to the first as a symbolic kind of bilingualism, which we can see in the ideas that people express about the importance of knowing both English and French. This kind of bilingualism is like any other kind of symbol, such as a national emblem or flag. It helps us define who we are, and it guides our understanding of our identity. The second version of English-French bilingualism is a functional one, capturing the extent to which people actually use both English and French in practice. By looking at both versions of bilingualism in English and French, we can begin to answer two questions with reference to plans for a new national university in Vanuatu: Do people want both English and French to be part of such an institution? And do school leavers have the proficiency in both languages to receive a quality education through these languages?
WILLANS, F. (2018). TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS ACROSS THE PACIFIC. IN S. GARTON & F. COPLAND (EDS.). THE ROUTLEDGE HANDBOOK OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS. ABINGDON, UK: ROUTLEDGE.
This chapter surveys the teaching of English to young learners across a range of countries of the ‘Anglophone’ Pacific region. English serves as an official language in these countries, and is firmly established as the principal medium of instruction throughout secondary and tertiary education. However, the teaching and educational use of English during early childhood and primary education varies widely across the Pacific, both in policy and in practice. Three broad issues will be discussed. The first is the ambiguity of the status of English, which may serve as a first, second or foreign language for different children. The second is the competing space in the early English curriculum for literacy development, formal language instruction in what may be a foreign language for many, and preparation for the use of English as a medium of instruction across the rest of the curriculum. The third is teacher training, which is not currently preparing teachers adequately to teach English effectively in this complex range of contexts.
WILLANS, F. & A. JUKES (2017). HOW FAR CAN THE LANGUAGE ECOLOGY METAPHOR TAKE US? A PACIFIC PERSPECTIVE ON LANGUAGE VITALITY. LANGUAGE, 93/4, 263-274.
In this response to Mufwene’s target article we discuss the benefits and disadvantages of extending the ecology metaphor into studies of language vitality, focusing on contexts from the South Pacific. We show that an ecological perspective allows us to focus on the local and particular and can help us to avoid a simplistic reliance on broad phenomena such as ‘globalization’ to account for language endangerment and loss (LEL). However, we contend that this endeavor runs the risk of abstracting away from the human experience of LEL into a ‘survival of the fittest’ or ‘balance sheet’ approach. We conclude that, while it has benefits, the ecology metaphor does not ultimately offer a compelling basis for an over-arching theory of language vitality.
WILLANS, F. (2017). GRASSROOTS TALK BACK ON SOCIAL MEDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IN VANUATU’S LANGUAGE-IN-EDUCATION POLICY. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING 18/4, 371-387.
This paper analyses the participatory space for political debate opened up by social media in Vanuatu with reference to the implementation of a recent language-in-education policy, jointly funded by the governments of Vanuatu, Australia and New Zealand. Although Vanuatu appears to have been debating the same language issues for several decades, what is new is the level of participatory engagement in political matters, with the Facebook group Yumi Toktok Stret providing one platform through which democratic citizenship is established and negotiated. Analysis of a debate that erupted on the group in March 2016 reveals significant disquiet and confusion about a change to the medium of instruction in early primary education. I arguethat social media provides an invaluable insight into the extent to which the general public understands, feels consulted about, and supports policy change. The debate on Yumi Toktok Stret also shows that the Government, its international development partners, and technical advisors would be well advised to pay attention to such debates, and engage with social media as a new mediated ‘think tank’ through which new policies can be democratically debated.
WILLANS, F. (2017). ANOTHER EARLY-EXIT TRANSITIONAL MODEL DOOMED TO FAIL? OR IS THIS THE WRONG MODEL AT THE RIGHT TIME IN VANUATU? JOURNAL OF MULTILINGUAL AND MULTICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT. 38/8, 699-711.
Language-in-education policies are developed and implemented within contexts of great complexity. Where policies appear less than perfect on paper, this presents a valuable opportunity to examine the contextual factors that have led to their development, helping policymakers to understand the conditions under which policy change must take place. This paper considers an early-exit transitional model of multilingual education that has recently been endorsed in Vanuatu. While the academic literature would conclude that this model is far from ideal, this paper suggests that the time is right for the type of change that is being implemented in this context. It examines the historico-political factors that have left this problematic policy as the best chance of change, and identifies ways in which it could be modified within a plurilingual approach across the whole curriculum.
WILLANS, F. (2016). CARVING OUT INSTITUTIONAL SPACE FOR MULTILINGUALISM IN THE WORLD’S MOST MULTILINGUAL REGION: THE ROLE OF LINGUISTICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING 17/4, 351-368.
The University of the South Pacific is a regional university catering for 12 countries. Its location situates it within unparalleled linguistic diversity, and its regional structure creates a highly multilingual body of staff and students interacting either face-to-face on the major campuses or remotely via e-learning and satellite communications. On the surface, it is an exciting place to be engaging with matters of language and linguistic diversity. However, in common with many universities that strive for academic excellence whilst operating on sound financial principles and catering equitably for a diverse student population, there are a number of institutional factors that unintentionally stifle the opportunities to study, learn and use multiple languages. This paper discusses language planning at the university with reference to Hornberger’s [(2002). Multilingual language policies and the continua of biliteracy: An ecological approach. Language Policy, 1, 27–51] metaphor of ideological and implementational space. It considers the mechanisms that serve to close down institutional space for languages other than English, and identifies opportunities to carve out new and different spaces. This paper argues for the need to work within, between and around the spaces left by shifts towards rationalisation and efficiency in ways that move with, rather than against, the tide. It is suggested that seeking space for languages other than English within tertiary institutions, and thus challenging the monolingualising tendencies of the shifts in the global landscape, requires a four-step framework of engagement, working sideways to engage with the macro and the micro simultaneously.
WILLANS, F. (2016). TAKING AN INTEREST: COMPETENCE IN AND AFFILIATIONS WITH THE EXPECTED LANGUAGES OF SCHOOLING IN VANUATU. IN D. STARKS & K. TAYLOR LEECH (EDS.) DOING RESEARCH WITHIN COMMUNITIES. ABINGDON, UK: ROUTLEDGE, 57-65.
This chapter reflects on ethnographic research in two school communities in Vanuatu. A key aim of ethnography is to understand the perspectives of those within the communities among whom the researcher is living. We gain different insights depending on which language we choose to use, and depending on how successful we are in utilising and affiliating with the relevant linguistic resources. Here, I consider the way my affiliation with and competence in Bislama, English and French affected my understanding of the linguistic undercurrents of Vanuatu’s education system.
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WILLANS, F. & C. LEUNG (2016). ‘EMPIRICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION POLICIES: APPROXIMATE REPLICATIONS OF AFOLAYAN (1976) AND SIEGEL (1997)’. LANGUAGE TEACHING 49/4, 549-563.
With global attention currently focused on the challenge of providing Education for All (UNESCO 2000), we must ensure that the language of teaching and learning remains a topic on the agenda towards making sure that the education being provided is EFFECTIVE. This is therefore a critical time to review medium of instruction debates, and to reassess what empirical evidence exists to guide policymaking that is both appropriate and achievable. Contributing to this endeavour, this paper argues for the approximate replication of two key studies. The first is Afolayan (1976), a widely-cited study conducted in Ife, Nigeria to test the effectiveness of teaching children in the mother tongue for six years of primary education. We argue that the frequency with which the success of this study is cited, without due attention paid to the details of its methodological procedure, may actually be detrimental to the success of other experiments, thus necessitating the careful replication of the original study. The second study is Siegel (1997b), one of the few studies that have been conducted to evaluate the impact of initial education in an English-based pidgin on the subsequent learning of English. We argue that there is an urgent need for replication of one of the few available studies of pidgins and creoles in education, given the prevalence of negative attitudes towards this category of languages.
WILLANS, F. (2015). ‘GLOBALISED DISCOURSES WITHIN AND AROUND SPACES FOR MULTILINGUALISM: PROSPECTS FOR EDUCATION POLICY CHANGE IN VANUATU’. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING 16/1-2, 97-113.
This paper examines the way language-in-education policymaking in Vanuatu has dealt with multilingualism at three points in the nation’s short history: in 1980, as the country gained its independence from Britain and France; in 1999, during a period of intense change across government departments following the Comprehensive Reform Programme; and in 2010, as Vanuatu looked back on thirty years of independence. At each of these points in time, analysis of key policy texts reveals traces of globalised discourses of, respectively, the rejection of colonialism, the effectiveness of mother tongue education, and plurilingualism. Each of these discourses might appear to open up space for multilingual education and yet the outcome appears to be the same on each occasion, as the former colonial languages continue to dominate. This paper examines the wider contexts within which these three episodes in Vanuatu’s language-in-education policy chronicle were situated. Analysis of the socio-economic and historico-political contexts within which each policy text was produced reveals that the legacy of the dual colonial period remains a barrier in the way of an education system that is appropriate in and for multilingual Vanuatu.
WILLANS, F. (2014). ‘IDEOLOGICAL AND IMPLEMENTATIONAL SPACES FOR MULTILINGUAL EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY IN VANUATU’. PHD THESIS, KING’S COLLEGE LONDON.
This study is a discourse-oriented ethnographic investigation of language-in-education policy in Vanuatu. Following a period of joint Anglo-French colonial rule, education currently follows a dual-submersion model, in which children are enrolled in either English-medium or French-medium schools, while the remaining 106 languages are excluded. A case study of one English-medium school and one French-medium school demonstrates that a single language (either English or French) is constructed as the only appropriate language of each institution, but that this construction is challenged in two ways. It is, firstly, undermined by the heteroglossic reality of daily language practices. Teachers and learners make use of multiple linguistic resources in order to negotiate their school lives, using only just enough English or French to conform to the monolingual ideal. It is, secondly, contradicted by the desire for ‘bilingualism’ in English and French, as the vestiges of Vanuatu’s double colonial heritage have been reimagined in unexpected ways. The dual legacy has been transformed from being a reminder of an oppressive and burdensome past to being both a gateway to double opportunity and a marker of a ‘bilingual’ national identity that should be celebrated. The thesis examines the way participants mediate the tension between competing conceptualisations of ‘language’ and ‘languages’ in education. It considers whether ideological and implementational spaces (Hornberger, 2002) can be found amongst the contestation for the incorporation of alternative or additional linguistic resources. It suggests the need to rethink the notion of media of instruction, and to look for ways to foster the productive use of repertoires of learning and teaching, drawing on whichever resources are available to be used. In so doing, it reorients the problem from an approach to education policy and planning that is driven by language, to an approach to language policy and planning that is driven by learning.
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ABONGDIA, J.-F. & F. WILLANS (2014). ‘THE POSITION OF ENGLISH GLOBALLY AND NATIONALLY: A COMPARISON OF CAMEROON AND VANUATU’. CURRENT ISSUES IN LANGUAGE PLANNING 15/1, 57-74.
This paper investigates language ideologies relevant to medium of instruction policy within two postcolonial countries: Cameroon and Vanuatu. Each country experienced British and French rule, and has retained both English and French as official languages and media of instruction. However, since Independence, there has been a difference in the way the two languages are perceived in each country, due to the numerical imbalance between those who are considered ‘Anglophone’ and ‘Francophone’. In Cameroon, the majority language has been French. In Vanuatu, it has been English. Drawing on data collected during two independent studies, this paper examines the extent to which the global spread of English affects this situation, given the dominant ideology in which English is considered the language of opportunity. In Cameroon, while French still dominates, there is some evidence of a shift towards English, as this language is afforded increasing value. In Vanuatu, English continues to be the language of power at both national and global levels, and yet there appears to be a resurgence of support for the maintenance of French. The desire to know both ‘international languages’ reaffirms the privileging of the former colonial languages in both contexts, although it appears that the hegemony of English itself is tempered to a certain extent.
WILLANS, F. (2013). ‘THE ENGINEERING OF PLURILINGUALISM FOLLOWING A BLUEPRINT FOR MULTILINGUALISM: THE CASE OF VANUATU’S EDUCATION LANGUAGE POLICY’ TESOL QUARTERLY 47/3, 546-566.
This article examines recent proposals in Vanuatu for a new, plurilingual education system. The article discusses these proposals with reference to three principles of plurilingualism upon which the proposals are ostensibly based: the need to value the linguistic repertoires with which children start school, the development of further linguistic resources to enhance individual potential, and the holistic integration of these resources within linguistic repertoires. The author argues that the proposals are driven not by concerns for the fostering of individual plurilingualism, but rather by an agenda of an imagined societal multilingualism within which certain languages are prioritised over all others. The result is an attempt to engineer plurilingual competence by following a blueprint for multilingualism, thus working against the needs of individuals. The article proposes a more flexible model of plurilingualism, within which teachers and learners have the freedom to negotiate meaning through whichever linguistic resources are available to them, rather than stipulating which languages should be used at any given time.
WILLANS, F. (2013). OL PROBLEM/S BLONG TRANSCRIPTION: HOW CAN THE 'FLEXIBLY BILINGUAL' USE OF ENGLISH AND AN ENGLISH-BASED PIDGIN BEST BE CAPTURED? IN A. ARCHIBALD (ED.), MULTILINGUAL THEORY AND PRACTICE IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 45TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR APPLIED LINGUISTICS, 6-8 SEPTEMBER 2012, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON (PP. 263-266). LONDON: SCITSIUGNIL PRESS.
“Transcribers bring their own language ideology to the task. In other words, all transcription is representation, and there is no natural or objective way in which talk can be written” (Roberts, 1997, p.167). The question I address here is how my own ideological position is reflected in the way I transcribe English and Bislama, the English-based pidgin spoken in Vanuatu.
WILLANS, F. (2011). ‘CLASSROOM CODE-SWITCHING IN A VANUATU SECONDARY SCHOOL: CONFLICT BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE’. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BILINGUAL EDUCATION AND BILINGUALISM 14/1, 23-38.
English and French have been retained by Vanuatu’s education system as the two media of instruction. Other languages are ignored and often explicitly banned by school policies. However, code-switching between the official and other languages is common, with particularly frequent use of Bislama, the national dialect of Melanesian Pidgin. While it is commonly thought that Bislama is only used in classrooms to compensate for inadequate levels of English, research carried out at one Anglophone secondary school reveals that this is not the case. Bislama is shown to be an additional learning resource, which students employ to help them complete academic tasks, making use of the natural tools of bilingualism that they possess. However, since code-switching conflicts with school language policy, such useful practices are often carried out covertly, and learning may actually thus be hindered by the language policy.
WILLANS, F. (2008). ‘CLASSROOM CODE-SWITCHING IN A VANUATU SECONDARY SCHOOL: CONFLICT BETWEEN POLICY AND PRACTICE’. MA DISSERTATION, KING’S COLLEGE LONDON.
This study investigates the way both English and Bislama, a dialect of Melanesian Pidgin, are used in an English-medium secondary school geography class in Vanuatu. Recordings are made of one group’s task discussion during two lessons and one homework session, and the transcripts are subsequently used as the basis for interviews with the participants and their teacher. In addition, attitudes towards the two different languages are ascertained using both a questionnaire and a matched guise test. The recorded discussions indicate that code-switching is carried out not only to overcome difficulties in using the official classroom language, but to achieve a wide range of discourse functions. However, interviews and questionnaires reveal that negative feelings are engendered by the alternation between languages, since students’ use of Bislama is regarded as a failure to use English, rather than as a natural bilingual strategy. Although code-switching is shown to contribute to meaningful and productive academic discussion, a strict school policy bans the use of Bislama. Effective discussions therefore tend to take place away from the teacher, necessitating a distinction between language of instruction and language of learning. While English is undoubtedly the main language heard publicly in the classroom, it is not the language in which the majority of learning takes place. Concerns are therefore raised about the school policy, since they may replace an environment in which genuine learning occurs with a theatrical routine of chorus responses or, worse still, silence.
'Accepted manuscript' versions of published articles
willans_et_al_2019_fostering_and_evaluating_learner_engagement_with_academic_literacy_support.pdf | |
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willans_2019_symbolic_and_functional_bilingualism.pdf | |
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willans___jukes_2017_a_pacific_perspective_on_language_vitality_-_author_version.pdf | |
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willans_2017_grassroots_talk_back_on_social_media_-_accepted_manuscript.pdf | |
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willans_2017_the_wrong_model_at_the_right_time_accepted_version.pdf | |
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willans_2016_carving_out_institutional_space_for_multilingualism_in_the_worlds_most_multilingual_region.pdf | |
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willans___leung_2016_empirical_foundations_for_medium_of_instruction_policies.pdf | |
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willans_2015_globalised_discourses_accepted_manuscript.pdf | |
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abongdia___willans_2014_the_position_of_english_globally_and_nationally_-_accepted_manuscript.pdf | |
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willans_2013_the_engineering_of_plurilingualism_-_accepted_manuscript.pdf | |
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willans_2011_classroom_codeswitching_in_a_vanuatu_secondary_school_-_conflict_between_policy_and_practice.pdf | |
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