Navigating the Use of English as a Classroom Lingua Franca in Multilingual Postcolonial Education: Legacy, Policy, and Preference

Mary Dos Santos

This research is located within the plurilingual context of Vanuatu, once a Condominium colony of Britain and France. A surfeit of heritage languages exist within this context. Numbers vary from 106 (Kanas, 2006; Lynch & Crowley, 2001) to 138 vernaculars (François, 2019; François, Lacrampe, et al., 2015). The constitutional positioning of both English and French as the official languages of education (Republic of Vanuatu, 1980), together with the plethora of heritage languages, exacerbate the classroom decision making process. Whilst government policy seeks to refine the linguistic choices, parents, former educators, and the general public also pursue the right to vocalise opinions within this arena. This research asks: How do teachers navigate the process of classroom language choices in postcolonial, multilingual contexts? Globalisation appears to have privileged English as the world lingua franca and, therefore, a perceived language of necessity. Foreign aid, that is sometimes linked with educational research and pedagogy, places pressure on newly independent nations to adopt linguistic practices that may not be in tandem with culture or everyday language use. Westernised forms of scholastic practice often overlook local knowledges expressed through local languages, and, therefore, continue the process of decolonisation. Drawing on qualitative data, this study utilises a narrative historical approach that weaves historical understanding with narrative analysis of conversational interviews and content analysis of educational policy documents. This methodological framework enabled classroom language choices to be viewed from the perspective of the legacy of the past, the current policy for language use, and teacher perceptions of best practice. Participants reflected a range of stakeholders involved in the education system of Vanuatu. The mix of ni-Vanuatu and expat engagement in the investigation enabled insight into the third space (Benson, 2010; Bhabha, 2012) and the ways in which cultures can interact and partner for beneficial educational outcomes. Results suggest that classroom language choice is increasingly influenced by the global monopoly of English and the notion that this lingua franca proffers both international exchange and individual success.

Navigating the Use of English as a Classroom Lingua Franca in Multilingual Postcolonial Education: Legacy, Policy, and Preference

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