as the first authorized language policy of the country in 1987.

North America

The exclusive reliance on English as the instructional medium prevailed

throughout the 1940s. The English-only language policies in schools were further
reinforced by the Nationality Act which identified English fluency and then English
literary skills as a naturalization requirement. The policies did serve their linguistic
assimilationist purpose and many language groups did quickly replace their native
languages with English.

South America

It was boarded by Atlantic Ocean to the east and Pacific Ocean to the west. There
were ten most spoken languages in South America these are Spanish, Portuguese,
English, German, Italian, Arabic, Chinese, Ukrainian, Japanese, and Dutch. English was
widely spoken especially in areas that are popular tourists’ destination. South American
language program and policies aims to develop English levels not only as part of the
education system but also as a tool for economic prosperity. From an earlier age, children
were taught English and it has been increasing up to three hours per week. Their language
policies are focusing on the four language skills in order to build a strong foundation of
English for the students from South America.

Africa

Africa is the continent boasts an abundance of both cultural and natural resources
and is home to some of the fastest growing economies in the world, making Africa a
fascinating place to study. The Program in African Language (PAL) is one of the center
for African studies’ central components in its mission to work with the rest of the
university in promoting Africa-related studies on the campus and beyond. It is
characterized by a multiplicity of policies and attitudes concerning its indigenous
languages. This appears largely to be a direct result of its relatively recent history of
colonization by external powers. With the exception of Ethiopia and Liberia, all the
countries of Africa today were under colonial rule, in some cases beginning from the
fifteenth or sixteenth century. Independence- political rather than economic
independence- finally came for such countries at different times mostly from the late
1950s and to the late 1970s.

I. DIFFERENTIATION

Asia

Asian countries tend to look into the vision of their countries as well as into the
fluency of each citizen in English language. Teacher accountability needs to be ensured
by examining student performance on designated tests of local and global standards and
comparing school performance both intra-nationally and inter-nationally. Student
performance can also be linked to teacher remuneration. In Bangladesh, for example, the
Government is considering linking non-government school teachers’ monthly payment
order to quality of education and pass rates of institutions on national school-leaving
examinations. Meanwhile, Malaysia’s national ambition for English, as stipulated in its
national blueprint called Vision 2020 which aims to prepare the nation to become an
industrialized nation by 2020. In Japan, Prime Minister Abe indicated that The Test of
English as a Foreign Language testing will be used to raise the standard of English of his
fellow countrymen. In Asia, each country focuses more on envisioning their progression
and language proficiency regarding the use of the English language as a main tool in
attaining this vision.

Europe

Foreign language education in Europe is embedded in national systems and their

distinct traditions. Students in the demographically small European countries have often
been taught two foreign languages in school. This policy has been recommended since
the year 1980s by the Council of Europe, and became European Union policy in the
1990s. European language programs and policies advocated life-long foreign language
learning, including two foreign languages in the primary school. It strives to bring
language policy higher up on national agendas, and to raise awareness of linguistic
diversity. It also endorse the notion of an inclusive ‘language friendly environment’, and
states that this openness should include minority languages, those of both local regions
and recent immigrants.

Australia

In Australia, many kinds of minority languages such as immigrant languages and

aboriginal languages are coexisting. The first authorized language policy of the country
in 1987 or the National Policy on Languages (NPL) have 3 different goals: the first, all
Australians enjoy high standards of Australian English; the second, all Australians enjoy
bilingualism; finally, all immigrant languages and aboriginal languages will be accepted
as unique heritages of Australia which is irreplaceable and worthwhile of preservation.
There were several policies in Australia such as the White Australian Policy, the
Multicultural Policy, and The Politics of Language in Australia. In general, Australia has
a lot for us to learn in terms of language policy making, for example, advocating
multiculturalism, stressing language’s economic value, focusing on education planning,
emphasizing teacher’s training and increasing education investment.

North America

In United States of America English-only policy were promulgated. Some of the

Americans supported the policy in schools because they are ignorant about the second
language learning challenges faced by language minority students. Due to the geographic
isolation from the rest of the world and the status of English as an international language
of communication, the U.S. population has remained largely uninterested in learning the
second language. The English-only policy has been particularly successful at the state
level. In the past two decades 23 states in U.S. have adopted English as the official
language including schools.

South America

In South America, English is compulsory from lower grades up to secondary and

tertiary levels just like all the language policies of such continents. The national English
Curriculum aims to remove inequality in access to English Language Learning in the
public and private sectors, which is good for the entire citizen in South America so that
they can easily engage themselves in learning the English Language. In terms of the
holistic progression of the countries under the South American continent the English
Policy Paper in 2014 aims to develop English levels not only as part of the education
system but also as a tool for economic prosperity. South American policy also promotes
 the learning of the second language and it was mandatory at primary and secondary levels
of education.

Africa

The external powers that colonized the different African countries came from
different parts of Europe, and as their origins differed also their language policies. Even
the indigenous languages were allowed to be used in grade schools, as in the English
colonial territories, the use of such language was restricted. They provide online
classrooms for language courses.

II. CONCLUSION

Language policy is traditionally viewed as a powerful tool for achieving social

cohesion. However, on the other hand, different countries view their linguistic goals
differently and, hence; they adopt dissimilar measures to promote their vision of social
justice.
All of the continents aimed to develop their countries’ fluency of the English
language which plays a big role in the citizen’s life most especially in communicating.
English language is a major tool for the peaceful communication of each of the countries
all over the world it serves as the highlight for educational and economic transactions and
purposes. It is good that all of the continents were mandating the universal language. By
means of the language programs and policies, countries were unified as for having a one
major language internationally. Promoting every citizen as an English-literate individual
can help improve a country’s development. Asia is defined as the most populated
continent hence; they have also thousands of language that have been spoken by Asian
people. It is good that the language policies and program will help them to have a better
way of communicating in to other neighbor country.

Prepared by: Abegail D. Fernando

2nd Year BSED-English