Tove
Skutnabb-Kangas, Descriptions of some of the most recent books
Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove, Phillipson, Robert, Mohanty, Ajit and Panda,
Minati (eds) (2009) [publication date 15 July]. Social Justice through Multilingual Education.
Back
cover text: We know enough about how to support
children in becoming high-level multilinguals with a strong positive identity
and a fair chance of achieving educational success. Still, most
indigenous/tribal, minority (ITM) and marginalised children in the world do not
get this mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MLE). This book asks why
and shows how it CAN be done. ITM education in
Back cover:
ÒNoble in purpose, this volume contains
many valuable accounts of efforts toward righting longstanding inequities of
education in multilingual settings around the world -- from the highlands of
Nancy
H. Hornberger,
ÒThis book is a wake-up call. It quashes
the myth that monolingual education is the best way to progress. The book
brings home the fact that the only way to arrest our shrinking knowledge-base
is to impart multilingual education as an undivided whole, each language
complementing and empowering the other.Ó
Professor
Anvita Abbi, Chairperson, Centre for Linguistics,
ÒSocial Justice through Multilingual
Education places education centre stage in the demand for justice and rights
for minority languages peoples. With a wealth of international examples, the
book integrates boundary-breaking ideas about multilingual education with the
movement for retaining linguistic diversity and achieving social justice for
language minorities. A remarkable collection of papers written by many
highly-respected authors makes this book essential reading.Ó
Professor
Colin Baker, Pro Vice-Chancellor,
ÒAn extremely timely work, wide-ranging in
its scope and depth, which addresses directly a still surprisingly
controversial topic: the indisputable value of education in oneÕs own language.Ó
Fernand
de Varennes, Associate Professor, School of Law, Murdoch University, and Senior
Research Associate (Non-resident) at the European Centre for Minority Issues.
ÒThis book, edited and co-authored by some
of the leading thinkers and doers in the MLE (Multilingual Education)
enterprise, maps the different paths MLE has taken in extremely diverse local
contexts on every continent. The book also promotes the cause of indigenous
peoplesÕ social, economic and political rights - a struggle that needs far more
public attention and support than it has received.Ó
Probal
Dasgupta, Head, Linguistic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute,
Kolkata.
ÒThe book is a passionate call to respect
and enshrine the inalienable right of all the children of the world to learn
their languages and through their languages. The book is also a powerful
indictment of the sinister privileging of languages like English that are
marginalising and decimating humanityÕs rich language resources. The book
resonates with the contemporary Indian scene, where language, particularly as a
medium of learning, has become a fiercely contested terrain.Ó
V.
Vasanthi Devi, The Hindu, 11 August 2009