Abstract
Language education policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is a complex set of norms, beliefs, and practices deeply rooted in the history of the region. Despite the appearance of uniformity, the MENA region is marked by economic, religious, and linguistic differences. Language policies in MENA are to be understood against the background of prolonged colonial rule and the traditional opposition to colonialism and foreign intervention. Three major aspects of language policy (LP) in the region are discussed: diglossia, which involves the relatively rigid separation between the high, standard language and the native, colloquial one; Arabization, which is the historical process of reversing the linguistic consequences of colonialism, substituting Western colonial languages with Arabic; and, finally, issues of linguistic minorities, multilingualism, and language education, which pose significant challenges to language policy in the region. Following the discussion of current issues in the field, a discussion of work in progress and future directions in the field specifically addresses the issues of political instability in some parts of the region and the challenges of improving and researching language policy in contexts where language ideologies often clash. Particular attention is given to ways in which language policy can become more democratic and inclusive, the way new language policy initiatives can be executed and monitored, the potential economic value of certain policies, and the importance of research on the links between language policy and religion.
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Or, I.G. (2017). Language Policy and Education in the Middle East and North Africa. In: McCarty, T., May, S. (eds) Language Policy and Political Issues in Education. Encyclopedia of Language and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02344-1_40
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