THE “MOTHER‐TONGUE” OF LINGUISTIC MINORITIES IN MULTICULTURAL ENGLAND1

Abstract

This paper provides a general introduction to the newly emerging debate in Britain which is popularly known as “bilingualism and mother‐tongue teaching”. The paper first considers the general scene, the range of minority populations and the availability of provision for teaching the mother‐tongue; the historical background to the mainstream teachers' and minority parents' response to the situation; and developments in the thinking and activities of various educational bodies, minority organizations and in particular the impetus of the EEC Directive on the education of migrant workers' children. Secondly, the main components of the “mother” tongue debate are oudined in terms of four key questions: Who should have responsibility for and/or control over the provision? What types of provision are desirable? How should they be implemented and what are the different reasons and parties behind the support for “mother‐tongue” provision? Thirdly, certain features of the wider context of ethnic relations as a whole are outlined to illustrate the significance of economic, political and social factors in the changing vitality of minority languages. The ongoing patterns of ethnic relations and the processes of ethnicity are key determinants of the patterns of bilingualism emerging among minority populations in Britain.

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