Micro Language Planning for Sustainable Early English Language Education: A Case Study on Chinese Educators’ Agency

Luyao Liang, Hui Li () and Alice Chik
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Luyao Liang: Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Hui Li: Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
Alice Chik: Macquarie School of Education, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-21

Abstract: In language education research, micro-level language policy and planning (LPP) primarily concerns local actors’ decision making on matters in relation to language(s) and its users. Despite a growing body of literature focusing on micro-level language planning in educational settings, there is a scarcity of research examining early childhood education settings as the micro-level LPP context for young English language learners. By adopting a qualitative case study approach and drawing on an ecological approach to LPP, the present study examined the educators’ enactment of agency in micro-planning the English language education policy (LEP) in one Chinese kindergarten and the associated factors shaping their agency. Deploying a grounded theory analytical method, this study revealed that the sustainable implementation of the kindergarten English LEP depended on the principal, native English-speaking teachers, and the Chinese assistant teachers’ different degrees of agency. Additionally, the research findings indicated an array of contextual and individual factors nested in a hierarchical structure that facilitated, guided, and constrained the educators’ agency in a role-and circumstance-dependent manner. This study contributes to the pertinent literature by casting nuanced light on the different educators’ contributions to the micro-level LPP against a national policy that does not endorse early-year English language education.

Keywords: micro language planning; educator agency; Chinese kindergarten; sustainable language policy and planning (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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