| Abstract: | In many multilingual societies, and especially those with colonial pasts, the choice of school languages is problematic. The colonial experience leaves a linguistic legacy – a colonial language which is often positively regarded since it is the language of a political or economic elite, the medium of instruction at the tertiary level, or because it is promoted by such elites as a vehicle of desirable, often western-styled, modernization. It is of course true that not all colonial languages are kept on after independence is gained –Dutch was rather quickly phased out in Indonesia – but in such situations another exogenous language is often found necessary. Thus in many newly independent countries, in Southeast Asia and elsewhere, languages like English, French, Spanish and Dutch have significant educational relevance. |
