A Consideration of the Portability and Supportability of Immersion Education: A Critical Look at English Immersion in Melanesia

Abstract

This paper considers the pedagogical validity of English immersion education in two Melanesian countries of the South Pacific: Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, questioning the appropriateness of implementing a policy of English language immersion education in a postcolonial, multilingual Third World context where the implicit supports for L1 maintenance as well as L2 instruction are inadequate. It then draws contextual comparisons between English immersion education in these Pacific small island states and early total French immersion education in Canada. In so doing, the paper engages in the wider debate on the relationship between school and community in language education policy and planning.