Preparing I-Kiribati for the future: probing the English language research-policy nexus in Kiribati education in the South Pacific

ABSTRACT

Histories of colonization conjointly with the current economic global climate have enabled English to become a dominant global language. The desire for citizens to attain English language proficiency on a nation-wide level is a common pursuit in developing countries, including the island nations of the South Pacific where English competency is viewed as invaluable to education and associated with promising futures. Despite the threat to their own indigenous languages, in Education, a strong emphasis upon English permeates the South Pacific islands through government agendas, policies, and into teaching practice. Confronted with preparing for imminent migration due to rising sea levels, the Kiribati government is striving to prepare its citizens for impending diaspora. This article reports a study of the research-policy nexus in English language learning in schools, in the context of the Micronesian nation of Kiribati. Critical analysis of two government English teaching policies that shape curriculum, identified that the research-policy nexus lacked sufficient clarity; characterized with undefined terms, some contradictory information and an unclear research base. Implications for improving Education policies, Teacher Education, and classroom English teaching practices are provided and the argument made that further research is warranted to strengthen English language learning policies in the South Pacific.

KEYWORDS:

• English language
• Kiribati
• policy analysis
• research-policy nexus
• South Pacific
• education
• literacy

Acknowledgments

We sincerely hope this research will benefit the Kiribati Ministry of Education, the Teachers College and other South Pacific nations. Paia Ingram acknowledges the support of the Kiribati Ministry of Education and the Teachers College for their approval and encouragement for her to undertake this research study on the Kiribati Language in Education Policy. Sarah Ohi also expresses gratitude to them, and to the School of Education, Deakin University, Australia.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest is reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Permission to undertake the study was sought and granted by the Kiribati Ministry of Education who provided the policy documents for analysis. At the time of the study, both author/researchers were situated in Australia, this constrained our ability to directly source further information about the documents and their implementation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sarah Ohi

Sarah Ohi is a Senior Lecturer in Education and Coordinator of the Language, Literacies & Learning Teaching and Research Group at Deakin University, Australia. She has more than 20 years of experience working in education. Inspired to empower children to live literate lives, she conducts research about discourse in Education Policy, Literacy and Education in the South Pacific, Early Years Literacies and Teacher Education.

Paia Ingram

Paia Ingram has taught in various cross-cultural settings for over 20 years, more recently in education through TAFE Queensland. Her work with ISLPR Language Services has been through conducting the ISLPR test in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Kiribati over the past six years.