The inclusion of Slovak Roma pupils in secondary school: contexts of language policy and planning

ABSTRACT

The arrival of large numbers of Slovak Roma to Sheffield over a relatively short period has inserted two new languages (Slovak and Romani) into an already diverse, multilingual school environment. Schools face challenges in welcoming the new migrant children, inducting and integrating them and facilitating access to the English school curriculum. This paper draws on longitudinal ethnolinguistic research in one secondary school in Sheffield that has experienced this migration and language situation and responded in a variety of ways. Utilizing an analytical framework based upon “language-in-education planning” (LEP, [Kaplan & Baldauf, 1997, Language planning. From practice to theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters]) and “micro language planning” (MLP, [Liddicoat & Taylor-Leech, 2014, Micro language planning for multilingual education: Agency in local contexts. Current Issues in Language Planning, 15(3), 237–244]), the various emergent practices are examined. Findings show that the school is engaging in various “unplanned” practices to surmount the language and pedagogical issues, thus highlighting the role of MLP as a necessary part of more macro LEP processes.

KEYWORDS:

• Slovak Roma
• language-in-education planning
• micro language planning
• school policy
• migration

Acknowledgments

My warm thanks go to the Slovak Roma community of Page Hall, Sheffield, and to the staff and pupils at Oakview Academy; this research would not have been possible without their participation. The author would also like to thank Tanja Prieler, and the two anonymous reviewers and the editor of CILP for their useful comments and feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Mark Payne is a Lecturer in Language Education at the University of Sheffield and holds a PhD in LP from the University of Cambridge. His research interests include language teaching and learning, second language acquisition and language policy and planning. He is currently researching the linguistic and social integration of new migrant groups in Sheffield, particularly the Slovak Roma.

ORCiD

Mark Payne http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1019-7375

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET).