The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners

Abstract

This chapter focuses primarily on TEYL in bi/multilingual contexts, i.e., where English is often used as medium of instruction (MOI) for young learners whose first language is known to be other than English. In these contexts, learning in schools is accessed through English and educational achievement is demonstrated through English. Apart from the BANA countries (Britain, Australasia and North America), many schools in other multilingual societies, such as Hong Kong (Lin 2016), Singapore (Chua 2011), South Africa (Broom 2004) and Zimbabwe (Mufanechiya and Mufanechiya 2011), have also opted for English-medium education to promote the use and learning of English. The latter are often former British colonies, engaged in different processes of postcolonial nation-building in the current globalised world.