Abstract:
This paper reports on the multilingual background, language education
policies and practices in Lebanon. Specifically, it shows how the multilingual makeup
in the country is translated into language policies in schools. A survey of 30
private school principals, middle managers and teachers was administered online to
obtain their views on school policies, problems, successes, concerns and quality
ranking. Results showed that a great deal of work has been done to introduce a
language of instruction and a third language as decreed by the Ministry of Education
and at the same time keep the national language, Arabic, alive. The main concerns
of the participants were the need for teacher training programmes and resources.
Although the research implies that the school systems, in keeping up with this
multilingual milieu, could be contributing to the death of the national language as
well as producing students who are not fluent in any of the languages, there continues
to be an attempt to keep alive a q
Citation:
Bahous, R., Bacha, N. N., & Nabhani, M. (2011). Multilingual educational trends and practices in Lebanon: A case study. International Review of Education, 57(5-6), 737-749.