Second‐language issues and multiculturalism, Part 2

Abstract

This article presents the reports from the international research correspondents (IRCs) on the topic of second-language issues and multiculturalism through an informal polling using a questionnaire in six countries. The participating IRCs include: (1) Marta Infante of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Chile; (2) Anita Poon of Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong; (3) Nasrin Shokrpour of the Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran; (4) Pietro Boscolo of Universita di Padova, Italy; (5) Chukwuemeka Onukaogu of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria; and (6) Ruth Wong of the National Institute of Education in Singapore. All IRCs send a common 14-item questionnaire to informed individuals, such as teacher educators, researchers, policymakers, and publishers, in their region. The first four questions centered on language practices of the region, while items 5-9 on language practices were rated using a 4-point Likert scale ("never, seldom, sometimes, often"). Question 10 centered on the concept of multiculturalism, followed by three questions on multiculturalism that used the same 4-point Likert scale as items 5-9. The final question was open-ended. Here, the authors enumerate the 14-item questionnaires and present the summaries of the IRCs' results of the responses from their respondents, together with their own comments. Throughout these six summary reports, some similar themes are present, albeit with different perspectives specific to regional contexts. The history and present state of regions affected how the terms were interpreted. These reports present the varied approaches regions take toward languages and cultures that share geographic spaces.