This study analyzes bilingual education support policies for students from immigrant backgrounds by examining Ministry of Education policies and ordinances and policy measures implemented by metropolitan and provincial offices of education in Korea. I...
This study analyzes bilingual education support policies for students from immigrant backgrounds by examining Ministry of Education policies and ordinances and policy measures implemented by metropolitan and provincial offices of education in Korea. It identifies key implications of the current policy framework and proposes directions for improving bilingual education support from an academic language perspective.
Specifically an examination of Ministry of Education policies reveals five major implications: the universalization of policy targets, the simplification of policy content, the divergence of policy directions, ambiguity in the conceptualization of bilingualism, and the marginalization of the academic language perspective. In short, based on these findings, the study proposes legislative and policy directions aimed at guaranteeing students from immigrant backgrounds the right to an equitable education.
At the metropolitan and provincial levels, ordinances and policies related to bilingual education support are analyzed by distinguishing between normative frameworks and effectiveness frameworks. The results reveal both vertical policy diffusion driven by Ministry of Education guidelines and horizontal diffusion resulting from the replication of policies across different local offices of education. Furthermore, an analysis differentiating between common and region-specific policies highlights persistent limitations in ensuring equal educational opportunities for students from immigrant backgrounds, leading to proposals for improvements to relevant ordinances and policies.
This study is particularly significant in that it conceptualizes the linguistic backgrounds of students from immigrant families as a core component of bilingual education from an academic language perspective and emphasizes the need for institutional transformation to ensure the substantive right to learn.