Public policy, language practice and language policy beyond compulsory education: Higher education policy and student experience*

Abstract

Using higher education as a context, this article explores public policy and policy analysis in relation to language policy studies and argues for greater consideration of language issues in public policy and policy analysis. Conversely, language policy studies must also expand to integrate elements of public policy analysis in order to reveal the complexities of language practices and policies in societies where linguistic heterogeneity is the norm. This article is divided in two parts, with the first part drawing on a literature review to explore language issues in public policy for higher education. Using data from various studies on Francophone students’ access to and postsecondary experiences in a minority context, the second part will examine higher education in Ontario, Canada, from a public policy and a language policy perspective.

*The author wishes to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments, the participants of the 2010 Language Policy and Planning Invited Symposium for the dialogism of our first meeting, and Professor Emeritus Stacy Churchill for his mentorship, his stewardship to the field of LPP and his inspiring work.