Medium of instruction
From Open Encyclopedia
Medium of instruction is the language that is used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the territory.
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Mediums of instruction in different countries and regions
- In New Zealand, English is used in many schools, but a growing number of kohanga reo and kura kaupapa are using Maori instead.
- In the Republic of China (Taiwan), Mandarin Chinese is used as the medium of instruction throughout the country.
- In the People's Republic of China (mainland China), Mandarin Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in most schools. In elementary and secondary schools for ethnic minorities,there own languages are used. The two special administrative regions (S.A.R.) of the PRC are have own policies about mediums of instruction :
- In Hong Kong S.A.R., Chinese and English, which are the official languages of the region, are used as the mediums of instruction in schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools.
- In Macao S.A.R., Chinese and Portuguese are the two official languages of the region. Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in many schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Portuguese is used in government-established schools. But surprisingly, English, which is not an official language of the region, is also used in a lot of schools.
- In Australia, most schools, again, use English.
- In Finland, Finnish is the language used in most schools, but Swedish, which is also official, is used in a few schools along the coast and Sami is used in the north. See Mandatory Swedish and Pakkoruotsi
- In Romania, the medium is Romanian but Hungarian and German minorities are allowed to teach in their respective tongues.
- In Moldova, Moldovan (Romanian) is used but Russian is slowly being introduced.
- In the United States, English is used, but in some schools, Spanish, French (in Louisiana,) Hawaiian (in Hawaii) and local Indian languages are used as well.
- In Canada, English (or French in Quebec) is the medium in most schools, but Inuit languages are used in the north. See French immersion
- In Belarus, Russian is used since the government closed all Belarusian language high schools.
- In Estonia, Estonian is used with 26 schools in the south teaching Voro once a week.
- In Ireland, English is used in most schools with a growing number of gaelscoileanna using Irish instead.
- In the Isle of Man, English is used, but Manx is being revived with on Manx-medium school at St. John's.
- In Scotland, English is used the most because there is little or no education in Lowland Scots, and Scottish Gaelic is only just starting to be used again.
- In France, legislation restricts languages other than French in state schools. Other languages of France are the medium of instruction in non-state schools such as Diwan Breton language-medium schools and the Calendretas in the south that use Occitan. See Language policy in France
- In Switzerland, German, French, Italian, and/or Romansch are used in most schools.
- In Belgium, French and Dutch (and German in some parts of Brussels) are used.
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See also
In Goa Konkani is used as a medium of instruction, though English is the most preferred medium of instruction
