ABSTRACT
Language and sociopolitical struggle are intimately intertwined. This chapter explores the central role of teachers in (re)constructing language policies in schools, as they interpret and negotiate top-down national and school-based “official” policies, and ultimately implement their own, based, in part, on personal language beliefs, and in response to realities “on the ground”—that is, their students’ interpretations, negotiations, and needs, during periods of political instability, economic uncertainty, and postwar reconstruction. The chapter explores language policy as a complex social practice with political and socioeconomic dimensions and considers these dimensions in relation to the basic need for human security.
