ABSTRACT
The study of language policy in education in Lebanon is a rich and complex arena, entangled in historical, social, and political struggles and their enduring legacies. Contemporary bilingual educational practices are rooted in the establishment of various European and American missionary schools during the mid-1800s. The symbolic value of language has held prominence in religious and secular nationalist discourses and ideological struggles over the last century. As such, language has been intimately woven with discourses on national identity, development, regional status, and associations with the West. This essay examines language policy from the perspective of policy actors at the focus of educational development and reform efforts, and looks at how unofficial discourses interact with the official discourses of the post1990 government-mandated national curriculum, as implemented in diverse school contexts in Lebanon.1 In particular, it considers the ideological dimension of “unofficial” language policies, as exercised by secondary school youths across ten schools in Greater Beirut. By examining secondary school students’ perspectives on language and education across various religious, socio-economic, and language-schooling contexts, the chapter outlines the major trends and reconfigurations in contemporary language ideologies among Beirut youths. Youths have been at the center of recent development interests and agendas in the Arab world, but their views are seldom heard. Rather, policies and prescriptions in education and the research on which they are based tend to privilege “official” or state-level discourses.2
