English in Primary Education in Mauritius: the Use of a Foreign Language As the Official Medium of Instruction

This book presents the place and use of English in primary education in Mauritius at the beginning of the XXIst Century as well as the consequences of its use as the official medium of instruction, in a multilingual society where Creole is the mother tongue of the majority of the population and English a foreign language to all the children. Indeed, discrepancies exist between the law and the effective linguistic practices. This situation is problematic since it produces an important rate of academic failure and illiteracy in Mauritius. That is why this work tries to analyze the mechanisms and the factors leading to this situation and to summarize the major points of the solutions proposed in order to offer a better visibility concerning the language policy to lead in the insular territories.