How on earth do we cater for every language? Transforming IB language policy into practice.

The International Baccalaureate (IB) has a two-language minimum requirement in each of its programmes, which ideally would have students studying their mother tongue and a second language as part of the school curriculum. However, students have diverse language backgrounds—often a student’s mother tongue is neither a national language nor a supported second language in the school—so supporting each student’s language profile is a challenge. This paper describes an investigation into schools’ adherence to IB language requirements, the particular challenges schools face and how they overcome these challenges. The research focused on Australian (national) schools implementing the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). The project found that many schools are struggling to adhere to IB language policy, particularly in the area of enabling students to maintain and develop their mother tongue. Schools also find it difficult to ensure every teacher is supported to enable student development in the language of instruction in every subject group. However, there are some schools whose adherence to IB policy is exceptional: these schools’ successes and practices should be made public knowledge in order to provide others with strategies for greater success