Access policy on English language education at the primary school level in the ASEAN Plus Three member states: motivations, challenges and future directions

With English becoming increasingly important for achieving success in twenty-first-century global competition, policies to introduce the language to primary school children have proliferated in Asia, including the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plus Three member states. Although there have been attempts to evaluate English language-in-education policies at the primary school level in Asia, no cross-national study has systematically examined the issue in the context of ASEAN Plus Three member states: Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Japan and South Korea. This article examines access policies on English language education at the primary school level in those member states. It outlines access policy from the language-in-education policy perspective and discusses the motivations underpinning it. It also analyses challenges to providing primary school children with access to English through scrutiny of literature. Finally, future directions in relation to policy and research are provided.