Sociolinguistics and Language Education (New Perspectives on Language and Education, 18)

Language ideologies are "abstract (and often implicit) belief systems related to language and linguistic behavior." So says Mary McGroarty in her scene-setting first chapter of Sociolinguistics and Language Education. Pretty much everything else flows from this premise in this wide-ranging survey of the intersection of sociolinguistic theory, research, and language education. Many language ideologies, McGroarty continues, appear normal, and are therefore little questioned.For example, an ideology of monolingualism in many western countries - what Alistair Pennycook refers to as "the monolingual obsessions of nations and their educational institutions" - results in an antipathy toward bilingualism in the wider society, and to policies in language classrooms whereby teachers may deny the inherent bi- or multilingual nature of these classrooms and attempt to impose an artificial monolingualism, referred to in English-speaking countries as English-only. Language learners, bilinguals, and speakers of pidgins, creoles, and non-standard varieties are characterized as deficient speakers of the standard language by those who position themselves as "native speakers," and a vast English-language teaching industry has grown on the notion of the superiority of the native English-speaking teacher. In these ways and others, language ideologies tend to advantage some groups and disadvantage others. They may lead to inequality of access to language education. They may contain "othering discourses" in which a dominant group presents itself as "normal" and outside groups as "other." Because they lead to policies that affect teacher training and educational prescriptions, they result in a self-perpetuating privileging of dominant language varieties and their speakers.Much more focused on advocating for groups that are disadvantaged by language ideologies than its predecessor, Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching, also edited by Hornberger and Mckay, this volume uncovers the diversity of language behaviors - such as code-switching, the use of non-standard (yet grammatically consistent) varieties, and the use of language in the performance of identity - and demonstrates that they are in fact normal, in spite of what the dominant language ideologies may say or imply. It covers a wide range of topics, including English as an international language, language policy and planning, and gender identities in language education. Readers will pick their own favorites, but the highlights for me were H. Samy Alim's chapter on critical language awareness, in which he sympathetically yet devastatingly reveals how even well-meaning teachers can inadvertently promote linguistic supremacy; Joseph Lo Bianco's chapter on language policy and planning, where he describes teachers' role as language planners; and the ever-readable Bonny Norton on her favorite topic, language and identity, in which she demonstrates how the concepts of investment and imagined communities can favor or disfavor language learners, or lead to unanticipated outcomes.The book is a challenging read in various senses: readers encountering concepts for the first time may struggle with them, and the text is very dense in parts. Most of all, though, in its problematizing of language education from multiple perspectives, it challenges our beliefs, and challenges us to respond. The effect is profound and unsettling, and I recommend it.

This book is not always an easy read but it is full of great, current information about language education. I enjoyed most of it. The e-book version on Kindle was fine though I get annoyed with the spacing- it never seems like the paragraphs are indented (not sure if that is a Kindle problem or a this-book problem).

Great book. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to understand the relationship between culture and language. It was easy to read.

The book was too technical. It did not provide enough samples on how some of the research looked like in a K_12 classroom.

Wonderful collection of essays written about the social and ideological implications behind languages and those who speak them. Found it to be educational and entertaining to read. I highly recommend it!

Another book to have in library which will come in handy when researching this topic.

Speedy delivery and packaged right! Came exactly the way it was advertised with no blemishes. A nice read for those wanting to dive right into second language acquisition.

This book was supposed to be new but it's a refurnished book. The pages are coming off and I didn't return it because my classes have already started and I really need it.

very happy with product