Language, Power & Policy in Education

This course draws on a range of interdisciplinary scholarship - linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, language policy and planning, and critical educational scholarship – to explore the complexities of language use and policy in formal schooling. The course is divided into two sections. Part I: Language, Ideology, and Inequality explores how ideas about language become ideas about people. We explore how certain ways of speaking come to be seen as correct or standard, while others are devalued, and we see how these linguistic judgments function in helping to construct race, class, gender and sexual identities. As we turn to Part II: Language Policy, Schooling, and Social Change, we explore what happens when ideas about languages and speakers are translated into educational policies and practices. We consider how schools classify speakers, organize language learning, and respond to multilingualism. We evaluate the affordances and constraints of different educational models and policies in comparative international perspective. We conclude by considering what all of this means for questions of educational equity and linguistic justice. 

Learning Outcomes: Students in this course will:

Explain how ideas about “good”, “appropriate” or “standard” language are socially and historically produced.

Understand how language practices become associated with social identities, including race, class, gender, and sexuality.

Define and use concepts from linguistic anthropology (e.g. register, indexicality, raciolinguistics) to analyze language in educational contexts.

Analyze language policy as a process rather than a product.  Explore how language policies in schools define problems and populations.

Compare language education policies across national and historical contexts.

Describe and critically evaluate a current language and education policy problem, communicating findings to both an academic and public audience.