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Programme: accepted abstracts

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Abstract ID: 176

Thematic Session (Papers belonging to this Thematic Session)

Re-thinking language policy and practice in urban education: the example of France.

Authors: Bonacina-Pugh, Florence; Hélot, Christine
Submitted by: Bonacina, Florence (The University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom)

Since a recent move towards ethnographic approaches to language policy research (see for instance Johnson, 2009; McCarty, 2011), language practices occupy a central place in language policy studies. This is all the more true in studies focusing on language-in-education policies. In studying actual language practices, researchers have shown that language-in-education policies can be negotiated on the ground (see for instance Hélot and Laoire, 2011; Menken and Garcia, 2010) and that new language policies can emerge in praxis (see for instance Bonacina, 2010; Spolsky, 2004).

This thematic session aims to provide a space for exploring the relationship between language policy and practice, focusing on the specific context of urban education. Given that modern cities are often characterised by a multilingual and multicultural ecology, the question arises as to how this urban ecology shape, on the one hand, language-in-education policies and practices and, on the other, our thinking of policy and practice.   

The discussion will be grounded in the example of France, where “language management” (Spolsky, 2009) is overtly French monolingual while pupils’ linguistic repertoire is increasingly multilingual. The French example will be used as a point of departure for a broader discussion of language policy and practice in urban education. Some of the questions discussed could include:

• What are the recent language-in-education policy issues in urban France? And how can they be articulated with the wider issues observed in other urban educational contexts?

• How do these issues contribute to the ongoing discussion about the relationship between policy and practice in the field of language policy research?

• How are educational language policies and practices shaped by the multilingual and multicultural ecology of French cities? And cities more generally?

We invite contributions that engage with the main topic of this session. We especially welcome contributions adopting ethnographic and/or discourse analytic approaches to the study of language policy and practice in order to highlight “the grass-roots nature of LPP [language planning and policy] as it is realised in everyday social practice” (McCarty, 2011: 5).

Key references:

Bonacina, F. 2010. A Conversation Analytic approach to practiced language policies. Doctoral Dissertation. The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.

Hélot, C. and Laoire M.Ó. 2011. Language Policy for the Multilingual Classroom: Pedagogy of the Possible. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Johnson, D.C. 2009. Ethnography of language policy. Language Policy 8 (2): 139-159.

McCarty, L. (Ed.). 2011. Ethnography and Language Policy. Routledge: New York.

Menken K., Garcia, O. 2010. Negotiating Language Policies in Schools: Educators as Policymakers. Oxon: Routledge.

Spolsky, B. 2009. Language Management. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Spolsky, B. 2004. Language Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.