Sociolinguistics Symposium 19
Freie Universität Berlin | August 21-24, 2012
Programme: accepted abstracts
Abstract ID: 183
Thematic Session (Papers belonging to this Thematic Session)
Contesting and reconstructing language policies in urban educational settings
Authors: Van Avermaet, Piet; Shohamy, Elana; Pulinx, Reinhilde
Submitted by: Van Avermaet, Piet (Ghent University, Belgium)
Within different social structures different social agents are involved in the dynamic developments and changes of language policies. The aim of this thematic session is to examine the processes by which both top down and bottom up forces operate in a number of countries and affect local urban educational policies. For example, it is well documented that the international PISA tests strongly impact language policy making in education in nation states and these national policies filter through to municipalities and schools. These dynamics are, as already stated, not only top down, but also bottom up. Our point is that language educational policies are always socially situated and not created in vacuum and are clearly not about language alone.
Based on the local realities and practical experiences many language policies are being contested and reconstructed from bottom up in overt and covert ways. Contestation takes place when a city (or several schools in the city) disregards the national monolingual policy for education and reconstructs school language policy by taking into account the plurilingual repertoires which are represented in the schools of the city. Examples of such contestation can be observed in situations where schools develop specific policies which are in contradiction to the national policies and is given by a teacher not adhering to a monolingual school policy and pursuing a classroom policy and practice which exploits the plurilingual repertoire of the children as didactic capital in the learning process.
Given the diverse demography on the one hand and the national domination on the other, various issues arise and these will be addressed in this thematic sessions. The papers in this session will look at the dynamic interactions between agency and structure regarding monolingual versus multilingual, overt versus covert policy making in a number of cities. Among others, the following topics will be addressed: cases of cities that disregard national monolingual policies; the ways national policy level react to such contestations; the contextual factors that influence different patterns of reconstruction of national monolingual policies in cities and the factors that drive these different processes; the role of teachers in this act of contestation and reconstruction especially in relation to immigrant childrens’ identity formation; contestations for immigrant childrens’ well-being, motivation and learning; the school staff (colleague teachers and principals) reaction to these contestations by an individual teacher; the impact on the professional motivation and well-being of the teacher.
In this session cases will be presented and discussed of agency contestation and reconstruction of language policies within the educational structures at city level.
Key references
Blommaert, J., Creve, L. & Willaert, E. (2006). On being declared illiterate: Language-ideological disqualification in Dutch classes for immigrants in Belgium. Language & Communication 26: 34-54
Garcia, O. & Menken, K. (eds) (2010), Negotiating Language Policies in
Schools: Educators as Policymakers, New York, Routledge.
Kenner, C., Kress, G., Al-Khatib, H., Kam, R., & Tsai, K.-C. (2004). Finding the keys to biliteracy: How young children interpret different writing systems [Electronic Version]. Language and Education, 18 (2), 124-144.
Shohamy, E. (2006). Language Policy: hidden agenda’s and new approaches. New York, Routledge.