Exploring Language Ideologies

TE 407

Bale & Bhattacharya

August 28, 2008

Laryngitis is no fun…

• We’ll need to rely on this ppt a lot today to communicate.

• So we’ll ask you… To indulge us in entertaining some broad

questions to get this course started To bear with Jeff as he types his contributions

to the discussion

Managing class today

• During small group discussion, when Jeff raises his hand, that means wrap it up and come back together as a whole group

• When Jeff presents an activity and the steps to follow, he’ll give a thumbs up to make sure you understand what he’d like you to do. Give a thumbs up back indicating you understand.

• Interrupt Jeff when you need to with questions/comments. He’ll type out responses…

Essential Question

What does it mean to know a language?

What does it mean to know a language?

• The purpose of these opening discussions is to address the above question (which, btw, is an MDE standard for TE)

• Because most of us are non-native speakers (NNS) of our languages, we often spend so much time dedicated to mastering it, we don’t think much about what it means to know the language

What does it mean to know a language?

• To make the discussion more concrete, however, I’d like to begin with English.

• We all speak that language fluently and with mastery, so it provides a common ground for discussion & debate.

• Quick write: Consider the question on the next slide and

spend 3-4 minutes free writing a response

Quick write

If ~85% of K-12 students in the U.S. enter school speaking English as their first language…

then why does every state require them to spend 12 years in English class?

What is, and what we want it to be

• Ideologies, beliefs, attitudes towards language

• Objective facts about language, language use, language learning

Most often, we act on our beliefs about language, notobjective facts about language.

And language educators are often the worst offenders:Inventing and imposing an “ideal” form of the TL thatnobody actually speaks!

Back to English for a moment

• You’ll receive a map of the US with several regions outlined

• Please identify in which regions English is different

• Also, jot down some notes about how English is different there

• Then group up and swap your responses

Results

• New England?

• Mid-Atlantic?

• South?

• Midland?

• Midwest

• West?

Mapping attitudes

• In groups

• On a scale 1 (best) to 10 (worst) rank the regions you see on the map

• Mapping attitudes

Change is the only constant

• Raise your hand, please, if you were raised primarily in Michigan

• So let’s talk about your talk…

• Language isn’t fixed

• Change is a natural feature of human language--even though most of us have deeply held beliefs about the (positive, negative, apocalyptic…) consequences of that change

Sources of change

• Isolation Physical / geographic

• Québécois versus standard Parisian French: the French were kicked out of Canada in the 1860s, starting a century of Quebec isolation from France

Social• Segregation: African American Vernacular English

is more different from standard English today and in the North than it was was 150 years ago in the South

Sources of change

• Contact Conquest

• English is the youngest language in what is now the US Southwest--yet the socially dominant one

• Native language loss / boarding schools Globalization / English as a world language Immigration

• Spanish --> Spanglish / Chicano English / español pocho o agringazado

Migration• from the country to towns & cities

Technology / media

Sources of change

• Planning: through laws & schooling Mexico now recognizes 60+ native languages and

runs bilingual programs in indigenous regions of the country

At the time of the French revolution, roughly 3-4% of the population spoke what is now called French. The revolutionary gov’t used schools to bring (impose?) the Parisian variety to outlying areas of the Republic.

Many post-colonial countries use the colonial language (i.e. English, French) as a neutral option, since political boundaries bear little/no relation to cultural ones

Sources of change

• ????? Vowel shift in the US north

• No one is really sure what accounts for this change• But the change is undeniable• Listen to this…

So how does this connect to schooling?

• While you watch this, consider… What was the source of the conflict the three

boys experienced at MLK Elementary? What is the most appropriate response

schools should take?• Should schools privilege one, standard form of

English?• Should schools recognize & incorporate multiple

varieties of English?

So how does this relate to FLE?

• The next two slides present questions we’d like you to answer for Tuesday

• What varieties of your language exist? • What accounts for those different varieties (isolation,

conquest, planning, etc.)?• What are the general attitudes about those varieties-

among native speakers? In your department? Yours? Why?

• Which variety of the TL have you had the most experience in? Why?

• What steps can you take to gain experience in other TL varieties?

And…

• Go back to our discussion of good and bad language: what counts as good language for your TL?

• Do you think you’ve mastered your TL? How will you know when you have? When you sound native? When you use grammar with no errors? When you can “pass” as a native of that culture?

• How will you know when your ss have learned the TL? IOW, what counts as “mastery”?

For Tuesday

• Please write a 1-2 page response to the questions on the previous 2 slides. I will post the ppt. on Angel and the Wiki so you can

access it as you work. Write what you believe: language is deeply political,

but there is no right answer to any of these questions. Then cut-n-paste your response on the Wiki

• Read two NYT pieces on Wiki Click on “8. Miscellaneous Assignments” from

homepage Two external links to NYT (one from 18 months ago)

Questions? Concerns? Compliments?

• Thanks for your cooperation today.

• I’ll be voiced by Tuesday (I hope).

• ¡Que tengan un buen fin de semana!