The Role of Language in Social Justice in Education

The Role of

Language in

Education

for Social JusticeDr. Ruslana Westerlund

TEAL Manitoba Conference

Keynote and Follow Up Session (Combined and revised for SlideShare)

October 23, 2015

Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

My StoryDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

The children watch expectantly as Ukrainian immigrant Joe Wacha and his wife work to seal the

timber walls of their home, located four miles north of Vita, Manitoba, circa 1905.

Source: Archives of Manitoba, W. J. Sisler Collection 118, N9631.

Ukrainians in WinnipegDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

http://www.mhs.mb.ca/info/links/am.shtml

Ukrainians in Winnipeg,

circa 2011Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

What Does Language

Have to Do with Social

Justice?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice


One goal for today:Not answers or mastery of this content, but an exploration of

a direction for viewing language in school.

Welcome! Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice


Canadian Museum of

Human Rights, Winnipeg,

Manitoba, Ukrainian

Holodomor Exhibit

Example of “Grammatical Manipulation”

• “Families were often broken apart when a family

member was sold to another owner.”

• Slave owners often broke slave families apart by selling a

family member to another owner.

From How Texas Teaches History, New York Times

October 21, 2015.

Language as a Tool for Critical Literacy


Example of “Grammatical Manipulation”

• Some slaves reported that their masters treated them

kindly. To protect their investment, some slaveholders

provided adequate food and clothing for their slaves.

However, severe treatment was very common. Whippings,

brandings, and even worse torture were all part of

American slavery.

Language as a Tool for Critical Literacy


From How Texas Teaches History, New York

Times

October 21, 2015.

Teachers weigh in…Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkMfbBmSno0


• “They were being deported to the barren regions of the

Soviet Union.” - why is the perpetrator hidden?

• “bunk” “sheer absurdity”

• “death from starvation” v. “widespread mortality”

Language as a Tool of

Critical LiteracyDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Grade 5 Social Studies

Manitoba Curriculum Essentials


From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential

School Survivors Cluster 1: The Past (p. 22)

Language as a Tool for Critical

LiteracyDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Problematize issue

Identify bias

Critique different views

Pursue a new line of inquiry

Offer alternative solution to the problem


Language as a Tool for Critical

Literacy

Language as a Social Justice

Tool Gives Students AGENCY to

Take Critical Stance Toward

Knowledge and InformationDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

… “language is a form of ‘‘praxis’’ (p. 646); it is meant

for actual use. Therefore, what is of interest is not

abstract linguistic competence—the ability to produce

an infinite number of grammatical sentences in a

Chomskyan sense—but rather linguistic capital, the

amount of power one can claim in the social world on

the basis of one’s linguistic ability and use. For

Bourdieu, communication is not merely an exchange of

information but ‘‘an act of power’’ (Bourdieu &

Wacquant, 1992, p. 145).


Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014).

A language ideology is a model for

how social or cultural differences

are to be linguistically expressed.

It codifies language norms and

contains notions on which social

functions a language variety should

have. It further defines who is to

have access to economic, social

and cultural goods. Notions on

language and on social belonging

linked to language can … work as

mechanisms of exclusion and

social boundary markers. Niklas Bernsand

Surzhyk and National Identity in Ukrainian

Nationalist Language Ideology

What Does

Language Have to

Do With Social

Justice?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

What Does Language Have

to Do With Social Justice?

In the absence of an explicit focus on

language, children from certain…

backgrounds continue to be privileged,

and others to be disadvantaged in

learning, assessment, and promotion,

perpetuating the obvious inequalities

that exist today.

Mary Schleppegrell,

The Language of Schooling


What Does Language Have to

Do With Social Justice?

Language as linguistic capital

Communication as an act of power (v. exchange of information)

Language provides access to social, economic, and cultural goods

Language can serve as mechanisms for exclusion or inclusion

The absence of explicit focus on language of schooling leads to further societal inequalities


Player v. SpectatorDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Player v. Spectator: 200 gamesDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Does this Happen to our

Students?

“Understand” all the words

but can’t meaningfully participate in

learning

Teachers not inquiring and building on

what students already know

Explanations above the

students’ ZPD

Language is taught as the end itself vs. the means to

an end

Disengage and fall behind?


Key Concepts

• Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.

• Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If these initial understandings are not recognized, engaged and valued, students can’t learn new concepts or perform at the surface level. (How People Learn, National Academy Press)

All learning builds on

prior knowledge, and cultural,

linguistic and life

experiences.


MB K-12 Framework for

EAL/LAL ProgrammingDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Key Concepts

• Language is a resource for meaning making

• Language learning and cognitive engagement go hand in hand.

• Knowing language is knowing particular ways in which language is used for particular purposes in particular contexts

Knowing language

means being able to

participate in literacy practices.


Key Concepts

• Meaning is situated.

• Meaning is negotiated.

• Social interactions are key to learning and constructing new meanings.

• New meanings are created daily.

• Language is evolving, dynamic, and messy

Words do not carry inherent,

static meanings.


What Do These Words

Mean?

Home Offense

Guest Defense


Words have situated

meanings

• Home Game

• Go D!

• Playing offense

• Home is 6, Guest is 12


Your role: sports reporter

Your job: report the game

• Home Game

• Wide Receiver

• Quarterback

• Playing defense

• Incomplete pass

• Fumble on the play

• Flag on the play


The Nature of Language

Language is inseparable from all human action (Walqui,

2012).

Words are not defined not by dictionaries; meaning is co-

constructed by users in situated contexts (Bakhtin,

1981)

Teachers and students need meta-awareness and meta-

language to navigate language and in various contexts

(Turkan et al, 2014)

Language is usage-based and fosters agency (Walqui, 2012).

Language is contingent on purposes and use and it spirals in power across time (Walqui,

2012)


What language and registers do

you use through your

day?

How does language change?

What factors influence the

language change?

Language is Inseparable from All

Human Action (Van Lier & Walqui)Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Language is Inseparable From All

Human Action (Van Lier & Walqui)

Dieting Selling Biking

Social Media

Basketball


What language do your students use through their day?

How does language change in

purpose and complexity?

What factors influence the

language change?

List Ways Your Students Use

Language in Your ClassesDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

How Does Language Change

in Schooling Contexts?

Short Stories Poetry Information

ReportsPersuasive Speeches

Science Lab Reports

Mathematical Explanations

Constructing Arguments

from Evidence in

Science


Language Development Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

From Structural View of Language Development to

Language increases

in uses through schooling

From expressing needs and wants to presenting complex arguments

From personal recounts to historical accounts

From telling how you got an answer to “constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others”

From information reports to interpretation of histories

From reporting facts to critiquing perspectives


How Do We Empower

Students to Use Language as

a Tool for Social Justice in

Our Classrooms?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

A Boy Who Ran with Blockshttp://www.immersionfilm.com/Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Y0HAjLKYI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Y0HAjLKYI

A Boy Who Ran With Blocks…

• Discuss what Moises already knew

• Analyze language expected of him

• Identify other ways Moises can show what he knows

A boy ran three blocks in six

minutes. If he continued to

run at the same speed, how

long would it take him to run

the next twenty blocks?


The Role of Language in

Social Justice

Language is a tool for

inclusion or exclusion

Language gives students agency

Language is a gateway to meaning making


What is YOUR Role as a

Teacher in “Language for

Social Justice”?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Language Expresses Meanings

• Halliday (1978) defined academic register as “a set of

meanings that is appropriate to a particular function

of language, together with the words and structures

which express these meanings. We can refer to a

‘mathematics register,’ in the sense of the meanings that

belong to the language of mathematics (the

mathematical use of natural language, that is, not

mathematics itself), and that a language must express if

it is being used for mathematical purposes” (p. 195).


Grade 4 Science Practices


Language Demands:

• Make claims based on evidence

• Communicate persuasively orally

• Defend claims

• Participate in scientific discussions

• Communicate scientific knowledge in writing

What language

will students

need to do this?


Focusing on Language in Use

What is the essential learning do all students need to learn about?

What can EAL students do independently in English?

What can EAL students do with supports?

What is the topic being studied?

What is the purpose for language use?

What register is required (formal or informal) in the task?

What is the genre (e.g. report on an experiment)?

What are the key structures that make up that genre (see next page)?


Integrating Content and Language

Science Objectives Language Objectives

Students will develop an

understanding of what constitutes a

scientific method. They will carry out

independent investigations to prove or

disprove common myths. They will

develop understandings about the

kinds and functions of variables and

the need for replication in the context

of developing a method; carrying out

practical experiments; observing,

recording, and interpreting results; and

drawing conclusions. They will

complete an experimental report

detailing their investigations.

Students will write an experimental

report, using:

• An appropriate organizational

structure for that genre

• Appropriate language structures

(nominalizations and nominal

groups, cause and effect structures,

passive voice as appropriate).

• Time connectives (first, second,

following that…, the final step)

• Correct technical vocabulary

(controlled, dependent,

independent, variable; replicate,

replication).

Gibbons, P. (2009) English Language Learners Academic

Literacy and Thinking p. 160


Grade 4 Science Practices

Manitoba Curriculum Overview

Language Demands:

• Ask questions

• Participate in a scientific

discussion

• Clarify your thinking through

language

• Ask more relevant, focused, and

sophisticated questions

• Refine questions

• Make predictions

What language

will students

need to do this?


How Does the Teacher Support

Students’ Language Development?https://www.teachingchannel.org/


https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-ells-to-participate-in-discussions-ousd

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-ells-to-participate-in-discussions-ousd

Sentence Frames: a Running

Start, not a Straight JacketDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Teacher Guest Blog https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com


https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/bringing-academic-language-to-the-mainstream-using-sentence-frames-to-collaborate-with-classroom-teachers/

https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/2015/10/02/bringing-academic-language-to-the-mainstream-using-sentence-frames-to-collaborate-with-classroom-teachers/

Grade 6 Math Processes

Manitoba Curriculum EssentialsDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

Where is the Language?

Grade 5 Social Studies


Where is the Language?


Deeper Learning for ELshttps://www.teachingchannel.org/


https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/deeper-learning-for-ell-inps

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/deeper-learning-for-ell-inps

Deeper Learning with ELs

• How does Deeper Learning happen with

students who are new to English?

• In what ways do students and teachers

both leverage students’ native languages

as an asset for learning?

• How does project-based learning lead to

deep and integrated learning of language

and content? https://www.teachingchannel.org/


How Does This Teacher Support

Literacy Development of EAL Students?

https://www.teachingchannel.org/Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/text-analysis-lesson-ousd

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/text-analysis-lesson-ousd

• Join me in my mission of reclaiming the language for

social justice on Facebook: Reclaiming the Language

for Social Justice:

https://www.facebook.com/Reclaiming-The-Language-

For-Social-Justice-1520741064881929/

• Twitter: @ellbillofrights

• Blog: https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/


https://www.facebook.com/Reclaiming-The-Language-For-Social-Justice-1520741064881929/

https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/

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• Bernsand, N. (n.d.). Surzhyk and National Identity in Ukrainian Nationalist Language Ideology. Forum. Berliner Osteuropa Info.

• Christie, F., & Derewianka, B. (2008). School discourse: learning to write across the years of schooling. London, Continuum.

• de Jong, E., & Harper, C. (2005). Preparing mainstream teachers for English language learners: Is being a good teacher good enough? Teacher Education Quarterly, 32(2), 101–124.

• Donovan, M.S., Bransford, J. D., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds) (1999) How people learn: Bridging research and practice. National Academies Press

• From Apology to Reconciliation. Residential School Survivors. A Guide for Grades 9 and 11 Social Studies Teachers in Manitoba http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/far/apology_reconciliation.pdf


http://www.teqjournal.org/backvols/2005/32_2/13dejong&harper.pdf

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/far/apology_reconciliation.pdf

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• Gibbons, P. (2009). English learners, academic literacy,

and thinking: learning in the challenge zone. Portsmouth,

NH: Heinemann

• Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic.

London, UK: Edward Arnold.

• How Texas Teaches History, New York Times October 21,

2015.

• Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014). “I’m not going to be,

like, for the AP”: English language learners’ limited access

to advanced college-preparatory courses in high

school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5),

848-878.*


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/22/opinion/how-texas-teaches-history.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0

https://sites.temple.edu/ykanno/files/2012/01/Kanno-Kangas-2014-AERJ.pdf

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• Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A

functional linguistics perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence

Erlbaum Associates.

• Turkan, S., De Oliveira, L., Lee, O., & Phelps, G (2014)

Proposing a Knowledge Base for Teaching Academic

Content to English Language Learners: Disciplinary

Linguistic Knowledge. Teacher College Record.

• The New York Times Guilty of Holocaust Denial. YouTube


• van Lier, L., & Walqui (n.d.). Language and the Common

Core Standards. Understanding Language


http://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentID=17361


http://ell.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/academic-papers/04-Van Lier Walqui Language and CCSS FINAL.pdf

The Role of Language in Social Justice in Education

Education

Transcript of The Role of Language in Social Justice in Education