Language Awareness And Identity

This volume offers a unique insight into multilingualism and sociolinguistic diversity employing the dominant language constellation (DLC) approach. How can novel research inform teaching practices? How do current theories account for multilingual reality in settings as diverse as countries of Western and Eastern Europe and Tunisia and Maghreb? The volume deals with issues of plurilingual identity of teachers and multilingual learners and examines the issues of foreign language teaching both in contexts perceived as monolingual and multilingual Drawing on the intersection of analytic categories such as language repertoire, translanguaging, visuality and narratives, it particularly emphasizes the connections between DLCs, language awareness and identity. The contributors demonstrate how formal language teaching can capitalize on the DLC paradigm and how teacher education programs can use it both as a framework to discuss and as a tool to enhance teacher education and professional development. This volume on DLC as an approach to exploring facets of language awareness and identity presents a very welcome contribution to the study of multilingualism as a complex and dynamic phenomenon. The studies stemming from a range of mainly educational settings in different countries will definitely enhance our thinking perspectives in an area of research with increasing interest. Prof. Dr. Ulrike Jessner, University of Innsbruck (Austria) and University of Pannonia (Hungary).

Identity and Language Learning draws on a longitudinal case study of immigrant women in Canada to develop new ideas about identity, investment, and imagined communities in the field of language learning and teaching. Bonny Norton demonstrates that a poststructuralist conception of identity as multiple, a site of struggle, and subject to change across time and place is highly productive for understanding language learning. Her sociological construct of investment is an important complement to psychological theories of motivation. The implications for language teaching and teacher education are profound. Now including a new, comprehensive Introduction as well as an Afterword by Claire Kramsch, this second edition addresses the following central questions: - Under what conditions do language learners speak, listen, read and write? - How are relations of power implicated in the negotiation of identity? - How can teachers address the investments and imagined identities of learners? The book integrates research, theory, and classroom practice, and is essential reading for students, teachers and researchers in the fields of language learning and teaching, TESOL, applied linguistics and literacy.

This ground-breaking work is a detailed account of an innovative and in-depth study of the attitudes of in excess of 500 Japanese learners towards a number of standard and non-standard as well as native and non-native varieties of English speech. The research conducted refines the investigation of learner attitudes by employing a range of pioneering techniques of attitude measurement. These methods are largely incorporated from the strong traditions that exist in the fields of social psychology and second language acquisition and utilize both direct and indirect techniques of attitude measurement. The author locates the findings in the context of the wealth of literature on native speaker evaluations of languages and language varieties. The study is unique in that the results provide clear evidence of both attitude change and high levels of linguistic awareness among the informants of social and geographical diversity within the English language. These findings are analyzed in detail in relation to the global spread of English as well as in terms of the pedagogical implications for the choice of linguistic model employed in English language classrooms both inside and outside Japan. The issues examined are of particular interest to educators, researchers and students in the fields of applied linguistics, TESOL, second language acquisition, social psychology of language and sociolinguistics. The pedagogical and language policy implications of the findings obtained make essential reading for those with a specific focus on the role of the English language and English language teaching, both in Japan and beyond.

This book introduces Critical Language Awareness (CLA) Pedagogy as a robust and research-grounded framework to engage and support students in critical examinations of language, identity, privilege and power. Starting with an accessible introduction to CLA, chapters cover key topics—including World Englishes, linguistic prejudice, news media literacy, inclusive language practices, and more—in an inviting and thought-provoking way to promote reflection and analysis. Part I provides an overview of the foundations of CLA pedagogy, while Part II highlights four instructional pathways for CLA pedagogy: Sociolinguistics, Critical Academic Literacies, Media/Discourse Analysis, and Communicating Across Difference. Each pathways chapter is structured around Essential Questions and Transferrable Skills, and includes three thematic learning sequences. Part III offers tools and guidance for tailoring CLA pedagogy to the reader’s own teaching context and to students’ individual needs. The volume’s wealth of resources and activities are a pedagogical toolkit for supporting and embracing linguistic diversity in the classroom. The cohesive framework, concrete strategies, engaging activities, and guiding questions in this volume allow readers to come away with not only a deeper understanding of CLA, but also a clear roadmap for implementing CLA pedagogy in the classroom. Synthesizing relevant research from educational linguistics and writing studies, this book is ideal for courses in English/literacy education, college composition, L2 writing instruction, and educational linguistics.

The Routledge Handbook of Language Awareness is a comprehensive and informative overview of the broad field of language awareness. It contains a collection of state-of-the-art reviews of both established themes and new directions, authored and edited by experts in the field. The handbook is divided into three sections and reflects the engaging diversity of language awareness perspectives on language teaching and teachers, language learning and learners, and extending to additional areas of importance that are less directly concerned with language instruction. In their introductory chapter, the editors provide valuable background to the language awareness field along with their summary of the chapters and issues covered. A helpful section giving further reading suggestions for each of the chapters is included at the end of the book. This volume is essential reading for graduate students and researchers working in the sphere of language awareness within applied linguistics, sociolinguistics and across the wider spectrum of language and communication.

Jim Cummins is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the Curriculum, Teaching and Learning department at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.

By establishing a new framework for discussing L2 advancedness, this book presents a more effective way of adapting to globalization.

The proliferation of language awareness has now led to a need for a reassessment of the nature and functions of language awareness. This accessible collection of essays addresses that need in developing a more rigorous and critical theoretical underpinning for what language awareness is and should do. In particular, it argues that there needs to be a greater awareness of the social and political issues, and the context within which language awareness work is set.