Social Justice Through Multilingual Education

The principles for enabling children to become fully proficient multilinguals through schooling are well known. Even so, most indigenous/tribal, minority and marginalised children are not provided with appropriate mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MLE) that would enable them to succeed in school and society. In this book experts from around the world ask why this is, and show how it can be done. The book discusses general principles and challenges in depth and presents case studies from Canada and the USA, northern Europe, Peru, Africa, India, Nepal and elsewhere in Asia. Analysis by leading scholars in the field shows the importance of building on local experience. Sharing local solutions globally can lead to better theory, and to action for more social justice and equality through education.

The principles for enabling children to become fully proficient multilinguals through schooling are well known. Even so, most indigenous/tribal, minority and marginalised children are not provided with appropriate mother-tongue-based multilingual education (MLE) that would enable them to succeed in school and society. Experts from all continents ask why, and show how it CAN be done. The book discusses general principles and challenges in depth and presents case studies from Canada and the USA, northern Europe, Peru, Africa, India, Nepal and elsewhere in Asia. Analysis by leading scholars in the field shows the importance of building on local experience. Sharing local solutions globally can lead to better theory, and to action for more social justice and equality through education.

From bilingual education and racial epithets to gendered pronouns and immigration discourses, language is a central concern in contemporary conversations and controversies surrounding social inequality. Developed as a collaborative effort by members of the American Anthropological Association’s Language and Social Justice Task Force, this innovative volume synthesizes scholarly insights on the relationship between patterns of communication and the creation of more just societies. Using case studies by leading and emergent scholars and practitioners written especially for undergraduate audiences, the book is ideal for introductory courses on social justice in linguistics and anthropology.

In reviewing the international literature on this vital subject, this book examines three groups who seem most affected by unfair language practices in education: women and girls; minority cultural groups; and minority social groups.

Social justice language teacher education is a response to the acknowledgement that there are social/societal inequities that shape access to learning and educational achievement. In social justice language teacher education, social justice is the driving force and primary organizational device for the teacher education agenda. What does “social justice” mean in diverse global locations? What role does English play in promoting or denying equity? How can teachers come to see themselves as advocates for equal educational access and opportunity? This volume begins by articulating a view of social justice teacher education, followed by language teacher educators from 7 countries offering theorized accounts of their situated practices. Authors discuss powerful components of practice, and the challenges and tensions of doing this work within situated societal and institutional power structures.

Students taught with a social justice framework will ideally have a stronger sense of what is just and fair and choose careers and lifestyles that support their communities. Over time, students look at current and historical events—even their own actions—through the lens of social justice, promoting better decision-making. Building trust impacts the bottom line for global companies, and multilingual communication is a core pillar for effective growth. It is essential to promote this trust through social justice and educate learners on intercultural and multilingual communication. The Handbook of Research on Fostering Social Justice Through Intercultural and Multilingual Communication explores innovative teaching, learning, and assessment practices that foster social justice and enhance intercultural and multilingual communication in primary, secondary, post-secondary, and higher education. It demonstrates the value of adopting a social justice lens in education by broadening and strengthening the evidence base of the impact that this can make for students, educators, and society as a whole. Covering topics such as game-based assessment, social adaptation, and plurilingual classroom citizenship, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for educators and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, librarians, pre-service teachers, teacher educators, government officials, educational managers, linguists, researchers, and academicians.

Teaching World Languages for Social Justice: A Sourcebook of Principles and Practices offers principles based on theory, and innovative concepts, approaches, and practices illustrated through concrete examples, for promoting social justice and developing a critical praxis in foreign language classrooms in the U.S. and in wider world language communities. For educators seeking to translate these ideals into classroom practice in an environment dominated by the current standards movement and accountability measures, the critical insights on language education offered in this text will be widely welcomed. The text is designed as a sourcebook for translating theory into practice. Each chapter includes the theoretical base, guidelines for practice, discussion of the relationship to existing practices in the world language classroom, suggestions for activity development (which can be integrated into a professional portfolio), illustrative examples, questions for reflection, and additional suggested readings. Teaching World Languages for Social Justice is a primary or supplementary text for second and foreign language teaching methods courses and is equally appropriate for graduate courses in language education or educational studies.

Understanding and addressing linguistic disadvantage must be a central facet of the social justice agenda of our time. This book explores the ways in which linguistic diversity mediates social justice in liberal democracies undergoing rapid change due to high levels of migration and economic globalization. Focusing on the linguistic dimensions of economic inequality, cultural domination and imparity of political participation, Linguistic Diversity and Social Justice employs a case-study approach to real-world instances of linguistic injustice. Linguistic diversity is a universal characteristic of human language but linguistic diversity is rarely neutral; rather it is accompanied by linguistic stratification and linguistic subordination. Domains critical to social justice include employment, education, and community participation. The book offers a detailed examination of the connection between linguistic diversity and inequality in these specific contexts within nation states that are organized as liberal democracies. Inequalities exist not only between individuals and groups within a state but also between states. Therefore, the book also explores the role of linguistic diversity in global injustice with a particular focus on the spread of English as a global language. While much of the analysis in this book focuses on language as a means of exclusion, discrimination and disadvantage, the concluding chapter asks what the content of linguistic justice might be.