Charting Multilingual Confluences within Education
Eric Johnson (ejj AT tricity.wsu.edu)
Building on the “Circulation” theme for the 2010 AAA meetings, the committee on Multicultural and Multilingual Education within the Council on Anthropology & Education would like to invite presentation proposals to be considered for participation on an “Invited” session panel. The general aim of this panel is to emphasize the multifaceted and dynamic nature of language within contexts surrounding education. The following questions represent potential avenues of inquiry for this session:
1. How do languages co-exist and circulate within a classroom, school, or district?
2. Are languages viewed in terms of a hierarchy by educators and students? Is this hierarchy static, or does the prestige of languages oscillate over time?
3. What causes the superordination or subordination of languages within a schooling context?
4. How are languages and education linked to socioeconomic mobility?
5. What policies are set in place to either facilitate or impede the flow of multilingualism in the classroom/school/community?
6. How do education language policies affect the transmission of languages and cultures in the broader community?
7. How are language practices in the classroom shaped and channeled by larger socio-ideological forces?
8. How do language programs conform to their geographic resources in study abroad contexts?
9. How do students’ perceptions of their instructors change as they shift between teachers who are native and non-native speakers of the target language?
10. In what ways does the (ineffective) structure of K-12 foreign-language education in the US relate to a deficit perception toward second language learners of English in American schools?
While these questions sketch out a broad structure for the panel, alternative perspectives of the relationship between language and education are also encouraged. If you are interested in participating on this panel, please submit a 300 word abstract to Eric Johnson (ejj AT tricity.wsu.edu) by February 15, 2010. Abstracts should include the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information. Participants will also have the opportunity to assist in the development of the final session proposal to ensure the strongest possible submission. Feel free to contact Eric Johnson with any questions.
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