Linguistic prejudice and discrimination exists. It affects many students and has a negative impact on self-confidence, well-being and life chances. Language is power – but not everyone’s language(s).
I believe that every learner has the educational right to explore the relationship between language and power, in the same way that they have the right to access academic language.
It’s imperative that we create space in the curriculum to allow students to critically explore their own linguistic identities. But we can and should go further by looking at how linguistic discrimination is enacted within schools and across wider society. Placing critical language awareness (CLA) at the beating heart of our praxis enables us to raise consciousness about how standard English maintains its power, how other language varieties are stigmatised and how students can fight back. Crucially, CLA in schools needs to acknowledge the intersectional nature of linguistic discrimination by interrogating the effects of race, class, gender and region.
I acknowledge that academic language is implicated in existing power structures. It is powerful and prestigious. However, empowering students is about much more than acquiring academic communicative competency. It’s about rich and useful knowledge about language – something that researchers and practitioners have been arguing for decades.
I will be writing more about this soon.