Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

208 Part 3: Language and Variation
sexuality, nationality, etc., that undergird our actions, as well as how these
ideologies intersect and are related to language. It is to draw unexpected
connections between seemingly different topics, situations, groups, histories
or identities. It is to recognize that these unexpected connections
cannot be fully understood without considering multiple layers of context,
such as the immediate sociolinguistic context, the broader sociopolitical
context and the historical context, all in terms of relations to power.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, it is not only to think about these
issues of power, but it is also to do something about them.
‘But Here That’s Never Acceptable’: Uncovering the
Language Ideologies of Well-meaning Teachers
In this section, I relate the concept of critical language study directly to
its educational applications. This dialogue with a well-meaning teacher
describes a diffi cult educational situation that many teachers are faced
with on a regular basis. While this teacher is well-intentioned, we will see
how a close examination of her speech reveals her beliefs about her students’
language (her language ideologies, see McGroarty, this volume)
and other assumptions. The main point to keep in mind throughout this
section, and it is one of the primary reasons why CLA approaches are
needed, is best stated by Corson (1999: 140–141): ‘If schools uncritically
present the standard variety of English as more appropriate and correct
than other varieties of English, and better than other languages, then this
devalues the other languages and varieties because inevitably students
begin to see them [and I would add, themselves] as having a lesser role in
places like schools where prestige really matters’.
Before the dialogue, it is necessary to provide a brief description of the
background and context. This research was conducted as part of an ongoing
ethnographic and sociolinguistic study of the language and linguistic
practices of students at Haven High, an ethnically, racially and linguistically
diverse high school located in a working-class 2.5 square-mile suburb
in the San Francisco Bay Area of about 33,000 people (see full study in
Alim, 2004a). At the time of the study, the high school was approximately
70% Black, 25% Latino and 5% Indian American and Pacifi c Islander. The
study is based on approximately two years of fi eldwork as a teacher-
researcher (teaching my own courses on language and communication)
and an additional year and a half beyond the teaching experience as a
regular participant in the community’s most (in)famous barbershop.
I continue to work in this same community today.
While it is impossible to do justice to the community context in this
chapter, it is helpful to note that this suburb is one of the California’s growing
number of minority–majority ‘cities of color’ (Camarillo, 2007). The
community was once a thriving Black community that led the nation in