Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

228 Part 3: Language and Variation
thinking about language and power. Change from the school outwards
carries the potential of creating a deeper understanding of linguistic diversity
(Alim & Baugh, 2007). As sociolinguists and educators, we must do
more than study the relationships between language, society and power –
we must do what we can to change them.
Notes
1. Among the most taken-for-granted practices is the labeling of Barack Obama
as ‘African American’ without a careful consideration of the diversity of
Blacknesses in the United States. A critical approach might recognize Barack
Obama’s self-identifi cation as African American and in the same breath problematize
the erasure of diversity that occurs under such a broad label. The
same, of course, holds for other categories of ethnoracial identifi cation such as
‘Latino’ or ‘Asian American’, etc. In this particular case, I can ask myself to
what extent am I participating in this erasure by making a case for Black
Language in the United States using Barack Obama as an example, given that
he learned Black Language largely as part of his secondary socialization as a
young adult? To what extent is strategic essentialism at play here? These points
are not lost on me, but more evidence is needed for critical investigation. Like
I said, the questions are endless.
2. Walt Wolfram has been on the cutting-edge of research on marginalized language
varieties for the better part of fi ve decades. It should be noted that his
specifi c comments here were not at all controversial to the majority of sociolinguists
when American Tongues was produced; in fact, with some notable exceptions,
such as Geneva Smitherman, James Sledd and a few others, his comments
were par for the sociolinguistics course. To the best of my knowledge, his more
recent bold, refl exive efforts to unpack his own racism stand as the sole example
in the fi eld and only provide more evidence that he continues to be a pioneer
in sociolinguistics. His paper was delivered on October 21, 2005 at NWAV
34 in NYU, offi cially titled, ‘Sociolinguistic Myths in the Study of African
American English’, and unoffi cially subtitled, ‘Confessions of a White Male
Racist’. My own work is indebted to Walt and his colleagues at Duke-NC State
where I spent a very productive postdoctoral year in 2003–2004.
Suggestions for further reading
As a fi eld, CLA is very much associated with the work of Norman Fairclough.
Of his many works, I would suggest his 1992 edited volume, Critical language
Awareness and his 1995 work, Critical Discourse Analysis: The Critical Study of
Language (see the reference list for both suggestions). The edited volume is
important in that it brings together a group of scholars to reassess the ‘language
awareness’ movement and presents various examples of what a CLA might look
like. Specifi cally, the collective argues for a language education that pays greater
attention to sociopolitical issues in language and society. The 1995 work provides
some more theoretical and methodological insights into critical language
study. Of particular interest is the fi nal section of the book, which addresses CLA
specifi cally by exploring the educational applications of the fi eld.
For a broad breakdown of many of the CLA-related issues discussed in this
chapter, I would recommend David Corson’s 1999 textbook Language Policy in
Schools: A Resource for Teachers and Administrators (see the reference list) and his