Sociolinguistics and Language Education.pdf

10 Part 1: Language and Ideology
the ways in which particular educational institutions mediate the infl uence
of language-related beliefs and practices on local educational policies in
Philadelphia and the Andean region (Hornberger & Johnson, 2007). The
varied linguistic, geographic, social and educational foci of this research
represent a rich resource for language researchers and teachers desirous of
expanding their grasp of the nature, power, and infl uence of language ideologies
in education.
Research on language ideologies is interdisciplinary as well as both diachronic
and synchronic. Beliefs about language have been investigated by
scholars from many disciplines using research methods that correspond to
their training, disciplinary traditions and access to sources of information.
In what follows, I present a brief survey of research approaches used to
investigate language-related beliefs and interpretations over the past fi ve
decades, along with some examples of current investigations. The ‘quantitative/qualitative’
distinction provides a convenient organizational
strategy, with one proviso: this dichotomy implies far too simple a contrast
to capture the nuances of both data and argument in many recent and
some earlier studies, which often combine research methods and data
sources in the interest of more comprehensive and enlightening treatment
of a particular topic. For example, Zhou and Bankston’s (1998) account of
Vietnamese adaptation to life in a minority community in New Orleans is
an extended case study that used participant observation, intensive interviews
and direct surveys of high schools students, along with analysis of
numerous secondary sources such as archival records, related opinion
polls, data from the US census and other government agencies, and results
of Louisiana’s high school graduation tests. Each research approach and
all studies summarized illuminate aspects of beliefs about language, provide
valuable descriptive insights on the nature of ‘situated policy enactments’
(Ramanathan & Morgan, 2007), and raise further questions about
the complexity of social forces driving individual and institutional language
choices and optimal instructional practices that promote effective
language learning, all areas of major import to educators.
Quantitative Research on Language Attitudes
Social psychological studies and some current examples
Certain themes in current scholarship on language ideologies overlap
to an often-overlooked degree with social–psychological research on language
attitudes conducted since the 1960s. While it may seem odd to
include ‘classic’ attitudinal research when considering work on language
ideologies, inclusion is justifi ed for this volume because both streams of
investigation help to identify the many infl uences on language use and
language learning, core concerns for teachers. Furthermore, attitudes,
such as ideologies, are very often latent; that is, they are not always stated