Sociolinguistic Justice in the Schools: Student Researchers as Linguistic Experts

Abstract

The commitment of sociocultural linguistics to the cause of social justice has been central to the discipline since its foundation. This commitment is nowhere more evident than in the educational domain and particularly in the development of sociolinguistically informed curricula and teacher preparation programs. Such programs help ensure that students who speak politically subordinated linguistic varieties have the same opportunities in classrooms, college, and careers as their standard English-speaking peers. Informed by previous and current efforts to forge linguistic partnerships with communities, a set of potential goals for those who work toward sociolinguistic justice is proposed. The goals of sociolinguistic justice are then exemplified using a California-based research and academic outreach program that guides youth of diverse linguistic, ethnoracial, and economic backgrounds to carry out original sociocultural linguistic research in their peer groups, families, and local communities.

A Sociolinguistic Approach to Teaching Spanish Grammatical Structures

“…8;Charity Hudley & Mallinson, 2011;Crookes, 2013;del Valle, 2014;Denham & Lobeck, 2005;Leeman, in press;Mart ınez, 2003;Villa, 2002;West Brown, 2009;Wheeler & Swords, 2006;Wolfram, 2014). The approach presented in the current article follows in the footsteps of curricula that incorporate concepts from research on sociolinguistics and language attitudes into various types of language classes, including English as a second language, bilingual education, language arts classes, and lower-division language classes (e.g., Bucholtz et al, 2014;Godley & Minnici, 2008;Harris-Wright, 1999;Hudgens Henderson, 2016;Leeman & Serafini, 2016;Reaser, 2006;Sweetland, 2006;Yiakoumetti, 2006). For example, Leeman and Serafini (2016, pp.…”

Those Who Know and Are Known: Students Using Ethnography to Interrogate Language and Literacy Ideologies

“…Our collective goal was to promote what Bucholtz et al. () called linguistic legitimation: promoting “the validity of one's own and others’ full linguistic repertoires…in a wide range of social spaces, including not only…home and community but also formal, public, and institutional settings” (p. 146).…”

“…In this study, I examine how these adolescents draw on ethnographic tools to interrogate what Blommaert () called language and literacy ideologies: “deeply sociocultural ideas of language users about language and communication” that not only influence how language and literacy practices are interpreted in policy but also “account for folk or official ‘rankings’ and hierarchies of linguistic varieties” (p. 265). I hope to add to work that has positioned students as researchers of literacy and culture (Bucholtz et al., ; Wright & Mahiri, ). I wish to demonstrate how welcoming students into literacy ethnography illuminates local and circulating language and literacy ideologies and, in doing so, works to undo them.…”

Language Socialization Across Learning Spaces

“…As one of the most highly proficient bilingual students in the class, nancy voices her grand mother in Spanish, the language spoken in the interview, but quickly switches to english to make sure her classmates appreciate the humor of the anecdote. nancy's ability to move smoothly between her grandmother's original speech in Spanish and an english translation for her classmates is a striking example of youth expertise (see also Bucholtz et al 2014). By integrating her knowledge of the language norms and practices of the classroom learning space with a linguistically accurate representation of her interaction with her grandmother through the act of codeswitching, nancy demonstrates her successful socialization into the language practices of her multiple domains, thereby reaffirming her bilingual and bicultural identity.…”

“…The primary goal of SkILLS is to promote sociolinguistic and educational justice (Bucholtz et al 2014;see also Martín rojo, this volume;Miller, this volume). The SkILLS program is founded on the principle that effective learning, including LS, recognizes and builds on young people's already considerable linguistic and cultural expertise.…”