Decades of educational research have documented the best practices and optimal educational experiences for language-minority children. Yet, the current conservative climate in our nation openly threatens bilingual education programs in schools and communities. Over a nine-year period, the author collected data from bilingual families residing in "Steel Town" Pennsylvania regarding their educational experiences. In January 1993 the local school board and school superintendent decided to eliminate its nationally recognized, twenty-year-old bilingual education program. For the first time in the history of this community, the bilingual families organized themselves to speak out on the importance of these programs to their lives. The political struggle that ensued during the bilingual controversy in Steel Town led to asymmetrical power relations. The voices of the bilingual community leaders, bilingual educators, and, more important, the bilingual children, were disregarded by the decision makers.

Provides insights into the impact that eliminating bilingual education programs has on the lives of families and communities. Persuasively argues that linguistic repression is an unwise language policy for a democratic nation.

Electronic Literacies is an insightful study of the challenges and contradictions that arise as culturally and linguistically diverse learners engage in new language and literacy practices in online environments. The role of the Internet in changing literacy and education has been a topic of much speculation, but very little concrete research. This book is one of the first attempts to document the role of the Internet and other new digital technologies in the development of language and literacy. Warschauer looks at how the nature of reading and writing is changing, and how those changes are being addressed in the classroom. His focus is on the experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse learners who are at special risk of being marginalized from the information society. Based on a two-year ethnographic study of the uses of the Internet in four language and writing classrooms in the state of Hawai'i--a Hawaiian language class of Native Hawaiian students seeking to revitalize their language and culture; an ESL class of students from Pacific Island and Latin American countries; an ESL class of students from Asian countries; and an English composition class of working-class students from diverse ethnic backgrounds--the book includes data from interviews with students and teachers, classroom observations, and analysis of student texts. This rich ethnographic data is combined with theories from a broad range of disciplines to develop conclusions about the relationship of technology to language, literacy, education, and culture. Central to Warschauer's discussion and conclusions is how contradictions of language, culture, and class affect the impact of Internet-based education. While Hawai'i is a special place, the issues confronted here are similar in many ways to those that exist throughout the United States and many other countries: How to provide culturally and linguistically diverse students traditionally on the educational and technological margins with the literacies they need to fully participate in public, community, and economic life in the 21st century.

African American language is central to the teaching of linguistics and language in the United States, and this book, in the series Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language, is aimed specifically at upper level undergraduates and graduates. It covers the entire field - grammar, speech, and verbal genres, and it also discusses the various historical strands that need to be identified in order to understand the development of African American English. The first section deals with the social and cultural history of the American South, the second with urban and northern black popular culture, and the third with policy issues. Morgan examines the language within the context of the changing and complex African American and general American speech communities, and their culture, politics, art and institutions. She also covers the current heated political and educational debates about the status of the African American dialect.

This volume examines the relationship between language and power across cultural boundaries. It evaluates the vital role of translation in redefining culture and ethnic identity. During the first phase of colonialism, mid-18th to late-19th century, the English-speaking missionaries and East India Company functionaries in South India were impelled to master Tamil, the local language, in order to transact their business. Tamil also comprised ancient classical literary works, especially ethical and moral literature, which were found especially suited to the preferences of Christian missionaries. This interface between English and Tamil acted as a conduit for cultural transmission among different groups. The essays in this volume explore the symbiotic relation between English and Tamil during the late colonial and postcolonial as also the modernist and the postmodernist periods. The book showcases the modernity of contemporary Tamil culture as reflected in its literary and artistic productions — poetry, fiction, short fiction and drama — and outlines the aesthetics, philosophy and methodology of these translations. This volume and its companion (which looks at the period between 1750 to 1900 CE) cover the late colonial and postcolonial era and will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers of translation studies, literature, linguistics, sociology and social anthropology, South Asian studies, colonial and postcolonial studies, literary and critical theory as well as culture studies.

'This is a book written by real academics, drawing articulately on their own research interests, and using an excellent range of twenty-first century examples to give the book a lively, contemporary feel. The extensive textual analysis is far superior to some of the banal tasks often found in introductory textbooks.' âMartin Conboy,University of Sheffield, UK Language, Society and Powerlooks at the ways in which language functions, how it influences thought and how it varies according to age, ethnicity, class and gender. It seeks to answer such questions as: How can a language reflect the status of children and older people? Do men and women talk differently? How can our use of language mark our ethnic identity? The book also looks at language use in politics and the media and examines how language affects and constructs our identities, exploring notions of correctness and attitudes towards language use. This second edition includes recent developments in theory and research and offers the following features: new and engaging examples drawn from everyday life: conversation transcripts, novels including Ian McEwan'sAtonement, television and the internet new activities designed to give students a real understanding of the topic an international perspective with examples from the world's press, includingThe Washington Post,TheDaily MailandTheNew Zealand Listener updated and expanded further reading sections and glossary. Language, Society and Powerremains an essential introductory text for students of English language and linguistics, and will also be of use to students of media, communication, cultural studies, sociology and psychology.