Hello!
On a related note, Sheila Rosenberg has reminded me about David Graddol's English Next (Thanks Sheila). This is the 2006 follow-up to Graddol's original and influential British Council publication,The future of English? English Next is als available throught he British Council - I think only online - free downloadable .pdf at
http://www.britishcouncil.org/learning-research-englishnext.htm
It's well worth the read - very accessible, and many a salutory message for those who still assume the English language somehow 'belongs' to English-dominant countries.
Cheers
James
________________________________
From: ESOL-Research discussion forum on behalf of stephen woulds
Sent: Sat 01/09/2007 11:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Linguistic Winners and Losers
The video is excellent and makes for interesting comparisons with the UK. I'm very much interested in the agenda of multiple literacies and English(es) compared to the monolithic paper-based 'literacy' and language of the skills for life agenda. We often hear and read for example about immigrants threatening 'English' and teenagers dumbing down 'English'. Spouses of immigrants threatened with English tests before they can join their wives/husbands. Those on benefits with little or no English threatened with welfare cuts. In an increasing mutlicultural society, do our policy makers celebrate or devalue a multilingual society?
Jim Tollefson makes a point about standard English (e.g. BBC English in a UK context) as having a legitimising function; which makes me wonder if those outside 'our' English are somehow illegitimate and it is only through government sanctioned language tests, etc, that they can prove their legitimacy.
http://www.workpermit.com/news/2007_02_22/uk/english_language_test_immigrant_spouses.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6355091.stm
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/1130_uptodate2/page9.shtml>
________________________________
From: ESOL-Research discussion forum on behalf of James Simpson
Sent: Fri 31/08/2007 13:32
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Linguistic Winners and Losers
Hello again
This link takes you to a really interesting video: Jim Tollefson, professor of linguistics at the University of Washington, giving a lecture on "Linguistic Winners and Losers: The Power of Language Policies"
http://www.uwtv.org/programs/displayevent.aspx?rID=2672&fID=571
Here is a summary of the lecture.
Societies, ancient and modern, have developed a variety of ways for deciding who gets educational opportunities, jobs and political power. For many societies, the winners and losers have been people of a particular class, gender or race. One powerful tool for sorting out winners and losers, often overlooked, is language. Jim Tollefson, professor of English and adjunct professor of Linguistics, discusses the connection of language policies with social justice.
Cheers
James
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ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds.
To join or leave ESOL-Research, visit
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ESOL-Research is a forum for researchers and practitioners with an interest in research into teaching and learning ESOL. ESOL-Research is managed by James Simpson at the Centre for Language Education Research, School of Education, University of Leeds.
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