Educational Linguistics

Abstract

Educational linguistics is a field of research, theory, policy, and practice whose essential concern is the teaching and learning of language. Integrally tied to the emergence of sociolinguistics in the 1960s, educational linguistics encompasses not only the linguistic, pedagogical, and developmental aspects of language teaching and learning but also the social identities, meanings, relationships, contexts, and roles of language in (language) teaching and learning. Similarly, our attention is not only on classroom teachers and learners, but the whole gamut of social settings and agents, including policymakers, families, schools, workplaces, religious institutions, communities, societies, and more—and whether real-time or virtual and oral, written, or digital. Critically, not only these social dimensions but the ways in which they are infused with and influential on relations of power are foundational in educational linguistics. From its earliest days up to the present, there has been a productive tension between the named field of educational linguistics and the many scholars and practitioners who “do” educational linguistics but may not call themselves educational linguists. Indeed, few of the earliest scholarly giants whose work is at the foundation of the field called it educational linguistics; and today, educational linguists usually claim it as just one of their multiple identities along with applied linguist, anthropological linguist, sociolinguist, or other. The bibliography begins, then, with the sections Early Foundational Works: Mid-1960s to Early 1980s and Reference Works in Educational Linguistics, moving on from there to consider Journals in Educational Linguistics and Book Series and Web Resources in Educational Linguistics followed by Research Methodology and Ethics: Ways of Knowing, Being, Seeing. After this, seven thematic sections cover foundational areas of the field, with a sample of recent publications which capture current educational linguistics at its “heart.” In light of the large scope of the field, and given the space constraints and purpose of Oxford Bibliographies—to provide researchers and students with selective guides through the literature on a given topic—the focus is primarily on publications from 2001 forward in the thematic sections, and on influential and breakthrough pieces throughout. To be sure, there is an inevitable bias in selection, but also a hope that the University of Pennsylvania’s long-term experience in educational linguistics serves as testing ground for defining critical concepts in the field. I acknowledge here with gratitude the assistance and support of my PhD student Sarah-Lee Gonsalves at multiple stages of this project. Not only did her enthusiasm play a role in my undertaking the essay, but her perspective and experience as a newly emerging scholar in educational linguistics helped shape my decisions about what to include (or not), while her dedication and expertise in annotating have left their mark in nearly every entry.