Ideology, identity, and pedagogy in English language arts teachers’ linguistic styling in U.S. classrooms

Abstract

Linguistic styling is an important component of the language ideologies teachers communicate to their students. This study explores the of role identity and intent in shaping teachers’ language use in the classroom, and considers how students receive teachers’ linguistic style. Three high school English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ linguistic style is explored through three sources of data: a Dialect Density Measure, discourse analysis of marked instances of linguistic styling by each teacher, and interviews with the teacher and their students. The social meaning of differences in teachers’ styling of language is examined in relation to each teacher's social identity and the context of their teaching. Findings show that teachers use their style to model academic norms, to counter academic norms, to develop relationships with students, and to complicate ideas about what kind of person can use what kind of language. The marked differences in each teacher's styling reveal the pedagogical and relational work that language use enacts in classrooms. Implications for further study of teachers’ styling, and for supporting teachers’ critical language teaching are considered.