Monoglossic Ideologies Research Articles

Is pedagogical translanguaging a panacea to the colonial monoglossic language ideology in the classroom? Focus on higher education in Lesotho

Translanguaging is an approach to language aimed at promoting diversity and plurality of languages in the classroom. In this approach, students are taught in two or more languages, and literature suggests that they tend to participate more in the classroom when concepts are explained in their mother tongue. However, higher learning institutions in most countries, including Lesotho, still practise a colonial monoglossic language approach in the classroom wherein native languages are not included as languages of instruction alongside colonial languages. Therefore, I believe that pedagogical translanguaging can serve as a useful strategy to curb the hegemony of colonial monoglossic ideologies that prohibit the use of African languages in the classroom. This study adopted a qualitative approach confined within a case study design. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with three lecturers and focus group discussions with 60 students. Findings reveal that pedagogical translanguaging is an effective approach because it can promote social justice and plurality of languages in the classroom. The study thus recommends that minority African languages be included as languages of instruction as well, alongside the English language.

Monoglossic ideologies and the two-way relationship between linguistics and language learning/teaching: idiosyncratic variation in Brazilian Portuguese and its challenges for usage-based teaching.

Monoglossic ideologies and the two-way relationship between linguistics and language learning/teaching: idiosyncratic variation in Brazilian Portuguese and its challenges for usage-based teaching.

Resisting Monoglossic Ideologies: Translanguaging as the (He)Art of Language Arts

Weaving autobiographical anecdotes with discussion of translanguaging theory, the author illustrates what teachers can do to develop multilingual students’ translanguaging stances by encouraging the creation of translanguaging spaces that not only accept students’ entire linguistic repertoires, but seek to grow them.

Challenging deficit ideologies in Spanish heritage language policies and programs

AbstractThis study analyzes the programs and policies for Spanish heritage language (SHL) students in Iowa high schools. Previous research suggests that SHL students do not enjoy equitable educational experiences in Spanish language classrooms, which are often taught by and designed for traditional second language learners. In US states like Iowa, there is no language policy that provides a facilitative structure for Heritage language education, so issues of educational opportunity for SHL students are addressed locally. Teachers are, therefore, particularly influential language policy and education arbiters. In this paper, we analyze (1) how Iowa language policy is interpreted and appropriated by high school Spanish teachers and (2) the perspectives of high school Spanish teachers about Heritage language education. Findings reveal that many teachers reject the monoglossic ideologies popular in Spanish language classrooms and instead celebrate the unique verbal repertoires of their SHL students. Implications for language policy and practice are discussed.

Indexing Deficiency: Connecting Language Learning and Teaching to Evaluations of US Spanish

The examination of language attitudes towards US Spanish variables unearths indexical meanings rooted in deficit perspectives, particularly in educational contexts. Standard language ideologies undergird pedagogical practice and learning experiences in second language (L2) and heritage language (HL) Spanish classes. The present study utilizes dual research paradigms of social cognition (matched guise technique (MGT); implicit association test (IAT)) to determine if varying experiences with (Spanish) standard language ideologies in academic settings condition bias towards standardized Spanish (SS) and US Spanish (USS) repertoires. L2 and HL students as well as teachers of Spanish (n = 81) have more positive associations of SS in both the MGT and IAT, demonstrating that standard language ideologies influence perceptions of language acquisition and academic language learning. No correlations between the bias measures were reported yet attitudes did not differ, suggesting that attitudes are stable and reflected in both early learnings of social information and lived experiences throughout formative education. These results contribute to a growing body of research that examines how monoglossic ideologies reinforce and reproduce the stigma associated with features of US Spanish(es).

Countering English-prioritised monolingual ideologies in content assessment through translanguaging practices in higher education

This paper presents the use of translanguaging in the assessment of content subjects in the context of Nepal’s higher education. Since its proposition in the 1990s, translanguaging has been receiving much scholarly attention in multilingual educational contexts. In such contexts, individuals’ language practices show a shift from the understanding of languages as separate autonomous systems to the recognition of integrated and heteroglossic practices. Drawing on the analysis of relevant policy documents and examinees’ answer sheets of formative assessment, and interviews with eight purposively selected teacher educators teaching at the master’s level at a university in Nepal, this paper reports that examinees’ translanguaging practices in responding to assessment questions exhibit their translanguaging instinct resisting unplanned English-prioritised monolingual policies. It also reveals fluidity and simultaneity in examinees’ use of diverse linguistic resources defying demarcated language boundaries as aspired by the institution’s English-prioritised policies. The study further reports layered translanguaging exercised by examinees which educators acknowledged as an attempt to enhance efficacy in content communication. Examinees’ translanguaging practices and educators’ acknowledgment of translanguaged writing indicate collective resistance from the bottom-up countering monoglossic ideologies in assessment systems. This implies consideration of examinees’ and educators’ roles in promoting translanguaging for future language policy changes to facilitate effective assessment.

A Systematic Literature Review of the Feasibility of a Translanguaging Pedagogy in the Foundation Phase

Many South African educational contexts, including the Foundation Phase are linguistically diverse. However, this diversity is not mostly catered for as evidenced by the prevalent monoglossic ideologies. This has resulted in low literacy levels in South Africa, which indicate a poor literacy foundation and limit learners’ ability to learn effectively and excel academically. Over the past decade, a number of literacy intervention programmes have been implemented at national and provincial level, but the impact has been minimal. There is need to explore and adopt other approaches to literacy development such as the translanguaging pedagogy which has been reported to be successful in other phases of education. However, there has not yet been studies that report on translanguaging undertaken at Foundation Phase in South Africa. Thus, this study explored the feasibility of a translanguaging pedagogy in the Foundation Phase to develop literacy for multilingual English first additional language learners. Through a systematic review, translanguaging studies conducted between the years 2015-2022 in South Africa and internationally were reviewed and analysed using a thematic analysis approach. Finding from this study reveal that learners’ home language should be considered as a resource for attaining deeper levels of meaning. By adopting a translanguaging approach, teachers can enhance multilingual learners’ literacy skills through strategies such as home-languaging, translation, juxtaposing languages and the flexible and dynamic use of the multimodal semiotic repertoire. However, future research is recommended to investigate the application of this pedagogy in the Foundation Phase classrooms in South Africa.

Attitudes Towards Romglish in Online Discourse

"Attitudes towards Romglish in Online Discourse. As English has become a global language, it has also become the language of computer-mediated communication. The online medium has offered the ideal space for English to enter in contact with multiple other languages and, as a result, to contribute to the formation of new varieties. In Romania, this new variety is Romgleză or Romglish, a combination of Romanian and English that is used especially by, but not limited to the younger generations. However, language change does not come easy and, although it has been around for quite a while, Romglish is still considered as improper by some. The present paper analyses two sets of online comments in order to identify attitudes towards Romglish and the language ideologies behind them. To this end, monoglossic ideologies, such as the standard language ideology (Milroy 2001) and the purist ideology (Langer & Davies 2005) will be taken as references when analysing the online comments. The data focuses mainly on two online sources: the Știrile Kanal D Facebook page and an Elforum thread, and it shows that rather than singular and static, language ideologies are multiple and rather fluid, with many online users displaying both monoglossic and heteroglossic ideologies. Keywords: language ideologies, heteroglossic ideologies, monoglossic ideologies, attitudes, Romglish, online discourse "

Ideological and Theoretical Considerations to Postcolonial Education in the Lusophone Countries

This special issue stems from two thematic panels on language and education in the Lusophone world which took place in 2019—one at the University of Santiago de Compostela, and the other at the University of Sheffield. The issue examines the tensions between the linguistic diversity in the Lusophone world and the largely monolingual education systems that remain in place to this day. Taking the education system as a key site for both the reproduction and the contestation of inequality, the issue reflects on how deeply ingrained monolingual and monoglossic ideologies serve to marginalise local languages and local varieties of Portuguese, and the implications of this for access to and participation in education, and for broader questions of social mobility and social justice. As such, in this issue we take a critical approach and contend that linguistic research and insights from Lusophone countries can make a crucial contribution to understanding key social, ideological, and political power struggles and help to bridge the perennial gap between theory and practice in language and education contexts. Para a versão em português clique no botão de download à direita.

Multicultural coexistence as a site of otherness and becoming self: A narrative of a multilingual

AbstractIdentity is a subject of intense scrutiny in the field of Applied Linguistics. Of particular concern are issues of intersectionality of language and culture in the lives of minority groups. Yet, the empirical evidence in support of language and cultural identity (re)construction of ethnic minorities in Japan is far from conclusive. Drawing on a narrative inquiry approach, the present study seeks to shed light on multilingual identity construction and negotiation in different language contexts, as experienced by Riko, a third‐generation Japanese woman of Korean descent. Our analysis shows that Riko's multilingual identity is undermined in Japan and Korea where monoglossic ideologies are still prevalent. The sociohistorical and sociopolitical context of Japan and Korea does not allow her to have any middle ground, exacerbating the potential for multilingual identity conflicts. In contrast, Riko's US study abroad experience aids her in cultivating a critical and deeper understanding of being a multilingual citizen. Findings further highlight the role of English which enables her to transcend the challenges posed by her ethnicity. In light of our findings, we draw implications for the significance of developing greater global and cultural awareness in language education and academic programs.

“I’m Trilingual – So What?”: Official French/English Bilingualism, Race, and French Language Teachers’ Linguistic Identities in Canada

The privileging of French and English in Canada has led to an official language policy that minimizes the country’s long-established multilingual realities in favour of a socio-politically constructed linguistic and cultural duality. The impact of this policy directly shapes the linguistically diverse yet monoglossically constructed French language classroom with teachers overwhelmingly orientated to “balanced” bilingualism. Research narratives generated with Western Canadian French as a second language (FSL) teachers show how an emphasis on official languages constrains the construction of a legitimate professional identity, especially among multilingual teachers of French. The article argues that official French/English bilingualism in Canada constitutes a key obstacle to moving beyond monolingual and racializing language ideologies associated with standardized French and has a significant impact on FSL teacher professional identity. The analysis of interview extracts shows teacher-participants prioritizing English and French at the expense of their heritage (non-official) languages, in effect erasing dimensions of their linguistic, racial, and cultural identities. The article concludes by considering how a lack of researcher reflexivity with regard to issues of race can reinforce both monoglossic ideologies and a well-entrenched disregard for multilingual knowledge in teacher education programs.

Plurilingual practice in language teacher education

Abstract Despite decades of research supporting the pedagogic value of learners’ plurilingual resources to their linguistic and academic development, pre-service teachers frequently arrive at university inculcated in ‘target language only’ practices underpinned by monoglossic ideologies. The challenge for teacher education is to productively disrupt quotidian beliefs about language beliefs and prompt reconsideration of future classroom practices. Drawing on the work of the Douglas Fir Group (2016), this paper explores the identities, beliefs and values of two student-teachers as they emerged over the length of an innovative English-German pedagogic project on plurilingualism. The project involved German student-teachers developing a language portrait project for Grade 6 students; student-teachers using project data for undergraduate assignments; and English MA students interviewing young learners about their language portraits via videoconference. The videoconference provided young learners further opportunities to use their plurilingual resources and MA students with data for assignments on identity and investment. Working with DFG’s framework (2016), we examine the interplay of the meso- and macro-dimensions of the larger project’s design and the sometimes contradictory indexing of values and identities within and across activities. Analysis reveals that design choices sometimes unintentionally reinforced linguistic ideologies inconsistent with the project’s objectives, though these conflicts also led student-teachers to unexpected insights. We close with personal reflections on the implications of the first iteration of this design-based research project for the advancement of plurilingual pedagogies in teacher education.

Guadalupe or Guadaloop?

To examine the social evaluations of place-name variation, a matched-guise study was created using audio clips of four bilingual and four monolingual Austinites performing a map task. The audio clips were digitally manipulated to vary only in place-name pronunciation, using English or Spanish phonology for Spanish place-names and established local or newcomer nonlocal for English place-names. Based on the responses of 126 residents of Austin, mixed-effects linear regression models and qualitative comments found that listeners uniformly perceived English place-name variation only in terms of localness, while Spanish variation indexed several social meanings that varied by listener and speaker demographics, particularly listener ethnicity (i.e., non-Hispanic listeners evaluated Spanish phonology as nonlocal while Hispanic listeners considered both English and Spanish phonology local). The author contends that (1) not all listeners perceive the same indexical fields but rather partially overlapping fields; (2) differing perceptions of Spanish place-names reveal underlying monoglossic ideologies in the United States; and (3) place-name variation is a rich site of indexical information for the construction of place identity, particularly in bilingual regions.

Examining Hegemonic and Monoglossic Language Ideologies, Policies, and Practices Within Bilingual Education in Colombia

From the lens of coloniality, monoglossic and hegemonic language ideologies and policies exist within public and private bilingual education in Colombia which oppress students’ and teachers’ diverse linguistic identities and languaging practices.This article draws on critical scholarship which recognizes the need to decolonize language education. As such, it includes a review of key literature from the fields of language ideologies, language policy, and classroom languaging practicesto consider alternative approaches to bilingual education from a heteroglossic stance, including translanguaging and critical multilingual language awareness.The literature review suggests that within the Colombian context, hegemonic and monoglossic ideologies and practices are present within international private bilingual schools and through the National Bilingual Program. In addition, anunderlying logic of coloniality exists in both public and private language education as both contexts hold foreign languages, expertise, and relationships as more valuable than their local equivalents. However, recent classroom-based research in Colombia indicates promising new heteroglossic approaches which not only acknowledgethe benefits, but also support diverse linguistic identities and practices.

The multivoiced English-for-young-learners subject in Sweden: Spaces for plurilingualism?

Already in primary school in Sweden, English is one of several language subjects within a larger curriculum. Despite this, the curricular space for the English subject to leverage and contribute to plurilingual competence has hitherto received little attention. This study centres on the construction of the primary English subject in the 2011 (revised 2018) curriculum, also in relation to other language syllabi, using the concept of ‘voice as perspective on topic’ (Linell, 2009) to analyse ideologies that are salient, backgrounded, and absent in the English syllabus and those transcending language syllabi boundaries. Findings show that different voices are salient in the English subject in years 1–3 and 4–6, constructing an oral-based and fun subject contra an increasingly academic and communicatively-focused subject respectively. Monoglossic ideologies in English language teaching are challenged insofar as English is not positioned as a language belonging to specific nations or speakers. However, there exists no explicit space for plurilingual competence in assessment, where instead pupils’ monolingual performances are assessed. In addition, unlike other language syllabi, the English syllabus contains no explicit mention of multilingual awareness-raising of languages in the learners’ repertoire, thereby limiting explicit space for plurilingualism. Nevertheless, across the language syllabi, a functional view of language is salient, where communicative strategies, language form for functionally justified ends, and text genres form part of the core content of the education. This creates implicit spaces for teaching and learning in the English subject to leverage and contribute to developing underlying functional linguistic proficiency (see Cummins, 2000, 2007).

Critical and Dominant Language Learner Ideologies: A Case Study of Two Chinese Writers’ Experiences with a Critical Language Writing Pedagogy

AbstractAnglophone universities have increasingly become contact zones for the growing numbers of ethnolinguistically diverse students who use English as a lingua franca (Jenkins, 2014). Despite the sociolinguistic reality of English as contact language, monolingual and monoglossic ideologies often prevail not only at the macro institutional scale, but also at the individual learner scale. By idealizing native English speakers, regarding English as uniform, and viewing writing instruction as a means to reduce linguistic difference, ESL learners can perpetuate the sort of dominant ideologies that critical language pedagogies seek to disrupt. Building upon previous learner belief research, this practitioner‐led comparative case study explores the expressed language ideologies and language socialization experiences of two first‐year Chinese undergraduates who were participants in a developmental writing course in a Northeastern University in the US. Despite learning about critical language awareness (CLA) pedagogy (Fairclough, 1992), results show that the students expressed a range of dominant and critical language ideologies which were connected to a configuration of micro and macro contextual factors beyond the course. We conclude with implications of these results for critical language pedagogy within writing courses.

Bilingual education through a pluri-centric approach: A case study of the effects of simultaneously learning two languages on L1 and L2 reading and writing proficiency

Language education has often been conducted based on monoglossic ideologies that keep L1 and L2 separate, a practice that receives growing criticism as out of sync with today’s multilingual globalized world. Informed by interdependence hypotheses and translanguaging theory, this research study explored the effects of a pluri-centric approach to learning L1 and L2 simultaneously. Through a bilingual intervention course with data collected from interviews, parents’ logbooks, observation field notes, questionnaires, and L1 and L2 reading and writing tests, this case study (n = 9) revealed that the approach effectively improved learners’ L1 and L2 proficiency, learning behaviour outside the classroom, self-efficacy, and confidence. Overall, the participants also perceived the bilingual course as effective, efficient, and innovative. The study provides a basis to reflect upon transferrable skills and core underlying proficiency as powerful concepts to draw upon in enhancing bilingual proficiency and effecting positive changes in learners’ behaviour and psychological well-being.

Language ideologies in multilingual Tanzania: parental discourses, school realities, and contested visions of schooling

ABSTRACT Language ideologies shape ways in which different learners’ linguistic repertoires are positioned as resources or problems, with significant implications for educational access and equity. In Tanzania, tensions between the national language of Kiswahili and high-status English have given rise to two parallel schooling systems, while 130+ local languages are effectively muted in formal schooling. This comparative study explores how Maa (Maasai language), Kiswahili, and English are discursively constructed by parents and teachers at one Kiswahili-medium government school and one English-medium private school in a predominantly Maasai community in northern Tanzania, and examines how these languages are positioned pedagogically at both schools. Education for Self-Reliance (Nyerere 1967/2004. “Education for Self Reliance.” In Nyerere on Education/Nyerere Kuhusu Elimu, edited by Elieshi Lema, Marjorie Mbilinyi, and Rakesh Rajani, 67–88. Dar es Salaam: E&D Limited) and Duchêne and Heller’s (2012. Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit. New York: Routledge) work on ‘pride and profit’ provide theoretical lenses. Findings show that parents’ strong appreciation for multilingualism contrasts with schools’ monoglossic ideologies; discourses of nationalism and identity vary dramatically depending on parents’ educational background; and Maasai language and culture are constructed unambiguously as problems in schooling. The linguistic, ideological, and cultural divide between home and school, and between respective schools, is problematised. This paper addresses implications for debates on language education in Tanzania and beyond, exploring possibilities for pluralistic ideologies of nationalism that create space for multilingual and multicultural resources.

Students’ reasons for community language schooling: links to a heritage or capital for the future?

ABSTRACT Community language schools have grown to become significant educational language providers worldwide. Schools operate as global grassroot initiatives (Liddicoat and Taylor-Leech [2014]. “Micro Language Planning for Multilingual Education: Agency in Local Contexts.” Current Issues in Language Planning 15 (3): 237–244.), and the last 20 years has seen a steep incline of important research in these schools, exploring their aims, purposes, practices, and how they serve their communities. A sturdy body of research is thus emerging, focussing primarily on schools within large immigrant communities of Asian background. This study aims to contribute to our understanding of the aims and purpose of these schools by drawing on findings from a study situated within with in a smaller, immigrant community. Taking a poststructural approach to language learning, this ethnographic study drew on investment theory (Norton [2010]. “Identity, Literacy, and English-language Teaching.” TESL Canada Journal 28 (1): 1–13; [2013]. Identity and Language Learning: Extending the Conversation. 2nd ed. Bristol: Multilingual Matters; Norton and Toohey [2011]. “Identity, Language Learning, and Social Change.” Language Teaching 44 (4): 412–446) and in particular imagined communities (Anderson [1983]. Imagined Communities. London: Verso; [1991]. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Rev ed. New York: Verso) and cultural capital (Bourdieu [1985]. “The Social Space and the Genesis of Groups.” Social Science Information 24 (2): 195–220) to understand students’ reasons for attending a Swedish community language school in Australia. Seven students (aged 12–16) were interviewed. Findings from the thematic analysis that students were able to re-invest their heritage language proficiencies as bilingual markers of distinction, thus liberating themselves from monoglossic ideologies often underpinning these schools (e.g. Blackledge and Creese [2010]. Multilingualism: A Critical Perspective. London: Continuum).

Deprescriptivising folk theories: critical multilingual language awareness for educators in Pakistan

ABSTRACT This study examines the discourses of educators in Pakistan through the lens of Critical Multilingual Language Awareness (CMLA) to demonstrate how their lack of critical awareness reinforces and reproduces subtractive language policies and practices in a diverse multilingual setting. CMLA stands for the understanding of the social, political and economic struggles surrounding the use of languages (García, O. 2009, Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective, 302. Oxford: Wiley/Blackwell). Drawing on data collected through interviews and a questionnaire survey, the study analyses why most educators tend to manifest the following orientations/tendencies: monoglossic ideologies, devaluing native languages/cultures, normative assumptions about contemporary sociolinguistic order, English-medium fever, and fallacious folk theories about plurilingualism and multilingual education. The study suggests some policy measures that could foster CMLA, which could in turn help create ‘ideological and implementational spaces’ for multiple languages, literacies, and identities in classroom (Hornberger, N.H. 2003. Continua of Biliteracy: An Ecological Framework for Educational Policy, Research, and Practice in Multilingual Settings. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, Hornberger, N.H. 2016. Researching the continua of biliteracy. In Research Methods in Language and Education, ed. K. King, Y.-J. Lai and S. May, 1–18. Cham: Springer International Publishing). We propose that deprescriptivisation and conceptual reorientation of educators could be crucial in this direction. This entails deconstruction of socially constructed folk theories about languages and language use, developing an awareness that ‘language is socially created, and socially changeable to give voice and educate all students equitably’ (García, O. 2017, Critical multilingual language awareness and teacher education. In Language Awareness and Multilingualism, ed. J. Cenoz, D. Gorter and S. May, 263–280. Cham: Springer International Publishing). We propose that language activists and critical applied linguists could play their agentive role as public intellectuals to deconstruct negative views about the role and value of the native/indigenous languages as pedagogical resources, and create ideological and political openings for inclusive perspectives, policies and practices. This could be achieved through scholarly activism, advocacy campaigns, and public awareness programs.