I work in the School of Education teaching on the Honours and Masters programmes in Applied Language and Literacy studies as well as in the teacher education programme and in supervision of graduate student research. My current research focuses on - language ideologies in education policy and classroom practice and the implications of recent theorizing of language as resource and practice for educational policy and classroom practice - transformative approaches to language and literacy pedagogy that embrace heteroglossia
Reading & Writing -Journal of the Literacy Association of South Africa, 2024
Method: We will review early conceptualisations of translanguaging, showing how these are born ou... more Method: We will review early conceptualisations of translanguaging, showing how these are born out of different contexts as well as how translanguaging is taken up in South African research. We will draw on three examples of fixed and fluid pedagogical translanguaging to show what is possible within a South African classroom context. Results: The three examples show that (trans)languaging-for-learning goes beyond communicating bilingually in a classroom and involves planned meaning negotiation. Conclusion: In (trans)languaging-for-learning, the emphasis is on using one's full linguistic and semiotic repertoire in order to develop and show understanding of learning, rather than to demonstrate mastery of the use of standard named languages. Contribution: The article expands translanguaging theory by theorising (trans)languagingfor-learning from a Southern perspective.
The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multili... more The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multilingualism for a global readership and an overview of the research which situates multilingualism in its social, cultural and political context. This fully revised edition not only updates several of the original chapters but introduces many new ones that enrich contemporary debates in the burgeoning field of multilingualism. With a decolonial perspective and including leading new and established contributors from different regions of the globe, the handbook offers a critical overview of the interdisciplinary field of multilingualism, providing a range of central themes, key debates and research sites for a global readership. Chapters address the profound epistemological and ontological challenges and shifts produced since the first edition in 2012. The handbook includes an introduction, five parts with 28 chapters and an afterword. The chapters are structured around sub-themes, such as Coloniality and Multilingualism, Concepts and Theories in Multilingualism, and Multilingualism and Education. This groundbreaking text is a crucial resource for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students interested in multilingualism from areas such as sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology and education.
This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcol... more This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcolonial contexts with diverse language landscapes. This focus is necessary, given how language acts to enable or challenge inequity in particular historical and geo-political relations, and the need for research on university language policy, specifically for STEM education, to complement research on practice. We propose conceptual tools for analysing and developing policy. We view language and STEM as historical, social and political practices and, following Hilary Janks and Rochelle Gutiérrez, equity as having two dominant meanings (access, achievement), and three critical meanings (power, diversity, design). We illustrate the potential use of these tools in a critical discourse analysis of the language policy of a South African university. This analysis shows a policy focus on access to and achievement in dominant STEM knowledge in ‘English’, with some attention to diversity and power in representations of language for STEM and the language-user. We end with five recommendations for future policy development. We position this chapter as an example of language policy analysis that responds to the specificity of context, but which potentially makes a theoretical contribution beyond the context in a way that does not universalise.
This book grapples with the disturbing question: How is it possible that the most valuable resour... more This book grapples with the disturbing question: How is it possible that the most valuable resource a child brings to formal schooling, language, can be consistently recast as a problem? The purpose of this book is to expose, and deepen our understanding of, the way in which beliefs about language profoundly influence children’s access to quality education around the world. The notion of what language is, and the relationship between language, society and diversity, has undergone paradigm shifts in the language disciplines such as Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology and Applied Linguistics. However I argue that these shifts have made little impact on policy, curricula and classroom practice in language and literacy education. My aim is to highlight the implications of these paradigm shifts for language and literacy education. In order to do this, I draw on fields of inquiry that are related but often not brought together within the same study: Bilingualism, TESOL, Multiculturalism, Sociolinguistics, Language policy studies, Applied linguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. I begin the book by reviewing current understandings of language as a social practice and of diverse language practices. The purpose of the first three chapters is to make a wide and complex literature on language ideologies, language in use, and language policy accessible to a broader audience. I also make explicit the implications of this literature for language and literacy education. In Chapter 3 I explore the connections between the deficit positioning of African American and Spanish/English bilingual children in USA schooling with the positioning of Black children in South African schools. In Chapters 4 and 5 I show how mastery of English, and in some cases particular uses of English aligned with White middle class speakers, is continually privileged as the goal of schooling. I introduce the idea of Anglonormativity to explain the common expectation that all children should be proficient in English, and are viewed as deviant or deficient if they are not. Chapters 6 and 7 aim to inspire hope through an analysis of young people’s creative language practices even in contexts where English monolingualism is enforced (Chap 6) and by showcasing innovative examples of language and literacy pedagogy from South Africa and the USA that do position children as linguistically resourceful, and expose the injustices of language and power to children (Chap 7). My hope is that the book will have some impact on shifting the deficit positioning of children from non-dominant backgrounds on account of their language resources.
Reading & Writing -Journal of the Literacy Association of South Africa, 2024
Method: We will review early conceptualisations of translanguaging, showing how these are born ou... more Method: We will review early conceptualisations of translanguaging, showing how these are born out of different contexts as well as how translanguaging is taken up in South African research. We will draw on three examples of fixed and fluid pedagogical translanguaging to show what is possible within a South African classroom context. Results: The three examples show that (trans)languaging-for-learning goes beyond communicating bilingually in a classroom and involves planned meaning negotiation. Conclusion: In (trans)languaging-for-learning, the emphasis is on using one's full linguistic and semiotic repertoire in order to develop and show understanding of learning, rather than to demonstrate mastery of the use of standard named languages. Contribution: The article expands translanguaging theory by theorising (trans)languagingfor-learning from a Southern perspective.
The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multili... more The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multilingualism for a global readership and an overview of the research which situates multilingualism in its social, cultural and political context. This fully revised edition not only updates several of the original chapters but introduces many new ones that enrich contemporary debates in the burgeoning field of multilingualism. With a decolonial perspective and including leading new and established contributors from different regions of the globe, the handbook offers a critical overview of the interdisciplinary field of multilingualism, providing a range of central themes, key debates and research sites for a global readership. Chapters address the profound epistemological and ontological challenges and shifts produced since the first edition in 2012. The handbook includes an introduction, five parts with 28 chapters and an afterword. The chapters are structured around sub-themes, such as Coloniality and Multilingualism, Concepts and Theories in Multilingualism, and Multilingualism and Education. This groundbreaking text is a crucial resource for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students interested in multilingualism from areas such as sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology and education.
This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcol... more This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcolonial contexts with diverse language landscapes. This focus is necessary, given how language acts to enable or challenge inequity in particular historical and geo-political relations, and the need for research on university language policy, specifically for STEM education, to complement research on practice. We propose conceptual tools for analysing and developing policy. We view language and STEM as historical, social and political practices and, following Hilary Janks and Rochelle Gutiérrez, equity as having two dominant meanings (access, achievement), and three critical meanings (power, diversity, design). We illustrate the potential use of these tools in a critical discourse analysis of the language policy of a South African university. This analysis shows a policy focus on access to and achievement in dominant STEM knowledge in ‘English’, with some attention to diversity and power in representations of language for STEM and the language-user. We end with five recommendations for future policy development. We position this chapter as an example of language policy analysis that responds to the specificity of context, but which potentially makes a theoretical contribution beyond the context in a way that does not universalise.
This book grapples with the disturbing question: How is it possible that the most valuable resour... more This book grapples with the disturbing question: How is it possible that the most valuable resource a child brings to formal schooling, language, can be consistently recast as a problem? The purpose of this book is to expose, and deepen our understanding of, the way in which beliefs about language profoundly influence children’s access to quality education around the world. The notion of what language is, and the relationship between language, society and diversity, has undergone paradigm shifts in the language disciplines such as Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology and Applied Linguistics. However I argue that these shifts have made little impact on policy, curricula and classroom practice in language and literacy education. My aim is to highlight the implications of these paradigm shifts for language and literacy education. In order to do this, I draw on fields of inquiry that are related but often not brought together within the same study: Bilingualism, TESOL, Multiculturalism, Sociolinguistics, Language policy studies, Applied linguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. I begin the book by reviewing current understandings of language as a social practice and of diverse language practices. The purpose of the first three chapters is to make a wide and complex literature on language ideologies, language in use, and language policy accessible to a broader audience. I also make explicit the implications of this literature for language and literacy education. In Chapter 3 I explore the connections between the deficit positioning of African American and Spanish/English bilingual children in USA schooling with the positioning of Black children in South African schools. In Chapters 4 and 5 I show how mastery of English, and in some cases particular uses of English aligned with White middle class speakers, is continually privileged as the goal of schooling. I introduce the idea of Anglonormativity to explain the common expectation that all children should be proficient in English, and are viewed as deviant or deficient if they are not. Chapters 6 and 7 aim to inspire hope through an analysis of young people’s creative language practices even in contexts where English monolingualism is enforced (Chap 6) and by showcasing innovative examples of language and literacy pedagogy from South Africa and the USA that do position children as linguistically resourceful, and expose the injustices of language and power to children (Chap 7). My hope is that the book will have some impact on shifting the deficit positioning of children from non-dominant backgrounds on account of their language resources.
The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multili... more The Routledge Handbook of Multilingualism provides a comprehensive survey of the field of multilingualism for a global readership and an overview of the research which situates multilingualism in its social, cultural and political context. This fully revised edition not only updates several of the original chapters but introduces many new ones that enrich contemporary debates in the burgeoning field of multilingualism. With a decolonial perspective and including leading new and established contributors from different regions of the globe, the handbook offers a critical overview of the interdisciplinary field of multilingualism, providing a range of central themes, key debates and research sites for a global readership. Chapters address the profound epistemological and ontological challenges and shifts produced since the first edition in 2012. The handbook includes an introduction, five parts with 28 chapters and an afterword. The chapters are structured around sub-themes, such as Coloniality and Multilingualism, Concepts and Theories in Multilingualism, and Multilingualism and Education. This groundbreaking text is a crucial resource for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students interested in multilingualism from areas such as sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, anthropology and education.
Multilingual Education Yearbook 2021: Policy and Practice in STEM Multilingual Contexts , 2021
This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcol... more This chapter is concerned with university language policy for equity in STEM education in postcolonial contexts with diverse language landscapes. This focus is necessary, given how language acts to enable or challenge inequity in particular historical and geo-political relations, and the need for research on university language policy, specifically for STEM education, to complement research on practice. We propose conceptual tools for analysing and developing policy. We view language and STEM as historical, social and political practices and, following Hilary Janks and Rochelle Gutiérrez, equity as having two dominant meanings (access, achievement), and three critical meanings (power, diversity, design). We illustrate the potential use of these tools in a critical discourse analysis of the language policy of a South African university. This analysis shows a policy focus on access to and achievement in dominant STEM knowledge in ‘English’, with some attention to diversity and power in representations of language for STEM and the language-user. We end with five recommendations for future policy development. We position this chapter as an example of language policy analysis that responds to the specificity of context, but which potentially makes a theoretical contribution beyond the context in a way that does not universalise.
This book grapples with the disturbing question:
How is it possible that the most valuable resou... more This book grapples with the disturbing question:
How is it possible that the most valuable resource a child brings to formal schooling, language, can be consistently recast as a problem?
The purpose of this book is to expose, and deepen our understanding of, the way in which beliefs about language profoundly influence children’s access to quality education around the world. The notion of what language is, and the relationship between language, society and diversity, has undergone paradigm shifts in the language disciplines such as Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology and Applied Linguistics. However I argue that these shifts have made little impact on policy, curricula and classroom practice in language and literacy education. My aim is to highlight the implications of these paradigm shifts for language and literacy education. In order to do this, I draw on fields of inquiry that are related but often not brought together within the same study: Bilingualism, TESOL, Multiculturalism, Sociolinguistics, Language policy studies, Applied linguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. I begin the book by reviewing current understandings of language as a social practice and of diverse language practices. The purpose of the first three chapters is to make a wide and complex literature on language ideologies, language in use, and language policy accessible to a broader audience. I also make explicit the implications of this literature for language and literacy education. In Chapter 3 I explore the connections between the deficit positioning of African American and Spanish/English bilingual children in USA schooling with the positioning of Black children in South African schools.
In Chapters 4 and 5 I show how mastery of English, and in some cases particular uses of English aligned with White middle class speakers, is continually privileged as the goal of schooling. I introduce the idea of Anglonormativity to explain the common expectation that all children should be proficient in English, and are viewed as deviant or deficient if they are not. Chapters 6 and 7 aim to inspire hope through an analysis of young people’s creative language practices even in contexts where English monolingualism is enforced (Chap 6) and by showcasing innovative examples of language and literacy pedagogy from South Africa and the USA that do position children as linguistically resourceful, and expose the injustices of language and power to children (Chap 7). My hope is that the book will have some impact on shifting the deficit positioning of children from non-dominant backgrounds on account of their language resources.
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but which potentially makes a theoretical contribution beyond the context in a way that does not universalise.
How is it possible that the most valuable resource a child brings to formal schooling, language, can be consistently recast as a problem?
The purpose of this book is to expose, and deepen our understanding of, the way in which beliefs about language profoundly influence children’s access to quality education around the world. The notion of what language is, and the relationship between language, society and diversity, has undergone paradigm shifts in the language disciplines such as Sociolinguistics, Linguistic Anthropology and Applied Linguistics. However I argue that these shifts have made little impact on policy, curricula and classroom practice in language and literacy education. My aim is to highlight the implications of these paradigm shifts for language and literacy education. In order to do this, I draw on fields of inquiry that are related but often not brought together within the same study: Bilingualism, TESOL, Multiculturalism, Sociolinguistics, Language policy studies, Applied linguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. I begin the book by reviewing current understandings of language as a social practice and of diverse language practices. The purpose of the first three chapters is to make a wide and complex literature on language ideologies, language in use, and language policy accessible to a broader audience. I also make explicit the implications of this literature for language and literacy education. In Chapter 3 I explore the connections between the deficit positioning of African American and Spanish/English bilingual children in USA schooling with the positioning of Black children in South African schools.
In Chapters 4 and 5 I show how mastery of English, and in some cases particular uses of English aligned with White middle class speakers, is continually privileged as the goal of schooling. I introduce the idea of Anglonormativity to explain the common expectation that all children should be proficient in English, and are viewed as deviant or deficient if they are not. Chapters 6 and 7 aim to inspire hope through an analysis of young people’s creative language practices even in contexts where English monolingualism is enforced (Chap 6) and by showcasing innovative examples of language and literacy pedagogy from South Africa and the USA that do position children as linguistically resourceful, and expose the injustices of language and power to children (Chap 7). My hope is that the book will have some impact on shifting the deficit positioning of children from non-dominant backgrounds on account of their language resources.