A Post-Liberal Approach to Language Policy in Education (New Perspectives on Language and Education): 41 - Hardcover

John E. Petrovic

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 178309284X ISBN 13: 9781783092840

Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 2014

Synopsis

This provocative defense of language diversity works through the strengths and weaknesses of liberal political theory to inform language policy. The book presents the argument that policy must occupy the space between 'linguistics of community' and 'linguistics of contact' in a way that balances individual autonomy and group recognition while not reifying 'language'. Drawing on the importance of the language/identity link, the author distinguishes between language negative liberalism and language positive liberalism, arguing against the former. This distinction orients consideration of increasingly specific language policy issues, such as official languages, language rights, bilingual education, and uses of language varieties within classrooms.

About this title

Review:

The author presents an imposing body of carefully crafted critique in favor of a post-liberal politics of language. This volume must become an ultimate reference for anybody wanting to go beyond what liberal thought can offer a political philosophy of language. --Christopher Stroud, University of Western Cape, South Africa

In this provocative book, John Petrovic offers a trenchant critique of current approaches to language policy that tend to be based on a linguistics of community rather than a linguistics of contact. Readers of this book may find plenty to disagree with, but few book-length treatments of language policy are as thorough and probing as this one in dealing with fundamental questions of politics, language, democracy, identity, and education. --Thomas Ricento, University of Calgary, Canada

This volume provides a measured, philosophical and critical analysis of some of the major themes in the field of language policy today. With emphasis on status and acquisition planning, it offers an important and thoughtful treatment of issues related to linguistics human rights, while considering the problematic relationship between language and identity, as well as issues related to language policy in education. This volume will be of interest to scholars and serious students in the field, but it is clearly written and accessible for those newer to the field. --Terrence G. Wiley, President, Center for Applied Linguistics and Professor Emeritus, Arizona State University, USA

About the Author:

John E. Petrovic is a Professor of Educational Leadership and Foundations of Education at The University of Alabama, USA. His research interests include the philosophy of education, education policy, language policy, and issues of diversity in education. He is the series editor of Studies in the Philosophy of Education, by Information Age Publishing.

About this edition

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 178309284X
• ISBN 13: 9781783092840
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 136