Full Description
This book examines the nature of human language and the ideology of linguistic legitimacy - the common set of beliefs about language differences that leads to the rejection of some language varieties and the valorization of others. It investigates a broad range of case studies of languages and dialects which have for various reasons been considered 'low-status' including: African American English, Spanglish, American Sign Language, Yiddish, Esperanto and other constructed languages, indigenous languages in post-colonial neo-European societies, and Afrikaans and related language issues in South Africa. Further, it discusses the implications of the ideology of linguistic legitimacy for the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the US. Written in a clear and accessible style, this book provides a readable and pedagogically useful tool to help readers comprehend the nature of human language, and the ways in which attitudes about human language can have either positive or negative consequences for communities and their languages. It will be of particular interest to language teachers and teacher educators, as well as students and scholars of applied linguistics, intercultural communication, minority languages and language extinction.
Contents
Chapter 1: Language and Other Myths: 'Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt'.- Chapter 2: Conceptualizing the Ideology of Linguistic Legitimacy: 'Primitive people have primitive languages and other nonsense'.- Chapter 3: African American English, Race and Language: 'You don't believe fat meat is greasy'.- Chapter 4: Spanglish in the United States: 'We speak Spanglish to the dogs, to the grandchildren, to the kids'.- Chapter 5: Sign Language and the DEAF-WORLD: 'Listening without hearing'.- Chapter 6: Yiddish, the Mame-Loshn: 'Mensch tracht, Gott lacht'.- Chapter 7: Created and Constructed Languages: 'I can speak Esperanto like a native'.- Chapter 8: Afrikaans, Language of Oppression to Language of Freedom: 'Dit is ons erns'.- Chapter 9: Why Language Endangerment and Language Death Matter: 'Took away our native tongue ... And taught their English to our young'.- Chapter 10: Foreign Language Education in the US: 'But French isn't a real class!'.- Chapter 11: Linguistic Legitimacy, Language Rights and Social Justice: 'No one is free when others are oppressed'.
