Prossimo Corso Pubblico : « Englishization policies in education: ‘Democratizing’ English or recreating social inequalities? », 5 dicembre 2019

La prossima conferenza pubblica organizzata dal progetto Vaud Multilingue, in collaborazione con linguisti della HEP Vaud, avrà luogo il giovedì 5 dicembre 2019 alle 18 alla HEP Vaud (Avenue de Cour 33, 1007 Lausanne, sala C33-520). La conferenza sarà seguita da un aperitivo.

Siamo lieti di dare il benvenuto alla Dottoressa Eva Codó (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) che terrà un corso intitolato : « Englishization policies in education: ‘Democratizing’ English or recreating social inequalities? »

 

ABSTRACT:poster-draft_final-1
Englishization policies in education: ‘Democratizing’ English or recreating social inequalities?

Eva Codó, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

This talk aims to critically examine and contrast two simultaneous processes of school Englishization (where English is introduced as a language of instruction) and their consequences for social justice. I will be drawing on data from a recently-completed funded research project on multilingualization of compulsory education in Barcelona, Spain. The two high schools analysed are very distinct in nature and clientele. One of them is state-owned and attended by lower-middle class students whereas the other one is a fully-private international school attended by local elites and around 15% expatriate families. The two linguistic projects are also radically different. While the public school focuses on English Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), the international school showcases its intensive multilingualism including ‘rare’ capitals such as Mandarin, official trilingual policies (Catalan, Spanish and English) and ‘English immersion’ as a distinctive language learning methodology. Despite English being a central aspect of the educational project in both cases, the elite school seeks to distinguish itself from the public sector by selling ‘premium’ English. But what is this premium English and how is it different from ‘just English’? I will examine what kinds of English language practices are constructed as desirable in each school, what linguistic ideologies they are grounded on and how they are connected to the historical trajectory and educational project of each school. I will also seek to elucidate what role the native speaker plays in structuring practices and (de)legitimising teachers, and in so doing question commonly-held assumptions about what constitutes ‘good’ English.