Taking a multi-level perspective on language-in-public-space policy, this study investigates the way Tunisia's dominant languages are dealt with in three independent but interrelated activities of language policy: official texts, public talk, and the actual practices of business actors in five commercial districts in metropolitan Tunis. Detailed…

This paper addresses the role of bottom-up prescriptive pressures in language policy debates and their interplay with institution-driven, top-down influences. I approach this issue through an analysis of social media data concerning debates surrounding recent orthographic reform in France. Building on Heyd's (Lang Soc 43: 489-514, 2014) discussion…

Appropriateness-based models of language learning and teaching are rooted in a pervasive neocolonial agenda informed by Eurocentric epistemologies of "standard" or "academic" language (Flores & Rosa, 2015). In examining the normalized limitations of a language program through a raciolinguistic lens, we can better comprehend…

The aim of this article is to develop a critical awareness of a pervasive hegemonic ethos and its dehumanizing impact on Foreign Language (FL) classrooms. In doing so, Amy E. Kuiken draws from Paulo Freire's discussion of subordination and transformation, i.e. of oppression and humanization, as a critical lens through which to view current trends…

In many countries of sub-Saharan Africa, the release of each year's results for the end of high school examinations heralds an annual ritual of public commentary on the poor state of national education systems. However, the exoglossic/monolingual language regime for these examinations is infrequently acknowledged as contributing to the dismal…

For the past three decades, momentum has gathered in favour of a multilingual turn in second language acquisition research and teaching. "Multicompetence" has been proposed to replace "nativeness" and "monolingualism" to measure L2 learners' success. This proposed shift has not made its way into L2 teaching settings.…

The present paper analyzes the challenges of literacy development in cases of classical diglossia and bilingualism. The main argument is that the diverse levels of proficiency in the varieties present in a given linguistic market have implications for and are shaped by processes of literacy development, feelings of linguistic insecurity, and the…

We investigate the extent to which language versions (English, French and Arabic) of the same science test are comparable in terms of item difficulty and demands. We argue that language is an inextricable part of the scientific literacy construct, be it intended or not by the examiner. This argument has considerable implications on methodologies…

As part of the attempts to revitalise Corsican, a regional language of France, and to reverse the language shift to French, language activists and academics have sought to apply the model of a polynomic language to what is considered as one language, but what is, in fact, a number of different Corsicans, each with varying levels of mutual…

This article explores the microgenetic development of learners' understanding of sociolinguistic variation in French during an instructional conversation (IC) that followed a language analysis task in which learners attempted to formulate hypotheses about the nature of language variation. During the IC, the instructor led students toward a…

Using the 2 theoretical lenses of representation (Barthes, 1977) and ownership of language (Higgins, 2003), this article offers a critical analysis of representations of Russian speakers in 9 widely used Russian language textbooks aimed at university-level learners. Particular attention is paid to representations of Russian speakers other than…

This article explores the diminished use of Judeo-Spanish among Jews living in Turkey and asks the following research question: What factors, ideologies, and practices contribute to the demise of Judeo-Spanish? To address this question, we employed life history inquiry based on two oral history archives documenting elderly Turkish-Jewish community…

The present article examines discourses on bilingualism in French immersion schools and connects local ideologies of bilingualism to a more global view of what it means to be bilingual in Canada. Bilingualism is usually regarded as two isolated monolingualisms (or monolingual systems) in which there is no place for code-switching, uneven language…

This study analyzes stylistic variation among first-, second-, and third-year instructed learners of French engaged in synchronous French-language computer-mediated communication (CMC) and compares the results with data from nonlearner discourse in a public, noneducational synchronous CMC environment. We focus specifically on variability in…

Because many of the forms participating in inherent variability are not attested in the standard language, they are often construed as evidence of change. We test this assumption by confronting the standard, as instantiated by a unique corpus covering five centuries of French grammatical injunctions, with data on the evolution of spontaneous…