Much of the literature on social class and language study in schools argues that for middle-class parents and their children, languages are chosen for their capacity to offer forms of distinction that provide an edge in the global labour market. In this paper, we draw on data collected from interviews with parents and children in middle-class…

This article attempts to locate the 'English-Speaking' class in contemporary India. By unpacking different aspects of one such class in Mumbai, it sheds light on the ways in which students, teachers and those who run the class view the 'English-Speaking' course and the ability to speak 'good English'.

This article provides a critical sociological examination of how Hong Kong youth's relationship towards Chinese identity and China is negotiated vis-a-vis schooling, language policy, and the broader Hong Kong postcolonial condition, and how this mediates these students' aspirational imaginations regarding possibilities of studying and working in…

In the multilingual, multicultural emerging economy of India, the language debate may seem to have settled with the adoption of the Three-Language Formula in the first National Policy of Education 1968. However, 50 years later, does this policy still hold? Has research on language acquisition informed our education policy and classroom practices,…

This study focused on household funds of knowledge or "historically accumulated bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household functioning and well-being" (Gonzalez, Andrade, Civil, & Moll, 2001). A Funds of Knowledge approach provides both a methodological and theoretical lens for educators to understand both themselves and…

Preservice science teachers hold a number of existing beliefs and expectations for their students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. Many teacher education programs (TEPs) provide diversity coursework, multicultural education courses, and field experiences to better prepare preservice teachers for the CLD classroom. A…

This paper describes an agenda for expanding interest and motivation among sixth-grade foreign language students in a middle-class suburban community located in northeastern Illinois. The problem was originally noted by the teaching staff/researchers who found students unable to focus and maintain attention during class. Administration of surveys…