Language Matters

A volume in Contemporary Language EducationSeries Editor: Terry A. Osborn, Fordham UniversityThis book addresses a timely and very important topic: language in education. Language, apparently, is avery tricky business. On the one hand, everyone uses language, and virtually everyone has strong viewsabout language. In the educational domain this seems to be especially true. Language is not merely anintrinsic component of the educational process as the medium of instruction in the classroom, but also servesas the mediator of social reality for students and teachers alike. It plays a central role in articulating andconveying not only social, cultural and empirical ideas, but ideological concepts as well. It is also used tomake judgments about the speaker, not to mention its role in maintaining differential power relations. Andyet, in spite of this, the role of language is not sufficiently recognized in classroom practice much of the time.Nor is language, except in fairly narrow ways, really an especially central part of the curriculum, in spite ofits incredible importance. To be sure, we do spend a great deal of time and money attempting to teachstudents to read and write (that is, to provide them with basic literacy skills), and we provide nominal supportfor foreign language education programs. We also provide limited support for children coming to schoolwho do not speak English. What we do not do, though, is to recognize the absolute centrality of languageknowledge and language use for the educated person. This book seeks to address these issues from the broadperspective of critical pedagogy.