Ryuko Kubota

Angel M.Y. Lin

The concept and construct of race is often implicitly yet profoundly connected to issues of culture and identity. Meeting an urgent need for empirical and conceptual research that specifically explores critical issues of race, culture, and identities in second language education, the key questions addressed in this groundbreaking volume are these: How are issues of race relevant to second language education? How does whiteness influence students’ and teachers’ sense of self and instructional practices? How do discourses of racialization influence the construction of student identities and subjectivities? How do discourses on race, such as colorblindness, influence classroom practices, educational interventions, and parental involvement? How can teachers transform the status quo? Each chapter is grounded in theory and provides implications for engaged practice. Topics cover a wide range of themes that emerge from various pedagogical contexts. Authors from diverse racial/ethnic/cultural backgrounds and geopolitical locations include both established and beginning scholars in the field, making the content vibrant and stimulating. Pre-reading Questions and Discussion Questions in each chapter facilitate comprehension and encourage dialogue.

Exploring Critically Engaged Practice

Race, Culture, and Identities in Second Language Education

This book will be of interest to a broad readership, regardless of whether they have a background in sociolinguistics, functional linguistics or genre theories. It presents an accessible “meta-language” (i.e. a language for talking about language) that is workable and usable for teachers and researchers from both language and content backgrounds, thus facilitating collaboration across content and language subject panels. Chapters 1 to 3 lay the theoretical foundation of this common meta-language by critically reviewing, systematically presenting and integrating key theoretical resources for teachers and researchers in this field. In turn, Chapters 4 to 7 focus on issues in pedagogy and assessment, and on school-based approaches to LAC and CLIL, drawing on both research studies and the experiences of front-line teachers and school administrators. Chapter 8 provides a critical and reflexive angle on the field by asking difficult questions regarding how LAC and CLIL are often situated in contexts characterized by inequality of access to the linguistic and cultural capitals, where the local languages of the students are usually neglected or viewed unfavourably in relation to the L2 in mainstream society, and where teachers are usually positioned as recipients of knowledge rather than makers of knowledge. In closing, Chapter 9 reviews the state of the art in the field and proposes directions for future inquiry.

Angel M.Y. Lin

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