ABSTRACT

In all schools language plays a central role in learning. Corson (1993) contends that language takes on such a crucial function in schools because learning is driven by interpersonal communication. He says that we learn how to perform even the most basic acts by observing how others do it, by using and listening to those others as models, by noticing others’ reactions to our performances, and changing them accordingly. More than this though, Corson (1998) notes that language is the primary medium through which students make new concepts their own. Students learn as they listen, talk, read and write about new concepts and ideas and relate them to what they already know. But language is much more than just an instrument of communication, or a tool that facilitates through its communicative capacities the intellectual development of students. Language is also a symbol that communicates value to those who are associated with its various networks. Those who participate in language conventions assign worth to language users on the basis of the ways in which they employ these conventions both in the classroom and out. This attribution of worth, however, does not occur through natural or preordained processes. Rather it is the result of struggles between and among groups who vie to have their various conventions, styles and meanings accepted as legitimate and accorded corresponding value. The results of these struggles are particularly evident in schools where more than one language is used. In these situations certain languages and language varieties are inevitably favoured over others. The value attached to favoured language practices is regularly displayed in those linguistic conventions which are generally employed in the classroom and out, and in the attitudes of students and educators towards the various conventions.