the role of language in social justice in education
TRANSCRIPT
The Role of
Language in
Education
for Social JusticeDr. Ruslana Westerlund
TEAL Manitoba Conference
Keynote and Follow Up Session (Combined and revised for SlideShare)
October 23, 2015
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
My StoryDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
The children watch expectantly as Ukrainian immigrant Joe Wacha and his wife work to seal the
timber walls of their home, located four miles north of Vita, Manitoba, circa 1905.
Source: Archives of Manitoba, W. J. Sisler Collection 118, N9631.
Ukrainians in WinnipegDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Ukrainians in Winnipeg,
circa 2011Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What Does Language
Have to Do with Social
Justice?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
One goal for today:Not answers or mastery of this content, but an exploration of
a direction for viewing language in school.
Welcome! Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Canadian Museum of
Human Rights, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Ukrainian
Holodomor Exhibit
Example of “Grammatical Manipulation”
• “Families were often broken apart when a family
member was sold to another owner.”
• Slave owners often broke slave families apart by selling a
family member to another owner.
From How Texas Teaches History, New York Times
October 21, 2015.
Language as a Tool for Critical Literacy
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Example of “Grammatical Manipulation”
• Some slaves reported that their masters treated them
kindly. To protect their investment, some slaveholders
provided adequate food and clothing for their slaves.
However, severe treatment was very common. Whippings,
brandings, and even worse torture were all part of
American slavery.
Language as a Tool for Critical Literacy
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
From How Texas Teaches History, New York
Times
October 21, 2015.
Teachers weigh in…Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
• “They were being deported to the barren regions of the
Soviet Union.” - why is the perpetrator hidden?
• “bunk” “sheer absurdity”
• “death from starvation” v. “widespread mortality”
Language as a Tool of
Critical LiteracyDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Grade 5 Social Studies
Manitoba Curriculum Essentials
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
From Apology to Reconciliation: Residential
School Survivors Cluster 1: The Past (p. 22)
Language as a Tool for Critical
LiteracyDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Problematize issue
Identify bias
Critique different views
Pursue a new line of inquiry
Offer alternative solution to the problem
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Language as a Tool for Critical
Literacy
Language as a Social Justice
Tool Gives Students AGENCY to
Take Critical Stance Toward
Knowledge and InformationDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
… “language is a form of ‘‘praxis’’ (p. 646); it is meant
for actual use. Therefore, what is of interest is not
abstract linguistic competence—the ability to produce
an infinite number of grammatical sentences in a
Chomskyan sense—but rather linguistic capital, the
amount of power one can claim in the social world on
the basis of one’s linguistic ability and use. For
Bourdieu, communication is not merely an exchange of
information but ‘‘an act of power’’ (Bourdieu &
Wacquant, 1992, p. 145).
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014).
A language ideology is a model for
how social or cultural differences
are to be linguistically expressed.
It codifies language norms and
contains notions on which social
functions a language variety should
have. It further defines who is to
have access to economic, social
and cultural goods. Notions on
language and on social belonging
linked to language can … work as
mechanisms of exclusion and
social boundary markers. Niklas Bernsand
Surzhyk and National Identity in Ukrainian
Nationalist Language Ideology
What Does
Language Have to
Do With Social
Justice?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What Does Language Have
to Do With Social Justice?
In the absence of an explicit focus on
language, children from certain…
backgrounds continue to be privileged,
and others to be disadvantaged in
learning, assessment, and promotion,
perpetuating the obvious inequalities
that exist today.
Mary Schleppegrell,
The Language of Schooling
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What Does Language Have to
Do With Social Justice?
Language as linguistic capital
Communication as an act of power (v. exchange of information)
Language provides access to social, economic, and cultural goods
Language can serve as mechanisms for exclusion or inclusion
The absence of explicit focus on language of schooling leads to further societal inequalities
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Player v. SpectatorDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Player v. Spectator: 200 gamesDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Does this Happen to our
Students?
“Understand” all the words
but can’t meaningfully participate in
learning
Teachers not inquiring and building on
what students already know
Explanations above the
students’ ZPD
Language is taught as the end itself vs. the means to
an end
Disengage and fall behind?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Key Concepts
• Teachers must draw out and work with the preexisting understandings that their students bring with them.
• Students come to the classroom with preconceptions about how the world works. If these initial understandings are not recognized, engaged and valued, students can’t learn new concepts or perform at the surface level. (How People Learn, National Academy Press)
All learning builds on
prior knowledge, and cultural,
linguistic and life
experiences.
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
MB K-12 Framework for
EAL/LAL ProgrammingDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Key Concepts
• Language is a resource for meaning making
• Language learning and cognitive engagement go hand in hand.
• Knowing language is knowing particular ways in which language is used for particular purposes in particular contexts
Knowing language
means being able to
participate in literacy practices.
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Key Concepts
• Meaning is situated.
• Meaning is negotiated.
• Social interactions are key to learning and constructing new meanings.
• New meanings are created daily.
• Language is evolving, dynamic, and messy
Words do not carry inherent,
static meanings.
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What Do These Words
Mean?
Home Offense
Guest Defense
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Words have situated
meanings
• Home Game
• Go D!
• Playing offense
• Home is 6, Guest is 12
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Your role: sports reporter
Your job: report the game
• Home Game
• Wide Receiver
• Quarterback
• Playing defense
• Incomplete pass
• Fumble on the play
• Flag on the play
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
The Nature of Language
Language is inseparable from all human action (Walqui,
2012).
Words are not defined not by dictionaries; meaning is co-
constructed by users in situated contexts (Bakhtin,
1981)
Teachers and students need meta-awareness and meta-
language to navigate language and in various contexts
(Turkan et al, 2014)
Language is usage-based and fosters agency (Walqui, 2012).
Language is contingent on purposes and use and it spirals in power across time (Walqui,
2012)
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What language and registers do
you use through your
day?
How does language change?
What factors influence the
language change?
Language is Inseparable from All
Human Action (Van Lier & Walqui)Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Language is Inseparable From All
Human Action (Van Lier & Walqui)
Dieting Selling Biking
Social Media
Basketball
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What language do your students use through their day?
How does language change in
purpose and complexity?
What factors influence the
language change?
List Ways Your Students Use
Language in Your ClassesDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
How Does Language Change
in Schooling Contexts?
Short Stories Poetry Information
ReportsPersuasive Speeches
Science Lab Reports
Mathematical Explanations
Constructing Arguments
from Evidence in
Science
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Language Development Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
From Structural View of Language Development to
Language increases
in uses through schooling
From expressing needs and wants to presenting complex arguments
From personal recounts to historical accounts
From telling how you got an answer to “constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others”
From information reports to interpretation of histories
From reporting facts to critiquing perspectives
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
How Do We Empower
Students to Use Language as
a Tool for Social Justice in
Our Classrooms?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
A Boy Who Ran with Blockshttp://www.immersionfilm.com/Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
A Boy Who Ran With Blocks…
• Discuss what Moises already knew
• Analyze language expected of him
• Identify other ways Moises can show what he knows
A boy ran three blocks in six
minutes. If he continued to
run at the same speed, how
long would it take him to run
the next twenty blocks?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
The Role of Language in
Social Justice
Language is a tool for
inclusion or exclusion
Language gives students agency
Language is a gateway to meaning making
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
What is YOUR Role as a
Teacher in “Language for
Social Justice”?Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Language Expresses Meanings
• Halliday (1978) defined academic register as “a set of
meanings that is appropriate to a particular function
of language, together with the words and structures
which express these meanings. We can refer to a
‘mathematics register,’ in the sense of the meanings that
belong to the language of mathematics (the
mathematical use of natural language, that is, not
mathematics itself), and that a language must express if
it is being used for mathematical purposes” (p. 195).
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Grade 4 Science Practices
Manitoba Curriculum Essentials
Language Demands:
• Make claims based on evidence
• Communicate persuasively orally
• Defend claims
• Participate in scientific discussions
• Communicate scientific knowledge in writing
What language
will students
need to do this?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Focusing on Language in Use
What is the essential learning do all students need to learn about?
What can EAL students do independently in English?
What can EAL students do with supports?
What is the topic being studied?
What is the purpose for language use?
What register is required (formal or informal) in the task?
What is the genre (e.g. report on an experiment)?
What are the key structures that make up that genre (see next page)?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Integrating Content and Language
Science Objectives Language Objectives
Students will develop an
understanding of what constitutes a
scientific method. They will carry out
independent investigations to prove or
disprove common myths. They will
develop understandings about the
kinds and functions of variables and
the need for replication in the context
of developing a method; carrying out
practical experiments; observing,
recording, and interpreting results; and
drawing conclusions. They will
complete an experimental report
detailing their investigations.
Students will write an experimental
report, using:
• An appropriate organizational
structure for that genre
• Appropriate language structures
(nominalizations and nominal
groups, cause and effect structures,
passive voice as appropriate).
• Time connectives (first, second,
following that…, the final step)
• Correct technical vocabulary
(controlled, dependent,
independent, variable; replicate,
replication).
Gibbons, P. (2009) English Language Learners Academic
Literacy and Thinking p. 160
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Grade 4 Science Practices
Manitoba Curriculum Overview
Language Demands:
• Ask questions
• Participate in a scientific
discussion
• Clarify your thinking through
language
• Ask more relevant, focused, and
sophisticated questions
• Refine questions
• Make predictions
What language
will students
need to do this?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
How Does the Teacher Support
Students’ Language Development?https://www.teachingchannel.org/
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Sentence Frames: a Running
Start, not a Straight JacketDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Teacher Guest Blog https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Grade 6 Math Processes
Manitoba Curriculum EssentialsDr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Where is the Language?
Grade 5 Social Studies
Manitoba Curriculum Essentials
Where is the Language?
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Deeper Learning for ELshttps://www.teachingchannel.org/
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Deeper Learning with ELs
• How does Deeper Learning happen with
students who are new to English?
• In what ways do students and teachers
both leverage students’ native languages
as an asset for learning?
• How does project-based learning lead to
deep and integrated learning of language
and content? https://www.teachingchannel.org/
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
How Does This Teacher Support
Literacy Development of EAL Students?
https://www.teachingchannel.org/Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
• Join me in my mission of reclaiming the language for
social justice on Facebook: Reclaiming the Language
for Social Justice:
https://www.facebook.com/Reclaiming-The-Language-
For-Social-Justice-1520741064881929/
• Twitter: @ellbillofrights
• Blog: https://reclaimingthelanguage.wordpress.com/
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Re
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es
• Bernsand, N. (n.d.). Surzhyk and National Identity in Ukrainian Nationalist Language Ideology. Forum. Berliner Osteuropa Info.
• Christie, F., & Derewianka, B. (2008). School discourse: learning to write across the years of schooling. London, Continuum.
• de Jong, E., & Harper, C. (2005). Preparing mainstream teachers for English language learners: Is being a good teacher good enough? Teacher Education Quarterly, 32(2), 101–124.
• Donovan, M.S., Bransford, J. D., & Pellegrino, J. W. (Eds) (1999) How people learn: Bridging research and practice. National Academies Press
• From Apology to Reconciliation. Residential School Survivors. A Guide for Grades 9 and 11 Social Studies Teachers in Manitoba http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/far/apology_reconciliation.pdf
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
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• Gibbons, P. (2009). English learners, academic literacy,
and thinking: learning in the challenge zone. Portsmouth,
NH: Heinemann
• Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic.
London, UK: Edward Arnold.
• How Texas Teaches History, New York Times October 21,
2015.
• Kanno, Y., & Kangas, S. N. (2014). “I’m not going to be,
like, for the AP”: English language learners’ limited access
to advanced college-preparatory courses in high
school. American Educational Research Journal, 51(5),
848-878.*
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice
Re
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• Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A
functional linguistics perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
• Turkan, S., De Oliveira, L., Lee, O., & Phelps, G (2014)
Proposing a Knowledge Base for Teaching Academic
Content to English Language Learners: Disciplinary
Linguistic Knowledge. Teacher College Record.
• The New York Times Guilty of Holocaust Denial. YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkMfbBmSno0
• van Lier, L., & Walqui (n.d.). Language and the Common
Core Standards. Understanding Language
Dr. Ruslana Westerlund. Reclaiming The Language for Social Justice