Raciolinguistics

Raciolinguistics examines how language is used to construct race and how ideas of race influence language and language use.[1] Drawing from sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, raciolinguistics focuses on race and its relation to language. A central concern of raciolinguistics is to understand the complex meanings and implications of speech coming from a racialized subject.[1] The field also explores how the relationship between race and language impacts domains like politics and education.[2]

Although sociolinguists and linguistic anthropologists have previously studied the intersections of language, race, and culture, raciolinguistics is a relatively new focus for scholars trying to theorize race throughout language studies. Nelson Flores and Jonathan Rosa first popularized the term in their 2015 discussion of "appropriateness" in American language and education.[3] In 2016, H. Samy Alim, John R. Rickford and Arnetha F. Ball published a book compiling raciolinguistic research.[1] In their work, raciolinguists incorporate intersectionality in theorizing how various identities (e.g. gender, ethnicity, nationality) within a group and/or an individual influence lived experiences of race.

Race and language

Languaging race

Languaging race focuses on how race can be constructed or deconstructed "through the lens of language"[1] Through and by language, one can take on, discard, or impose affiliations made with a certain race; such as education level, economic status, etc.

Languaging race also encompasses the theory of transracialization, made popular in the United States by the case of Rachel Dolezal. However, within raciolinguistics, the emphasis of transracialization is put on how individuals both resist racial categorization and use such categorization in order to achieve racial justice, as in the case of Black Lives Matter.[1]

Racing language

Racing language uses race theory to understand how sociolinguistic variation relates to social and political processes. This includes the development of African American Language (AAL) in the United States, the generational linguistic shifts of Punjabi communities in London, and the significance of pharyngeal versus depharyngealized Hebrew in Israel.[1] Association with a racial group may be related to the use of ethnolects or ethnolinguistic repertoires,[4] influencing the language used among a racial group and/or an individual seeking to identify with the group. This area explores the historic and systematic reasons linguistic features are associated with certain racial groups.

In education

Appropriateness

In their critique of American language education, Nelson Flores and Jonathan Rosa argued that the standardization of "appropriate" language in American schooling creates different experiences for racialized students.[3] "Appropriate" language, defined by the language of the dominant culture, is a construction of raciolinguistic ideologies that uphold certain linguistic practices as normative and others as deficient. These ideologies are defined by the White listening/speaking subject in that "language-minoritized students [are expected] to mimic the white speaking subject while ignoring the raciolinguistic ideologies that the white listening subject uses to position them as racial Others".[3]

In her LangCrit framework, Alison Crump also explored Whiteness within the construction and education of a standard English and how language scholars may further address language, race, and identity in language education.[5]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alim, H. Samy; Rickford, John R.; Ball, Arnetha F. (2016-09-30). Raciolinguistics: How Language Shapes Our Ideas About Race. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190625702.
  2. ↑ University, Stanford (2016-12-27). "Stanford experts highlight link between language and race in new book". Stanford News. Retrieved 2017-02-27.
  3. 1 2 3 Flores, Nelson; Rosa, Jonathan (2015-06-10). "Undoing Appropriateness: Raciolinguistic Ideologies and Language Diversity in Education". Harvard Educational Review. 85 (2): 149–171. doi:10.17763/0017-8055.85.2.149.
  4. ↑ Benor, Sarah Bunin (2010-04-01). "Ethnolinguistic repertoire: Shifting the analytic focus in language and ethnicity1". Journal of Sociolinguistics. 14 (2): 159–183. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9841.2010.00440.x. ISSN 1467-9841.
  5. ↑ Crump, Alison (2014) Introducing LangCrit: Critical Language and Race Theory, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 11/3
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