Multiple languages in one society

This article examines the way in which socially constructed notions of 'language', 'social cohesion' and 'diversity' create tensions within different educational arenas, particularly concerning educational policies developed at administrative levels and the subsequent i...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Dooly Owenby, Melinda|||0000-0002-1478-4892, Unamuno, Virginia|||0000-0003-0283-2196
Format: article
Publication Date:2009
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Repository:Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ddd.uab.cat:298840
Online Access:https://ddd.uab.cat/record/298840
https://dx.doi.org/urn:doi:10.1080/02680930902823039
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Discourse analysis
Qualitative research
Social cohesion
Text analysis
SDG 4 - Quality Education
Description
Summary:This article examines the way in which socially constructed notions of 'language', 'social cohesion' and 'diversity' create tensions within different educational arenas, particularly concerning educational policies developed at administrative levels and the subsequent interpretation of these policies in the classroom. Specifically, the article looks at the different production and reproduction processes of an official policy concerning 'language and integration', aimed at the immigrant population in Catalonian schools (Spain). The method used combines conversation analysis with text analysis of official documents in order to find traces of interdiscursivity between texts and practices. While the focus of the article is based on a case study of conceptualisations of languages, social cohesion and cultural diversity in two classrooms in Barcelona, it is generally relevant to the world of education, especially as the rate of population movements worldwide has increased significantly in recent years.