In the United States today, an intense discourse is taking place on what the future of the nation will be. Alarmists point to the most recent wave of immigrants, mostly from non-European countries, as the source of current societal malaise. In particular, they consider the diversity of language that these immigrants bring with them to be an inherent threat to the American way of life. Languages in America: A Pluralist View is a vigorous response to this perspective by a sociolinguist and teacher, Susan J. Dicker. Drawing on knowledge from the fields of linguistics, history and sociology, Dicker presents a cogent argument for language diversity in the United States. She explores the importance of native language. She debunks the mythology of the melting pot image of America. She tackles common misconceptions about second-language learning, reveals the nativist roots of the official-English movement, and describes how other countries have dealt with language pluralism. Finally, Dicker asks her readers to imagine America as an open, pluralistic society in which language diversity plays an important part.
Reihe
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Channel View Publications Ltd
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Maße
Höhe: 234 mm
Breite: 156 mm
Dicke: 16 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-1-85359-336-9 (9781853593369)
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Schweitzer Klassifikation
Susan J. Dicker was born in New York City of multilingual immigrant parents and, growing up, regularly heard Italian, Yiddish and Spanish. She holds Masters of Arts degrees in Spanish and TESOL and an Ed.D. in Applied Linguistics. She is Associate Professor of English at Hostos Community College, the City University of New York. Her articles on language pluralism appear in The Bilingual Review/La Revista Bilinguee, The Educational Forum, the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, and Education and Society.
Language and identity; the melting pot mythology; common misconceptions about language learning; languages in schools; the modern official-English movement; challenges to language restrictionism; lessons in multilingualism beyond the United States; the possibilities of a pluralistic, multilingual America.
