Extending Applied Linguistics for Social Impact: Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations in Diverse Spaces of Public Inquiry

Description

Drawing on--but also extending--the theories and methods of applied linguistics, this book demonstrates how scholars of language might work together and with non-language specialists to address pressing concerns and issues of our time. Chapters explore efforts to recognize the legitimacy of stigmatized language varieties in public and institutional domains, museum-based science education for linguistically diverse children, how corpus analysis might illuminate the tension between the language choices and commitments of certain leaders, the embodied and artistic forms of meaning-making that challenge norms of Whiteness, and the transformative power of translanguaging in community-based theater. In addition, the volume demonstrates ways to enhance equity in healthcare delivery for immigrant families, examines the experiences of cultural health navigators working with refugee-background families, and highlights the value of raising public awareness of language issues related to social justice. These accounts show that applied linguists stand ready to interface with other scholars, other institutions, and the public to make socially-engaged and impactful contributions to the study of language, society, education, and access. Collectively, the authors respond to an important gap in the field and take a significant step towards a more socially-just, accessible, and inclusive approach to applied linguistics. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Figures Tables Contributors Introduction Overview of chapters Final comments References 1 Engaging the Public in Sociolinguistics for Social Justice: Advocating for Pidgin Speakers in Hawaiʻi Introduction Why sociolinguistics for social justice? Language and injustice in Hawaiʻi Engaging the public Future directions Notes References 2 Building Partnerships and Expanding Repertoires of Practice: Working with and in Museums To Improve Informal Science Education for Linguistically Diverse Young Children Introduction My path to engaged applied linguistics research3 How the partnership developed How the project took shape The exploratory study Working across fields Researching and advocating for change Looking back and moving forward Notes References 3 An Applied Linguist at Work: Tracing Language Choices in a Social Sustainability Network Introduction Getting involved Language and social sustainability Building the network, adapting to change Using corpus analysis tools Selective discourse analysis Strategic ambiguity, continuing the network Coda: Ending participation Note References 4 Finding Answers within the Story: The Transformative Potential of Translanguaging Praxis Revolución Arte Revolución Arte and our roles there La teoría que nos guía: Developing a translanguaging praxis Methods: Una etnografía de la clase de Kamishibai El Santo versus Trump, Jr. Translanguaging praxis and pathways to social justice: Unas sugerencias preliminares Hacía un enfoque en multimodalidad: Limitations and directions for future research Acknowledgments Note References 5 Being, Seeing, and Hearing White: When Theater Arts Interrogate and Make Visible the Power of the Elephant in the Room Introduction Applied linguistics that goes everywhere: Interrogating the performance of Whiteness Interrogating the invisible visibility of gendered Whiteness, politeness, and niceness Utilizing theoretical frameworks from applied linguistics to interrogate Whiteness: Markedness, subject-as-seen/subject-as-heard, and indexical inversion Structural linguistics’ and White studies’ conceptions of markedness LangCrit’s concept of subject-as-seen/subject-as-heard Raciolinguistics’ concept of indexical inversion Adapting language tools to interrogate Whiteness in applied theater contexts Conclusion Note References 6 Language as a Social Determinant of Health: Partnerships for Health Equity Introduction Partnerships between applied linguistics and public health: Domains of intersections Exploring intersections with the community domain: Responding to a public health crisis Exploring intersections with the clinical domain: Building trust between patients and healthcare providers Exploring intersections in the classroom domain: “Re-storying” public health messages in ESL classrooms Future directions Notes References 7 “It Depends Case by Case”: Understanding How the Practices of Cultural Health Navigators Impact Healthcare Access and Delivery for Refugee- Background Families Introduction Research context and background to the study A collaborative approach to inquiry Access to care: Health insurance The clinical encounter Medication and prescriptions Conclusion References 8 Applied Linguistic Anthropology: Balancing Social Science with Social Change Introduction Who is “linguistically isolated”? Challenging a damaging US census category Debating the language of migrant “illegality”: Connecting linguistic advocacy to broader struggles Mascot names and the naturalization of public racism (Mis)Understanding the “30 million word gap” Conclusion Notes References Afterword: Crossing Borders, Rethinking Expertise, and Becoming Collaborative Linguists Crossing institutional borders Radical redistribution of expertise From “applied” to “collaborative” linguistics Emerging from the ruins References Index