The use of students' mother tongue (MT/L1) in the second/foreign language classroom has been debated in language teaching theory and practice for many decades. Most language teaching methods advocate the use of the target language (TL) in the classroom. However, recent research has elevated the role of L1 in the classroom. This paper illustrates…

The ways in which literacy in English is taught in school generally subscribe to and perpetuate the notion of a homogenous, unvaried set of writing conventions associated with the language they represent, especially in relation to spelling and punctuation as well as grammar. Such teaching also perpetuates the myth that there is one…

Over the last 25 years, there has been significant modernisation and elaboration of the Maori language mathematics lexicon and register to support the teaching of (Western) mathematics as a component of Maori-medium schooling. These developments are situated within the wider Maori language revitalisation movement in Aotearoa/New Zealand, of which…

We use the variationist method to elucidate the expression of future time in English, examining multiple grammaticalization in the same domain ("will" and "going to"). Usage patterns show that the choice of form is not determined by invariant semantic readings such as proximity, certainty, willingness, or intention. Rather, particular instances of…

This contribution explores rhetorical features in 207 abstracts submitted for four international conferences in Yaounde (Cameroon), Regensburg (Germany) and Birmingham (UK). Relevant text features are retrieved from the corpus via concordance software and results are discussed in the light of their frequency of occurrence. Furthermore, the…

Educators worldwide have been attracted by lesson study for its teaching and learning enhancement potential. However, some believe it takes for granted language, out of which all teaching and subject matter are made. Employing a functional linguistics lens in an analysis of two second language science lesson studies, called "learning"…

Purpose: This paper aims to progress the dialogue on language rights in the urban classroom. Research has evidenced how language can serve as a powerful tool in mainstream ideologies; more specifically, the preferred and dominant use of Standard Written English in the American classroom has demonstrated how language serves as a gatekeeper for…

Einar Haugen brought Norwegian language planning to prominence in the 1960s, describing a series of language reforms ultimately intended to bring the two written standards, Bokmal and Nynorsk, together. Since Haugen's time language policy in Norway has changed direction, and developments over the past 40 years have led to increased autonomy for…

This article examines how speakers of Kam Muang in Northern Thailand draw on distinct temporalities (the slow paced, long-term historical temporality of "longue duree"; the medium paced, autobiographical temporality of intermediate time frames; and the fast-paced, immediate temporality of the "courte duree") to conceptualize…

With much regional variation in Cameroon English, language learning and teaching becomes very much affected in Cameroon. As the same users make use of the various forms of English as the changing circumstances require, it becomes more and more difficult for them to make clear distinctions between the varieties, and somehow all of these varieties…

The present article examines discourses on bilingualism in French immersion schools and connects local ideologies of bilingualism to a more global view of what it means to be bilingual in Canada. Bilingualism is usually regarded as two isolated monolingualisms (or monolingual systems) in which there is no place for code-switching, uneven language…

In this article, I report on a small project involving the use of guided reading groups, levelled texts and running records in a multilingual primary school in Singapore. I focus on running records and ask whether their use is suitable pedagogically and practically for the Singaporean context. The analysis of 22 records of primary one and primary…

This article discusses the novel "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw (1957) which depicts Eliza, a flower girl from East London, who became the subject of an "experiment" by a Professor of Phonetics who vowed to change the way she spoke. The story is an excellent example of a very real and contextual portrait of how language,…

While the concept of standardization is well-established in linguistics, destandardization is a more recent addition to linguistic terminology. Drawing on historiographic and ethnographic data from isiXhosa, one of South Africa's indigenous languages, this paper reflects on both of these concepts. Standardization is discussed as a modernist grand…

Past research has tended to ignore the emergence or existence of "middle zone" varieties such as topolects or regiolects. In addition, attitudinal dynamics have received little attention, including their contribution towards the re-evaluation of the status of language varieties. Regarding the status of Cantonese, linguistic, political…