For question (1):
Kroskrity (2004) notes that there is no single and succinct definition of ‘language ideology’ and gives many examples of definitions, including:
(Errington 2001a) – language ideology “refers to the situated, partial, and interested character of conceptions and uses of languages.”
(Ramsey 1990) – “shared bodies of commonsense notions about the nature of language.”
(Sliverstein 1975) – “sets of beliefs about language articulated by users as a rationalization or justification of perceived language structure and use.”
(Irvine 1989) – “the cultural system of ideas about social and linguistics relationships, together with their loading of moral and political interests.”
Kroskrity then states his view, “In sum, language ideologies are beliefs, or feelings, about languages as used in their social worlds.” He asserts that ideologies do not only stem from “official culture” but can stem from “speakers of all types.”
1.) While Kroskrity writes about group ideologies and standard language ideologies, Kroskrity’s definition of Language Ideology does not focus explicitly on ideologies as a system of beliefs, as Irvine’s does. The Black Lives Matter movement, MeToo movement, etc, clearly cite systemic discrimination as a central component to continued racism, sexism, and other types of oppression. How could Kroskrity’s basic definition of “language ideologies” [..beliefs, or feelings, about languages as used in their social worlds] be adjusted to account for systemic ideologies versus personal ideologies?
2.) Kroskrity writes about the marginal status given to speaker’s feeling about language use in the history of the field of linguistics. Kroskrity quotes “tropes” from Chomsky (1957, 1965) including: “the ideal speaker-hearer,” “the perfectly homogenous speech community,” “the single-style speaker.” This easily relates to our week one readings and discussions about authenticity in Bucholtz 2003, week two readings on multilingualism in Makoni and Pennycook 2012, and the discussion on NORMs in sociolinguistics research in Holmes & Hazen (2013) during weeks three and four. What ideologies about monolingualism still influence linguistics as a field? How can we mitigate our own biases as linguists while also conducting research on language ideologies?
3.) On page 506, Kroskrity cites work by Bloomaert 1999c on the Ujamaa “socialist ideology of the Tanzanian state.” He specifically mentions the role that bilingual writers played in spearheading new Swahili literature, which the government then promoted. Writers and artists are social movers; some artists create culture, and others rebel against it. Which contemporary artists and writers are currently using translangauging practices to challenge the primacy of English in American cultural spaces?
