Bryan Meadows

Capital negotiation and identity practices: investigating symbolic capital from the ‘ground up’

This study explores the circulation of Bourdieus symbolic capital at the level of face-to-face interactions. Recounting a single interaction between three individuals, this study provides an example of (1) the negotiated nature of capital articulation and (2) the relationship between identity practice and capital articulation, when addressed at the microlevel of interaction. Given a group task which forced participants to negotiate at an explicit level symbolic capital affordances, one participant – a non-native speaker of English in an English conversation – was able to articulate cultural capital by way of her links to academic institutions. However, later in the group task her attempt to index capital by way of her reflexive positioning as Asian was rebuked, leading her to disengage from the group task. This study emphasizes the need to analyze symbolic capital from the ‘ground-up’ for that is where its distribution is reproduced but also potentially transformed.

Nationalist border practices: a critical account of how and why an English language classroom on the US/Mexico border reproduces nationalism

Abstract Despite the growing appeal of transnational perspectives in sociolinguistics, the bordered orderliness of nationalism remains unchallenged in language classrooms. Ethnographic Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is applied to the case of an English language classroom at the Mexico/US border in order to specify the how and why of nationalist border reproduction. Through the conceptual lens of nationalist border practices, analysis first accounts for how class participants organized classroom practice according to clear borders between inter-related and mutually-exclusive mexicano and americano nationalist categories. The classroom site raises the possibility of border transcendence by way of border reinforcement, however, the data available depict students as border crossers who are careful not to disrupt the nationalist borders that legitimize their social and economic privilege.

Teaching culture beyond nationalist boundaries: national identities, stereotyping, and culture in language education

The authors take a critical language pedagogy approach to examining a 2011 controversy over disparaging comments towards Mexicans made by commentators of the British Broadcasting Corporation’s automotive show Top Gear. In particular, they focus on the characterization of groups and individuals according to their nationality and examine the ubiquity of nationalism and its ability to shape our conception of culture and in turn our understandings of others as members of ‘X national culture.’ The fact that humor is often a justification for national stereotyping and that these stereotypes are also connected to racist discourse are also explored. In the second part of the article, the implications of the stereotyping debate for language classrooms are considered. The authors argue that the controversy itself can be used as a tool for critical engagement that helps students deconstruct the underlying nationalist paradigm in L2 classrooms and build greater intercultural awareness. Español: Los autores examinan, desde una perspectiva de la pedagogía crítica del lenguaje, la controversia que surgió en el 2011 debido a los comentarios nocivos hechos hacia los mexicanos por los locutores del show automotriz del BBC, Top Gear. En particular, se enfocan en la caracterización de los grupos e individuos de acuerdo a su nacionalidad, y examinan la ubiquidad del nacionalismo y su capacidad para darle forma a nuestra conceptualización de la cultura y, a su vez, nuestra forma de ver a otros como miembros de una ‘cultural nacional X’. Los autores también exploran el hecho de que a menudo se utiliza el humor como una justificación para los estereotipos nacionales, y que estos estereotipos también están conectados al discurso racista. En la segunda parte del artículo, se consideran las implicaciones para la enseñanza de idiomas del debate sobre los estereotipos. Argumentan los autores que la controversia en sí se puede utilizar como una herramienta para promover una postura crítica que ayude a los alumnos a deconstruir el paradigma subyacente del nacionalismo en el salón de lenguas extranjeras y fomente la conciencia intercultural.

The Relative Priority of Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge in University Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) Programs: Perspectives of In-Service Language Teachers in New Jersey

Against a backdrop of critical discussion over the fundamental relevance of university teacher educator programs in general, this study surveyed 102 second-language K–12 teachers in New Jersey on their perceptions of the relative priority of conceptual teacher knowledge (i.e., theory/research) and procedural teacher knowledge (i.e., practical instructional techniques) in university Second Language Teacher Education program coursework. Likert-type scale and open-ended response survey data communicate a higher priority for procedural knowledge over conceptual knowledge. As is demonstrated in related studies, in-service teacher perspectives are nuanced on this issue. By reporting on in-service perceptions in a particular geographic and discipline area, this study enriches our general knowledge of in-service teacher perceptions seen more broadly.