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Chapter 3 Teaching French in Acadia: From a discourse of linguistic diversity to a standard ideology

  • Samuel Vernet
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Mapping Ideology in Discourse Studies
This chapter is in the book Mapping Ideology in Discourse Studies

Abstract

This chapter exposes a sociolinguistic ethnographic inquiry conducted at the Université de Moncton in Acadia, a francophone minority region in Canada. The research aimed at studying what variety of French was taught, how, and why. After a contextualization of Acadia, the ethnographic data are presented. Then, the chapter proposes to use the notions of discourse and ideology together to achieve a good understanding of a complex situation where Acadian French practices are both praised and sanctioned by teachers. Discourse is understood as a set of utterances unified by a series of rules and conditions constraining their form and content. These rules are regarded as ideologically determined, leading to a definition of the notion of ideology as a system of beliefs that both emerges from the social structures and shapes them. The chapter concludes by arguing that a discourse of linguistic diversity can be mobilized for the benefit of a standard ideology.

Abstract

This chapter exposes a sociolinguistic ethnographic inquiry conducted at the Université de Moncton in Acadia, a francophone minority region in Canada. The research aimed at studying what variety of French was taught, how, and why. After a contextualization of Acadia, the ethnographic data are presented. Then, the chapter proposes to use the notions of discourse and ideology together to achieve a good understanding of a complex situation where Acadian French practices are both praised and sanctioned by teachers. Discourse is understood as a set of utterances unified by a series of rules and conditions constraining their form and content. These rules are regarded as ideologically determined, leading to a definition of the notion of ideology as a system of beliefs that both emerges from the social structures and shapes them. The chapter concludes by arguing that a discourse of linguistic diversity can be mobilized for the benefit of a standard ideology.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Chapter 1 Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2 Discourse and ideology in French thought until Foucault and Pêcheux 21
  5. Chapter 3 Teaching French in Acadia: From a discourse of linguistic diversity to a standard ideology 45
  6. Chapter 4 Ideology and emancipation through the prism of performativity: Immolation and mottos of struggle as moments of popular counter-discourse 67
  7. Chapter 5 Language trouble.s 87
  8. Chapter 6 The ideological grounding of the new normal: Anti-discourse meets utopia 103
  9. Chapter 7 Hiding in plain sight: Methodological ideologies in discourse research in applied linguistics 117
  10. Chapter 8 Ideology in cognition and discourse 137
  11. Chapter 9 Licensing through English 157
  12. Chapter 10 Language ideologies and the translation of scholarly texts 179
  13. Chapter 11 Negotiating ideologies and the moral order in child protection social work 201
  14. Chapter 12 Challenging ideologies and fostering intercultural competence: The discourses of healthcare staff about linguistic and cultural barriers, interpreters, and mediators 223
  15. Chapter 13 Taking a corpus-based approach to investigating discourse and ideology in the language sciences 247
  16. Chapter 14 Afterword 273
  17. Index 285
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501513602-003

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Chapter 1 Introduction 1
  4. Chapter 2 Discourse and ideology in French thought until Foucault and Pêcheux 21
  5. Chapter 3 Teaching French in Acadia: From a discourse of linguistic diversity to a standard ideology 45
  6. Chapter 4 Ideology and emancipation through the prism of performativity: Immolation and mottos of struggle as moments of popular counter-discourse 67
  7. Chapter 5 Language trouble.s 87
  8. Chapter 6 The ideological grounding of the new normal: Anti-discourse meets utopia 103
  9. Chapter 7 Hiding in plain sight: Methodological ideologies in discourse research in applied linguistics 117
  10. Chapter 8 Ideology in cognition and discourse 137
  11. Chapter 9 Licensing through English 157
  12. Chapter 10 Language ideologies and the translation of scholarly texts 179
  13. Chapter 11 Negotiating ideologies and the moral order in child protection social work 201
  14. Chapter 12 Challenging ideologies and fostering intercultural competence: The discourses of healthcare staff about linguistic and cultural barriers, interpreters, and mediators 223
  15. Chapter 13 Taking a corpus-based approach to investigating discourse and ideology in the language sciences 247
  16. Chapter 14 Afterword 273
  17. Index 285
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