Chapter 3 Flipping the script: A collaborative autoethnography of agency and voices in the weaponization of bilingual education in Taiwan
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Ming-Hsuan Wu
Abstract
In this collaborative autoethnography, we examined how language is weaponized in ideological warfare in Taiwan’s bilingual education policy, a nation aspiring to become bilingual English-Mandarin Chinese by 2030. In particular, we explored how in the rollout of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy, neoliberalist discourse has been weaponized to mobilize public support for or against the policy and how two local teachers navigated and resisted the neoliberal “educational reform.” Data were collected through a sequential approach that enabled two Taiwan- based practitioners and two US-based researchers to explore voices, experiences, and memories most salient to this bilingual policy and analyzed through thematic analysis. With a focus on how local practitioners engaged students in challenging neoliberalist ideologies through civic engagement and activism, we argue that participants’ understanding and critical engagement with neoliberal language ideologies illustrated the need to explicitly address these dynamics within Taiwan’s bilingual education reform. Furthermore, these findings demonstrated teachers’ and students’ agency and creativity toward language and its use in complex and dynamic global contexts. We also discuss the intended and unintended harmful consequences of the policy for various stakeholders.
Abstract
In this collaborative autoethnography, we examined how language is weaponized in ideological warfare in Taiwan’s bilingual education policy, a nation aspiring to become bilingual English-Mandarin Chinese by 2030. In particular, we explored how in the rollout of Taiwan’s Bilingual 2030 Policy, neoliberalist discourse has been weaponized to mobilize public support for or against the policy and how two local teachers navigated and resisted the neoliberal “educational reform.” Data were collected through a sequential approach that enabled two Taiwan- based practitioners and two US-based researchers to explore voices, experiences, and memories most salient to this bilingual policy and analyzed through thematic analysis. With a focus on how local practitioners engaged students in challenging neoliberalist ideologies through civic engagement and activism, we argue that participants’ understanding and critical engagement with neoliberal language ideologies illustrated the need to explicitly address these dynamics within Taiwan’s bilingual education reform. Furthermore, these findings demonstrated teachers’ and students’ agency and creativity toward language and its use in complex and dynamic global contexts. We also discuss the intended and unintended harmful consequences of the policy for various stakeholders.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- Chapter 1 An introduction to the weaponizing of language in the classroom and beyond 1
- Chapter 2 Language weaponization, missed opportunities, and transformational spaces in Bangladeshi English departments: A biographical perspective 13
- Chapter 3 Flipping the script: A collaborative autoethnography of agency and voices in the weaponization of bilingual education in Taiwan 35
- Chapter 4 The price we pay: An autobiographical dialogue of linguistic violence in the African diaspora 63
- Chapter 5 “That’s easy”: An analysis of speech acts in an instance of cross-cultural miscommunication 89
- Chapter 6 A critical look at ‘Pato’ y ‘Maricón’: Puerto Rican Gay teachers’ interventions with homophobic language 109
- Chapter 7 The weaponization of Setswana: Implications for marginalized languages in Botswana 127
- Chapter 8 Using your own language against you: Spanish in U.S. classrooms 147
- Chapter 9 Banned books in K-12 classrooms: Weaponization of children and young adolescent literature 169
- Chapter 10 French variations and language weaponization in US higher education 191
- Chapter 11 Dismantling weaponizing language in teacher preparation programs 213
- Afterword: Language weaponization and its harm 231
- Editors 237
- Contributors 239
- Index 243
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- Chapter 1 An introduction to the weaponizing of language in the classroom and beyond 1
- Chapter 2 Language weaponization, missed opportunities, and transformational spaces in Bangladeshi English departments: A biographical perspective 13
- Chapter 3 Flipping the script: A collaborative autoethnography of agency and voices in the weaponization of bilingual education in Taiwan 35
- Chapter 4 The price we pay: An autobiographical dialogue of linguistic violence in the African diaspora 63
- Chapter 5 “That’s easy”: An analysis of speech acts in an instance of cross-cultural miscommunication 89
- Chapter 6 A critical look at ‘Pato’ y ‘Maricón’: Puerto Rican Gay teachers’ interventions with homophobic language 109
- Chapter 7 The weaponization of Setswana: Implications for marginalized languages in Botswana 127
- Chapter 8 Using your own language against you: Spanish in U.S. classrooms 147
- Chapter 9 Banned books in K-12 classrooms: Weaponization of children and young adolescent literature 169
- Chapter 10 French variations and language weaponization in US higher education 191
- Chapter 11 Dismantling weaponizing language in teacher preparation programs 213
- Afterword: Language weaponization and its harm 231
- Editors 237
- Contributors 239
- Index 243
