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ERIC Number: EJ1074971
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1542-7587
EISSN: N/A
Citizenship Policy from the Bottom-Up: The Linguistic and Semiotic Landscape of a Naturalization Field Office
Loring, Ariel
Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, v12 n3 p161-183 2015
This article follows a bottom-up approach to language policy (Ramanathan, 2005; Wodak, 2006) in an analysis of citizenship in policy and practice. It compares representations of citizenship in and around a regional branch of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with a focus on citizenship swearing-in ceremonies for adults and children, discourse of a USCIS field officer, and the linguistic landscape and social semiotics inside and surrounding the USCIS building. These local meanings of citizenship are contrasted with top-down, national meanings of citizenship that are enforced through Immigration and Naturalization Act policy, the naturalization test, and official discourse. Findings indicate that while the "de jure" citizenship policy of the local field office is to provide informational assistance to its community, its "de facto" practices suggest that help is prioritized for certain members of the population, in systematic and visible ways.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: California
Identifiers - Laws, Policies, & Programs: Immigration and Nationality Act 1965
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A