ERIC Number: EJ1009967
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0142-5692
EISSN: N/A
Languages, Cultural Capital and School Choice: Distinction and Second-Language Immersion Programmes
Smala, Simone; Paz, Jesus Bergas; Lingard, Bob
British Journal of Sociology of Education, v34 n3 p373-391 2013
This paper argues that languages, increasingly marginalised in schools in English-speaking countries, are gaining "elitist" ground as part of the "value-added" marketisation of schools and parents' desire for their children to gain "positional goods" through schooling. In arguing our case, the paper draws on survey and other data derived from second-language immersion programmes in two Queensland secondary schools, where key learning areas such as mathematics and science are taught through the medium of another language. As a corollary, we also argue that some schools--in our case, government schools--are using their immersion programmes as markers of distinction in a period of post-comprehensive schooling and emerging school markets, which includes both government and non-government schools. There is also a global policy context to such programmes in respect of countries such as Spain, China and Germany supporting the teaching of their respective languages in nations around the world. (Contains 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Cultural Capital, Immersion Programs, Second Language Instruction, Second Language Learning, Secondary Schools, Marketing, Surveys, Foreign Countries, School Choice, Educational Policy, Public Agencies, Language Usage, Parent Attitudes, Social Influences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A