This article considers the role that the examination of text plays in empirical language policy research. It begins by examining the state-of-the-art in language policy, observing that a core focus on action represents a shared characteristic of the various strands of discursive and ethnographic research over the last two decades. That is, the…

The relativist position on knowledge is summarized by Protagoras' phrase "Man is the measure of all things". Protagoras' detractors countered that there was no reason for his pupils to employ him since, by his own admission, his lessons lacked privilege. This the educationist's relativist paradox. The Enlightenment tradition of…

Second language (L2) learners' beliefs about the nature of language learning, specifically language mindsets, is a recent productive line of L2 research. Researchers argue that language mindsets are key factors for language learning success. However, the association between language mindsets and different language learning outcomes is inconsistent…

This paper discusses contemporary societal roles of German in the Baltic states (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania). Speaker and learner statistics and a summary of sociolinguistic research (Linguistic Landscapes, language learning motivation, language policies, international roles of languages) suggest that German has by far fewer speakers and functions…

This article challenges an over-reliance on language as the primary means to communicate knowledge by adopting a language"less"ness approach to maker pedagogies and maker literacies. Having conducted makerspace and design-based research for some time, we separately and together noticed a productive relationship between wordless…

Martha's Vineyard Sign Language (MVSL) is an extinct village sign language hypothesized to be a sister of British Sign Language (BSL) and a significant contributor to early American Sign Language (ASL) (Groce 1985). After the last deaf MVSL signer died, signs were elicited from five hearing signers. This study analyzes that data through a series…

This paper utilises selective writings by John Dewey and Maurice Merleau-Ponty as the conceptual basis for considering how an enhanced synergistic focus on habit and embodiment could support practice gains in schools. The paper focuses on Dewey's belief that established habits can help students to incorporate experiences into evaluations of…

Two issues pertaining to the use of metonymy that plays a central role in Slabakova et al. (2016) are mentioned in the very title of their study--novel metonymy and regular metonymy. In this article I draw attention to some problems with the identification of these as well as with the assumption that these are opposites of each other.

In this article, we present a narrative review of mathematics education research on language and on communication over 2019-2022, but also look ahead by addressing challenges posed by the lack of distinction between language and communication. The persistence and significance of the problem of the distinction between language and communication are…

In an era of internationalisation and globalisation, many institutional and national governments' higher education policies have embraced neoliberal agendas that encourage the use of English as a medium of instruction (EMI). Due to the postcolonial struggles of the Global South, it is important to critically examine the entanglement of EMI with…

Education technology, commonly referred to as EdTech, is used to provide an immersive mediated learning experience for students. Earlier scholarship has suggested that education technologies are more than instructional materials containing factual information (Apple & Christian-Smith (1991). They have become channels of communication…

This article begins with an overview of the literature on language commodification and the Marxist critiques of this concept. I argue that, while these critiques have raised pertinent issues surrounding the concept of language commodification, they are limited by their reliance on Karl Polanyi's notion of fictitious commodification, which suggests…

This paper offers some thoughts in response to René Arcilla's stimulating new book on road movie philosophy. I consider the book's case for separating the "educare" and "educere" functions of education from one another by examining the teacherly role of the child in Wim Wenders' films. I then reflect on the nature of train…

Being a first-generation Hispanic student: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of first-generation Hispanic students in higher education from the Southwest region. Tara Yosso's community cultural wealth was used as a theoretical framework in this study. Emergent themes included family, resources, external family, culture, language, and…

Discourse theory has always played a significant role in Michel Foucault's larger theoretical framework. His discourse theories integrate language, power, and knowledge as to achieve the 'truth,' though there is a debate whether they are inherently linked. This paper explores the longitudinal evolution of Foucault's discourse theory from the…