Language variation and linguistic discrimination in teaching and learning language in bilingual communities

• Main Author: Maria Nilse Schneider
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos (UNISINOS) 2010-05-01
• Series: Calidoscópio
• Online Access: http://revistas.unisinos.br/index.php/calidoscopio/article/view/4857

<p>This article promotes a reflection about sociolinguistic questions regarding language variation and linguistic stigmatization in teaching and learning Portuguese and German, in bilingual communities with German-Portuguese contact. This reflection is rooted in Sociolinguistics, specifically in studies about bilingualism, linguistic policy, language variation, and mostly in studies about linguistic attitudes and prejudices, and discusses the social and pedagogical implications of the values and models of prestige in the communities. It discusses questions regarding linguistic policy towards immigration languages, in particular German varieties, and the establishment of linguistic attitudes and beliefs. To conclude, it discusses some of the social and pedagogical implications of the existing discrepancy between maintaining current linguistic patterns on one side, and inter and intralanguage variation and social bilingualism on the other side, as well as linguistic stigmatization and linguistic attitudes and prejudices in teaching and learning Portuguese and German. The analysis points to educational and identity conflicts which are reflected in speakers’ attitudes of solidarity or linguistic differentiation regarding the use and rating of language variation, as well as in the treatment dispensed to the linguistic features of their communities.</p> Key words: language teaching and learning, bilingualism, linguistic policy, language variation, linguistic attitudes and prejudices.