Social representations of language and teaching

Social representations, or how learners view the language, the people and the country, influence the learning of that language. These representations are an inherent part of learning which need to be incorporated in linguistic policies and teaching methods. These teaching methods need to reconcile these social representations as well as develop an open-mindedness that is required to learn languages.

References to the concept of representation are becoming increasingly common in studies on languages and language learning and teaching. In particular, it is accepted that speakers’ representations of languages – including their rules, features and status in relation to other languages – shape the processes and strategies they develop and implement for language learning and use (Dabène 1997). Research, especially that conducted in the school environment, established a link some time ago between attitudes and representations on the one hand and the desire to learn languages and the success or failure of such learning on the other. Various fields of study and teaching methods seek to explain and analyse representations of languages, with a view to effecting changes conducive to learning. Indeed, it is precisely because representations and images of languages play a central role in language learning processes, and because they are malleable, that they are relevant to linguistic and educational policy.

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