A Case Study of a Bilingual Classroom and Its Implications for Language Management

Abstract

While recent developments in language policy and planning studies have allowed us to examine how power is exercised and/or institutionalized in any given arena, it has also blinded us to the proposition that language may not have to be, or indeed is not, always managed with reference to any specific agenda. This case study takes a closer look at how participants in a bilingual classroom context negotiate their language choices and create meaning regarding what happens in the community, or how they ‘do’ language as legitimate members of the community. The classroom observation and follow-up interviews suggest that classroom language often simply takes its form as the participants try to perform their best as community members who are gathered together in the pursuit of shared goals.