Extending Applied Linguistics for Social Impact : Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations in Diverse Spaces of Public Inquiry

Drawing on--but also extending--the theories and methods of applied linguistics, this book demonstrates how scholars of language might work together and with non-language specialists to address pressing concerns and issues of our time. Chapters explore efforts to recognize the legitimacy of stigmatized language varieties in public and institutional domains, museum-based science education for linguistically diverse children, how corpus analysis might illuminate the tension between the language choices and commitments of certain leaders, the embodied and artistic forms of meaning-making that challenge norms of Whiteness, and the transformative power of translanguaging in community-based theater. In addition, the volume demonstrates ways to enhance equity in healthcare delivery for immigrant families, examines the experiences of cultural health navigators working with refugee-background families, and highlights the value of raising public awareness of language issues related to social justice. These accounts show that applied linguists stand ready to interface with other scholars, other institutions, and the public to make socially-engaged and impactful contributions to the study of language, society, education, and access. Collectively, the authors respond to an important gap in the field and take a significant step towards a more socially-just, accessible, and inclusive approach to applied linguistics. Cover page 1 Halftitle page 2 Series page 3 Title page 4 Copyright page 5 Contents 6 Figures 8 Tables 9 Contributors 10 Introduction 16 Overview of chapters 19 Final comments 25 References 26 1 Engaging the Public in Sociolinguistics for Social Justice: Advocating for Pidgin Speakers in Hawaiʻi 28 Introduction 28 Why sociolinguistics for social justice? 30 Language and injustice in Hawaiʻi 32 Engaging the public 33 Future directions 45 Notes 46 References 47 2 Building Partnerships and Expanding Repertoires of Practice: Working with and in Museums To Improve Informal Science Education for Linguistically Diverse Young Children 50 Introduction 50 My path to engaged applied linguistics research3 51 How the partnership developed 53 How the project took shape 54 The exploratory study 57 Working across fields 59 Researching and advocating for change 63 Looking back and moving forward 66 Notes 68 References 69 3 An Applied Linguist at Work: Tracing Language Choices in a Social Sustainability Network 74 Introduction 74 Getting involved 74 Language and social sustainability 76 Building the network, adapting to change 78 Using corpus analysis tools 82 Selective discourse analysis 86 Strategic ambiguity, continuing the network 89 Coda: Ending participation 91 Note 92 References 92 4 Finding Answers within the Story: The Transformative Potential of Translanguaging Praxis 96 Revolución Arte 96 Revolución Arte and our roles there 97 La teoría que nos guía: Developing a translanguaging praxis 98 Methods: Una etnografía de la clase de Kamishibai 100 El Santo versus Trump, Jr. 101 Translanguaging praxis and pathways to social justice: Unas sugerencias preliminares 112 Hacía un enfoque en multimodalidad: Limitations and directions for future research 113 Acknowledgments 114 Note 114 References 114 5 Being, Seeing, and Hearing White: When Theater Arts Interrogate and Make Visible the Power of the Elephant in the Room 118 Introduction 118 Applied linguistics that goes everywhere: Interrogating the performance of Whiteness 119 Interrogating the invisible visibility of gendered Whiteness, politeness, and niceness 121 Utilizing theoretical frameworks from applied linguistics to interrogate Whiteness: Markedness, subject-as-seen/subject-as-heard, and indexical inversion 122 Structural linguistics’ and White studies’ conceptions of markedness 123 LangCrit’s concept of subject-as-seen/subject-as-heard 124 Raciolinguistics’ concept of indexical inversion 125 Adapting language tools to interrogate Whiteness in applied theater contexts 126 Conclusion 137 Note 138 References 138 6 Language as a Social Determinant of Health: Partnerships for Health Equity 140 Introduction 140 Partnerships between applied linguistics and public health: Domains of intersections 141 Exploring intersections with the community domain: Responding to a public health crisis 143 Exploring intersections with the clinical domain: Building trust between patients and healthcare providers 147 Exploring intersections in the classroom domain: “Re-storying” public health messages in ESL classrooms 152 Future directions 156 Notes 158 References 158 7 “It Depends Case by Case”: Understanding How the Practices of Cultural Health Navigators Impact Healthcare Access and Delivery for Refugee- Background Families 164 Introduction 164 Research context and background to the study 166 A collaborative approach to inquiry 168 Access to care: Health insurance 170 The clinical encounter 173 Medication and prescriptions 177 Conclusion 181 References 183 8 Applied Linguistic Anthropology: Balancing Social Science with Social Change 186 Introduction 186 Who is “linguistically isolated”? Challenging a damaging US census category 188 Debating the language of migrant “illegality”: Connecting linguistic advocacy to broader struggles 192 Mascot names and the naturalization of public racism 194 (Mis)Understanding the “30 million word gap” 198 Conclusion 202 Notes 204 References 205 Afterword: Crossing Borders, Rethinking Expertise, and Becoming Collaborative Linguists 210 Crossing institutional borders 212 Radical redistribution of expertise 219 From “applied” to “collaborative” linguistics 222 Emerging from the ruins 223 References 224 Index 226 Introduction, Doris S. Warriner (Arizona State University, USA) and Elizabeth Miller (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA) -- 1. Engaging the Public in Sociolinguistics for Social Justice: Promoting Pidgin in Hawai'i, Christina Higgins (University of Hawai'i-Manoa, USA) -- 2. Building Partnerships and Expanding Repertoires of Practice: Working with and in Museums to Improve Informal Science Education for Linguistically Diverse Young Children, Leslie C. Moore (Ohio State University, USA) -- 3. An Applied Linguist at Work: Tracing Language Choices in a Social Sustainability Network, Elizabeth Miller (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA) -- 4. Red-Hot, Peppery Mad: The Transformative Potential of Translanguaging Praxis, Holly Link and Obed Arango (University of Pennsylvania, USA) -- 5. Being, Seeing and Hearing White: When Theater-Arts Interrogate and Make Visible the Power of the Elephant in the Room, Ellen Skilton (Arcadia University, USA) -- 6. Language as a Social Determinant of Health: Partnerships for Health Equity, Emily Feuerherm, Rachel Showstack, Maricel G. Santos, Glenn Martinez and Holly Jacobson -- 7. It Depends Case by Case?: Understanding How the Practices of Cultural Health Navigators Impact Health Care Access and Delivery for Refugee-Background Families, Katherine E. Morelli (Boise State University, USA) and Doris S. Warriner (Arizona State University, USA) -- 8. Applied Linguistic Anthropology: Balancing Social Science with Social Change, Netta Avineri (Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, USA), Eric J. Johnson (Washington State University, USA), Bernard C. Perley (University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, USA), Jonathan Rosa (Stanford Graduate School of Education, USA) and Ana Celia Zentella (University of California San Diego, USA) -- Index "Despite the commitment of applied linguistics research to investigate language use in real-world contexts, applied linguists have struggled to make their work accessible and relevant outside academia. Acknowledging that the field has not yet reached its full potential, this book demonstrates how applied linguists can utilize their knowledge and methods to explore contemporary social problems beyond the borders of their own discipline, to have a valuable impact on other fields, local communities and the general public. Drawing on theories, methods and methodologies in applied linguistics, chapters address pressing concerns such as equal access to education for immigrants, science education in preschool dual-language contexts, healthcare delivery to refugee families, gendered language in disability studies and social sustainability initiatives. The diversity of research contexts shows how the work of applied linguists can have tangible social impact and help to influence meaningful change. By increasing public awareness of language-related issues affecting society, this book responds to a vital gap in the field and marks and important step towards a more socially-engaged, accessible and inclusive approach to applied linguistics."-- Provided by publisher