Linguistics, Linguistic Knowledge and Language Education

About

There is a long history of debate surrounding the role and nature of (meta)linguistic knowledge in language education. In second/foreign language learning, the role of explicit knowledge in developing implicit competence remains unclear and subject to active research (Godfroid, 2022). Indeed, in L1 education, such controversy has resulted in “grammar wars” (Locke, 2010) between those who value the teaching of L1 linguistic properties and those who question it, at least with respect to morphosyntax. Nevertheless, a recurrent theme in applied linguistics is the suggestion that various forms of linguistic knowledge are valuable in education: Language Awareness (e.g. Hawkins, 1984), Plurilingual Awareness (e.g. Candelier et al, 2012), Knowledge about Language (e.g. Bartels, 2009), inter alia, all point to potential benefits of developing metalinguistic knowledge for teachers and learners. 

Given this background, we ask how linguistic research can or should interface effectively with language education in terms of the provision and fostering of (meta)linguistic knowledge. We welcome contributions on issues such as, but not limited to:  

• Effects of different forms of linguistic input in L1/L2/Ln learning outcomes  
• Effects of language and educational culture on assumptions about language knowledge 
• Explicit versus implicit approaches to language form in the classroom 
• Issues in multilingualism and plurilingual awareness in language education 
• Linguistics and the relationship between prescriptivism, standard language ideology, and language teaching 
• The connection between linguistic theories and pedagogical materials / grammars 
• The nature of teacher language awareness (see Andrews, 2007), and linguistic reasoning abilities (Van Rijt, 2024) 
• The potential role of teaching linguistics at school (see Sheehan et al, 2023) 
• The role of linguistics in teacher education programmes 

• Andrews, S. (2007). Teacher language awareness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
• Bartels, N. (2009). Knowledge About Language. In Burns, A., & Richards, J. C. (eds.) Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education (pp. 125–134). Cambridge University Press. 
• Candelier, M., Daryai-Hansen, P., & Schröder-Sura, A. (2012). The framework of reference for pluralistic approaches to languages and cultures–a complement to the CEFR to develop plurilingual and intercultural competences. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 6(3), 243-257.
• Godfroid, A. (2022). Hypotheses about the interface between explicit and implicit knowledge in second language acquisition. In The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and psycholinguistics (pp. 294-307). Routledge.
• Hawkins, E. W. (1984). Awareness of language: An introduction. Cambridge University Press.
• Locke, T. (ed.) (2010). Beyond the grammar wars: A resource for teachers and students on developing language knowledge in the English/literacy classroom. Taylor & Francis.
• Sheehan, M., Corr, A., Having, A., Kasstan, J., Schifano, N. & Stollhans, S. (2023). A manifesto for linguistics in language teaching in the UK context. https://linguisticsinmfl.co.uk/a-manifesto-for-linguistics-in-language-teaching-in-the-uk-context 

Invited Speakers

• Isabelle Darcy (Indiana University)
• Mari Nygård (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
• Pavel Caha (Masaryk University)