African 500 and African 701

African 500: Language and Society in Africa
African 701: Critical Approaches to Multilingualism

Dr. Katrina Daly Thompson
katrina.daly.thompson@wisc.edu

Tuesdays 1:20-3:15
Van Hise 394

 

Kenyan sign in English, Swahili, Arabic, and Amharic. Photo by Aaron Knox.

The goal of these two courses (one undergraduate, one graduate, but meeting together) is to explore various issues related to multilingualism through a framework of Critical Applied Linguistics (CALx). We will examine: the relationship between powerful and marginalized languages; the role of multiple languages in constructing and resisting different identities (ethnic, national, transnational); nationalism; postcolonialism; migration; diasporas; interaction between and among languages (variously conceived of as heteroglossia, hybridity, codemixing, translanguaging, etc.); theories and practice of critical pedagogy in multilingual classrooms; and critical approaches to research, especially critical ethnography in multilingual settings.

Required Texts

  •  Blackledge, Adrian, and Angela Creese. 2010. Multilingualism: A Critical Perspective. London: Continuum.
  • Higgins, Christina. English as a local language: post-colonial identities and multilingual practices. Bristol UK; Buffalo NY: Multilingual Matters, 2009.
  • Pennycook, Alastair. Critical Applied Linguistics: A Critical Introduction. Mahwah, N.J: L. Erlbaum, 2001.
  • Additional readings will be available in Learn@UW.