Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education

In bidialectal speech communities it is common practice that standard dialects are strongly favoured in education whereas the role of nonstandard dialects is highly disputed. Several countries in Europe have successfully dealt with the use of dialects in education while in other countries such matters have yet to be adequately addressed and successfully resolved. Some educators are still debating as to whether dialects and nonstandard languages should be used in education because, among other concerns, they erroneously question the adequacy of dialects in meeting speakers' communicative needs. In the same vein, others do not seem to be convinced that conducting education in a dialect is beneficial for all members of a community. Sociolinguistic and Pedagogical Dimensions of Dialects in Education brings together various theoretical, descriptive and empirical findings on the status of non-standard dialects, their relation and coexistence with standard or official languages and their potential use in education. Gaining insights in such issues is of immense importance to researchers, policy makers, educators, parents and children since it can help in creating an educational environment that would respect the linguistic rights of bidialectal speakers and be a source for their empowerment. The edited volume contains 12 papers and is organized into four sections. Section I, which consists of three papers, deals with diachronic issues in dialects in education. Two papers in Section II present historical and current issues in language-in-education policy and planning while Section III, containing four papers, examines several aspects of dialect use in the classroom. Finally, the three papers in Section IV discuss the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic dimensions of bidialectalism.