Chapter 10: The Buried Grammar of Racial Injustice and the Pedagogical Practices for Unearthing it by Gordon Myskow
Abstract
Racially problematic views are not typically inscribed explicitly on the surface of pedagogic texts as positively/negatively charged lexical choices (evaluations). Instead, they are often construed covertly through grammatical choices of authors. Developing students’ ability to interrogate their pedagogic texts for underlying assumptions about race requires deliberate instructional attention and appropriate conceptual tools. Systemic Functional Linguistics, with its fine-grained analytical tools, is well-suited for digging into texts and mining underlying ideologies. Drawing on insights from systemic functional grammar, this paper presents a series of six practical grammatical analysis activities. A key takeaway from the chapter is that although the materials analyzed in it are advanced, grammatical analysis need not be overly challenging for learners. The often highly-developed grammatical metalanguage that many learners in the Japanese EFL context already possess can be a valuable scaffolding resource for helping them understand not just what English grammar is, but what it does.
About the Contributor
Gordon Myskow, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the MA TESOL Program at Kanda University of International Studies. He has taught in various contexts, including secondary school and university levels in Japan. His research interests include functional linguistics and subject-matter instruction. His recent work has appeared in English for Specific Purposes, Journal of Second Language Writing, and Linguistics and Education.
Citation:
Myskow, G. (2023). The buried grammar of racial injustice and the pedagogical practices for unearthing it. In G. P. Glasgow (Ed.), Multiculturalism, language, and race in English education in Japan: Agency, pedagogy, and reckoning (pp. 250–275). Candlin & Mynard ePublishing. https://doi.org/10.47908/26/10
Racially problematic views are not typically inscribed explicitly on the surface of pedagogic texts as positively/negatively charged lexical choices (evaluations). Instead, they are often construed covertly through grammatical choices of authors. Developing students’ ability to interrogate their pedagogic texts for underlying assumptions about race requires deliberate instructional attention and appropriate conceptual tools. Systemic Functional Linguistics, with its fine-grained analytical tools, is well-suited for digging into texts and mining underlying ideologies. Drawing on insights from systemic functional grammar, this paper presents a series of six practical grammatical analysis activities. A key takeaway from the chapter is that although the materials analyzed in it are advanced, grammatical analysis need not be overly challenging for learners. The often highly-developed grammatical metalanguage that many learners in the Japanese EFL context already possess can be a valuable scaffolding resource for helping them understand not just what English grammar is, but what it does.
About the Contributor
Gordon Myskow, Ph.D., is Assistant Director of the MA TESOL Program at Kanda University of International Studies. He has taught in various contexts, including secondary school and university levels in Japan. His research interests include functional linguistics and subject-matter instruction. His recent work has appeared in English for Specific Purposes, Journal of Second Language Writing, and Linguistics and Education.
Citation:
Myskow, G. (2023). The buried grammar of racial injustice and the pedagogical practices for unearthing it. In G. P. Glasgow (Ed.), Multiculturalism, language, and race in English education in Japan: Agency, pedagogy, and reckoning (pp. 250–275). Candlin & Mynard ePublishing. https://doi.org/10.47908/26/10
Information About the Book
Title: Multiculturalism, Language, and Race in English Education in Japan: Agency, Pedagogy, and Reckoning
Editor: Gregory Paul Glasgow
Publication date: March 2023
Read more...
Title: Multiculturalism, Language, and Race in English Education in Japan: Agency, Pedagogy, and Reckoning
Editor: Gregory Paul Glasgow
Publication date: March 2023
Read more...