Part of University of Sheffield's Centre for International Pedagogical Research and Scholarship

Speakers: Esther Airemionkhale and Dr Ian Cushing

The language we use is part of how we present ourselves to the world, but also part of a complex tapestry that contributes to how "the world" views us - in society as well as in education. This talk brings together two voices discussing these complexities, with time for discussion at the end.

Esther Omonigho Airemionkhale works as an English Teacher in Hong Kong. She earned her MA in Language and Education from the University of Sheffield. Esther's research interests include language and identity in postcolonial Englishes, raciolinguistics and critical applied linguistics. Her current research focuses on the intersection of postcolonial Englishes, power dynamics and speaker identity. Esther will be discussing certain racialised ideologies behind the academic language and how code-switching serves as a tool for identity negotiation in academia.

Esther is currently exploring doctorate opportunities in educational and critical applied linguistics.

Dr Ian Cushing is Senior Lecturer in Critical Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. His work examines the intersections of language, race, and class in educational contexts, and how ideologies about language produce discourses of deficiency. His 2022 monograph, Standards, Stigma, Surveillance: Raciolinguistic Ideologies in England's Schools won the 2023 British Association of Applied Linguistics book prize.

In this commentary, Ian assumes a raciolinguistic perspective to critique the concept of academic language. Following Esther's work, he argues that academic language is a raciolinguistic ideology rooted in deficit assumptions about the language practices of racially marginalised and working-class communities. This argument is made in reference to his own fieldwork from schools in England and close observations of how perceptions of language co-construct perceptions of race and class.