[Edling] Special issue of System: Social Class/SES and Young Learners of English as a Global Language

[Peter Sayer]

Call for Papers for the upcoming special issue of System on “Social Class/SES and Young Learners of English as a Global Language”: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/system/call-for-papers/social-classsocial-economic-status-and-young-learners-of-eng


Special issue editors:

Yuko Goto Butler (University of Pennsylvania)
Peter Sayer (University of Texas at San Antonio)
Becky Huang (University of Texas at San Antonio)

One of the apparent effects of increasing globalization has been a growing gap in socioeconomic status (SES) worldwide. Since English proficiency has come to be perceived as closely tied to a modern self-image in many parts of the world, the interaction between SES and English learning is an area that needs to be closely investigated. While substantial research has been conducted on the role of SES in educational research, surprisingly, social class or socioeconomic stratification as a construct has received scant attention in second/foreign language development research.

The nexus between social class/SES and English learning is becoming evident even among younger children. In many countries, the recent and rapid expansion of early English programs has been premised on the notion that greater and earlier access to English will give people more opportunities. In East Asia, for example, the “shadow education” system heavily emphasizes English and places an economic burden on families who feel compelled to provide for cram school, tutors, and study abroad for their children.  In many so-called developing countries, the inclusion of English in the public primary curriculum is seen as a way of “leveling the playing field” in terms of students’ access to English instruction and opportunities for learning.

Given these contexts, the present special issue seeks empirical studies examining the role of social class/SES in English language education/learning among young learners (children up to 15 year-olds, but each author should set her/his own definition “young learners”).  The role of social class/SES in early English learning is particularly important in that it may have a long-lasting impact on children’s lives and that children are vulnerable to decisions that are often imposed by their parents and teachers.  We are interested in, but not limited to, the topics below, and we welcome submissions that conceptualize social class/SES from different disciplinary perspectives and come from variety of regions/contexts.

Possible topics:

  *   The relationship between social class/SES and learning experiences and outcomes (English proficiency, motivation, self-efficacy, etc.) in early English programs
  *   Characteristics of learning contexts and environments by social class/SES
  *   Access to shadow education such as cram schools/after-school programs, study abroad, English camps
  *   Parents’ perceptions on the return of investment of their children’s early English education in terms of social and economic mobility for their children
  *   Empirical studies that consider language policy issues from a social class/SES perspective
  *   Social class/SES and early English programs as a social justice issue
  *   Social class/SES and bilingual education (e.g., English immersion programs)
  *   Learning English as a global language among working-class immigrant or migrant children in multilingual settings
  *   Children’s varieties of English by social class in a community
  *   Social class/SES and children’s access to and use of technology in language learning (inside and outside of formal schooling)

Time Schedule

October 1, 2016: Abstract submission due (200 words)
October 15, 2016: Notifications sent for inviting full articles
January 20, 2017: Full manuscript (6500 words) due

Note that the acceptance of abstract does not guarantee for publication. There will be a regular peer review process for all the manuscripts submitted for the special issue.

Abstracts should be sent to: younglearner.specialissue at gmail.com<mailto:younglearner.specialissue at gmail.com>
Abstract due: October 1, 2016

The author guideline can be found in http://www.journals.elsevier.com/system

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