26.33, Review: Applied Linguistics: Nicholas, Starks (2014)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-26-33. Sat Jan 03 2015. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 26.33, Review: Applied Linguistics: Nicholas, Starks (2014)

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Date: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 21:40:06
From: Laura Dubcovsky [ledubcovsky at ucdavis.edu]
Subject: Language Education and Applied Linguistics

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/25/25-1424.html

AUTHOR: Howard  Nicholas
AUTHOR: Donna  Starks
TITLE: Language Education and Applied Linguistics
SUBTITLE: Bridging the two fields
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2014

REVIEWER: Laura Dubcovsky, University of California, Davis

Review's Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

Language Education and Applied Linguistics: bridging the two fields provides a
starting point for a fruitful dialogue between disciplines.  Nicholas and
Starks offer a comprehensive framework called Multiplicity that integrates the
two fields in multilingual settings.  The book aims at reaching students,
pre-service and inservice teachers and researchers interested in language,
applied linguistics, and language and education. Among possible applications,
the framework will enable learners to explore their communicative repertoires,
engaging in their own language learning. It may also help educators examine
multiliteracy, digital literacies, and the development of plurilingualism.
Finally, it will help Applied Linguistics students synthesize theories and
relate them to sociolinguistic, multimodal and discourse analyses with new
lenses. 

The current book is divided into three parts that address “the what, the how
and the what for” of the two fields.  The first part focuses on the conceptual
framework of “Multiplicity” and is developed in four chapters. Chapter 1
establishes common theoretical grounds between language users, language
education and applied linguistics, and offers a communicative approach, using
language as a tool to bridge the disciplines. The authors depart from a
traditional view  of language based on the analysis of discrete elements,
because --they claim-- isolated features cannot represent the complex
communicative acts involved in education. 

In Chapter 2 and after marking a distinction between “societal reservoirs” and
“individual repertoires,” Nicholas and Starks describe the first two
dimensions of the communicative repertoire, which have physical/ technological
characteristics. While the dimension of “modes” includes sound, movement,
image and spatial orientation, the dimension of  “modalities” presents human
body, analogue, digital and digital control.  The authors observe that
elements, features and threads interact within the “self” and between the
individual and other people in order to create and augment the repertoire.

Chapter 3 describes the first social dimension. Nicholas and Starks explain
how varieties are influenced by spatial (macro and micro geopolitical),
personal (personal body and personal histories) and temporal (temporal
context) categories, all interconnected by threads of norms that manifest
themselves in any communicative act. The “self” selects and combines features
that may be closer or more distant from standardized norms, and which in turn
are also supported by teachers who accept or reject non-standard varieties in
the classroom. 

Chapter 4 describes macro text, micro text, activity, key, and otherness that
support the second social dimension of purposes.  Nicholas and Starks claim
that “self” chooses between macro texts and micro texts, according to specific
contexts and purposes, following the interlocutor thread. The dimension of
purpose may include formal or informal registers, approaching to or separating
from the expected social norms. For example, they observe that students and
teachers may use code-switching and acts of politeness to express shifts of
power within the classroom discourse. The authors conclude by encouraging more
explicit development of the dimension of purpose in current multicultural
classrooms, where interlocutors share fewer features.

The second part of the book, titled “Understanding Applied Linguistics,” is
developed in three chapters that attempt to apply the framework of
Multiplicity in plurilingual contexts. Chapter 5 focuses on additional
language acquisition. Nicholas and Starks start by revisiting definitions,
roles, and possible tensions between cognition and society in language
acquisition processes.  They also offer visuals to demonstrate how the
cognitive and social forces influence additional language acquisition (Figures
5.1-5.4, pp 76-77). The authors outline relevant cognitive and social theories
and situate them in macro and micro geopolitical contexts, emphasizing that
analyses should follow integrative approaches to language. The chapter closes
with reflections about  concerns shared by the disciplines of language and
education, such as learners’ previous experiences, zone of proximal
development, interlanguages, language variation and dialects, and language
socialization.

Chapter 6 addresses additional language literacy in multilingual settings. 
Nicholas and Starks revise two major literacy approaches–contrastive rhetoric
and whole text–and enrich their analyses in light of the framework of
Multiplicity, using the four dimensional space of the communicative
repertoire. The authors also acknowledge previous work done by the New London
Group, among others, in the development of multimodal literacies (Cope and
Kalantzis 2000). Nicholas and Starks outline major tensions caused by the
acquisition of literacy in a diverse setting and offer a clear visual of
powerful and fragile literacies to illustrate the concept (Figure 6.1, p.
110). The authors also discuss relevant topics that may emerge under these
conditions, such as learners’ cultural and social adjustments, the role of
proficiency in non-written literacies for developing written literacy in the
new language, and the use of technology for developing writing and
interpretation. Finally they offer examples to illustrate easier or more
difficult additional languages to learn, such as Italian and Chinese
respectively, based on the relationship between sound/pronunciation and
image/letter recognition. 

Chapter 7 exposes Multiplicity as ways of thinking and doing in multilingual
settings.  Nicholas and Starks claim that “the self” needs to navigate
societal and individual tensions, balancing between complying with monolingual
norms and engaging with individuals’ and others’ communicative repertoires.
Figure 7.1 (p. 117) supports the conceptualization of complex interaction
through a visual of overlapping layers. According to the authors the framework
of Multiplicity will enable the individual to “notice, store, select, combine
and deploy features” (p 128), making explicit connections between the fields
of Applied Linguistics and Language and Education.

The third part explores the Multiplicity framework as a tool for
meta-awareness both for learners and the teachers. Chapter 8 starts by
refining labels drawn from education, neurology and psycholinguistics, such as
declarative and procedural knowledge, tacit and explicit knowledge, and
implicit and explicit knowledge. Then Nicholas and Sparks refer to
meta-language as a comprehensive communicative act, moving beyond traditional
perspectives that focus on grammatical or phonological awareness only. The
authors explain how learners can gain full control of the four dimensions of
the framework (modes, mediations, varieties and purposes), assert their own
voices, and expand their individual, local and global practices. 
Likewise teachers using Multiplicity may take into account macro and micro
geopolitical variations, become socially responsive, and advocate for
learners’ central role. Above all the use of this framework will help teachers
unpack themes of language education enabling their students to engage in
metalinguistic activities and critical analysis of learning practices. The
concluding remarks in Chapter 9 serve to emphasize the benefits of the
proposed communicative repertoire, which may pave a path for a productive
dialogue between language educators and applied linguists.

EVALUATION

“Language Education and Applied Linguistics: bridging the two fields” is an
accessible book for students and teachers who want to connect the two
disciplines from theoretical and practical perspectives. The comprehensive
concept of Multiplicity, based on the combination of societal resources and
individuals’ communicative repertoires, is the main contribution of the book.
Nicholas and Sparks provide a clear summary of the state of the art and give
sufficient historical context to introduce their construct. They develop the
four dimensions, in intricate relationships with elements, threads and
features. As a result, the proposed framework represents a dynamic continuum
that blurs boundaries between disciplines. This fluid tool becomes beneficial
for those interested in common zones between Language, Applied Linguistics and
Language Education.

The book is very well organized in three parts and nine chapters with
consistent patterns of term and concept definitions, and discussions of
historical and geopolitical contexts, emerging tensions, and practical
applications in the fields of Language and Education. Nicholas and Starks are
very careful in explaining labels throughout the book, not only to avoid
confusion or misinterpretation, but also to find common grounds of
understanding between the disciplinary fields. For example, they devote time
to elaborate on concepts, such as language as communicative act and literacy
in multilingual settings. They also refine particular terms used in the book,
such as “additional” [languages], “acquisition,” and “self,” and reexamine
linguistic perspectives, such as sociolinguistics, discourse analysis,
critical discourse and conversational analysis, in light of current
educational concerns. 

Other positive aspects are the figures that help the reader either follow new
concepts or visualize more easily complex connections. For example, Figure 2.1
(p. 17) clearly supports the dimensions of the communicative repertoire
including “self,” and Figure 4.2 (p. 69) helps understand elements, threads
and features of the communicative repertoire, while Figure 8.1 (p.134)
illustrates a complicated system of doing, knowing and saying through a
tripartite view of meta awareness.  Finally, the bibliographic references are
strategic and appropriately situated, encouraging further readings that may
enrich the suggested dialogue between disciplines.

In spite of the well-intentioned goals of engaging language educators and
applied linguists, the authors struggle at times to convey the information
needed to complement both robust fields of knowledge. In some cases,
paragraphs are very content-heavy, causing lay readers to feel overwhelmed by
the detailed information. On the other hand, in other paragraphs, information
is practically reduced to lists of references and succinct contexts, forcing
the reader to make connections and complete the content gaps through
background knowledge and previous experience with the topic. Moreover,
important links between language and education are lost or overlooked because
the authors have reduced space to make their explanations more explicit and
transparent, especially for a non-specialized audience.

Overall the book contributes to the scant literature on studies in the
intersection of Applied Linguistics and Language Education, especially by
explaining the commonalities it does between the two fields and showing
bridges between educational and linguistic matters. The framework of
Multiplicity offers a promising tool of analysis for further research on the
overlapping fields. Following the authors’ suggestions, future studies may
explore how “self” stores, selects, combines, and uses all the resources of
the communicative repertoire. Other studies may focus on teachers’ ability to
help learners engage in interaction with their linguistic selves. It would
also be beneficial to exploit the proposed framework to enhance teaching
methodologies and have more impact in current diverse classrooms. 

REFERENCES

Cope, B., and M. Kalantzis, eds. 2000. “Multiliteracies: Literacy Learning and
the Design of Social Futures”. London: Routledge.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Laura Dubcovsky is a lecturer and supervisor in the teacher education program
from The University of California, Davis. She has a Master’s in Education and
a PhD in Spanish linguistics with special emphasis on second language
acquisition. Her areas of interest combine the fields of language and
education. She is dedicated to the preparation of prospective Spanish/English
teachers, and has presented variants of the Spanish for Teachers course in
different forums. She analyzes linguistic features of both bilingual teachers
and children, drawing from a Systemic Functional Language approach, as in her
article, Dubcovsky, L. (2008). Functions of the verb decir (''to say'') in the
incipient academic Spanish writing of bilingual children. Functions of
Language, 15(2), 257-280.



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