Prescriptivism in education: from language ideologies to listening practices

Linguistic prescriptivism is a deeply embedded feature of education, particularly schools, which are spaces marked by imbalances in power and the maintenance of white, middle-class values and language practices. In this chapter, we use genealogical methods to show how the historical foundations pertaining to the construction of the “standard language” in England continue to shape contemporary policy and practice. We adopt a language ideological framework to do so, taking a standard language and raciolinguistic perspective which critically examines the listening practices and anxieties of those in power. We frame prescriptivism as a language ideological phenomenon which carries material implications and consequences for marginalised speakers on the grounds of race and class. We pay particular attention to the constructed and arbitrary distinction between “standard” and “nonstandard” language in schools and the role that prescriptivism plays in the perpetuation and maintenance of this. Critiquing a variety of mechanisms including state-mandated curricula, professional standards for teachers and pedagogical approaches, we show how prescriptivism gets transformed from a standard language and raciolinguistic ideology into everyday practices which contributes to the ongoing suppression of marginalised groups. We also consider how prescriptivism operates not just as a mechanism of regulating spoken and written modes, but we offer an expanded view which includes the prescribing of other semiotic forms such as body positioning, gesture, movement, hair and clothing. Within this, we show how prescriptivism works as a deeply embedded, structural form of racialised and classed language policing which is enacted by policy makers, management, teachers, and students.