Talking “smart”: Academic language and indexical competence in peer interactions in an elementary classroom

Publication date: February 2020Source: Linguistics and Education, Volume 55Author(s): Meghan CorellaAbstractEducational linguists and educators have long challenged hegemonic ideologies of appropriateness and intellectual ability, and yet these ideologies continue to underpin many aspects of language education, including academic language theories and pedagogies. In this paper, I argue for an alternative perspective by outlining a framework for what I call “indexical competence,” which highlights how language users’ variously normative and creative language practices are indicative of their understandings of indexical meanings in discourse. I apply this framework to a discourse analysis of the indexically competent language practices of Noelle, a participant in an ethnographic study of a California second-grade classroom. The analysis demonstrates how Noelle's indexically competent use of both “academic” and “non-academic” language supported her participation in academic activities and her negotiation of social identities and relationships. I conclude by discussing some of theoretical and methodological implications of the study's findings and framework.
Source: Linguistics and Education - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research