Language, Prejudice, Awareness, and Resistance

As an introduction to the themed special volume on Language and Prejudice, this short editorial highlights aspects related to prejudice within, through, and towards language as well as how prejudice and stereotyping can affect our perception of language. We provide short summaries of the articles included in the volume and contextualise these within the general thematic framework. The article also discusses the roles and responsibilities of language studies in raising awareness of issues related to language and prejudice, and how this forms part of a more general resistance against xenophobia and sexism.

Ebonics: The Debate Which Never Happened

The thesis of this paper is that no substantive and impartial debate about the pedagogical value of using Ebonics in the classroom could be held in the United States media because America's prescriptive attitude towards Ebonics does not allow fair and objective consideration of the issue. In presenting this theme I will discuss language ideologies in general and prescription in particular as a common attitude towards language. Prescription with respect to Ebonics usually takes the form of language prejudice. I will conclude with an introduction to one area of language planning, status planning, in which language planners try to improve the status of a dialect or language by selecting a goal, planning the necessary research, and devising a marketing or diffusion plan.