Sian Preece

Language, Society and Power is the essential introductory text for students studying language in a variety of social contexts.

This book examines the ways in which language functions, how it influences thought and how it varies according to age, ethnicity, class and gender. It seeks to answer such questions as: How can a language reflect the status of children and older people? Do men and women talk differently? How can our use of language mark our ethnic identity? It also looks at language use in politics and the media and investigates how language affects and constructs our identities, exploring notions of correctness and attitudes towards language use.

Michael Fielding has written about the dangers of over-emphasis on the functional in schooling and a subordination of the personal. He wrote of, ‘… the need to situate our work within an historical context that requires judgement about matters of significance and purpose, not mere efficiency and effectiveness …’ (Fielding 2007, p. 383). The research findings presented here were analysed using this framework within the context of teachers’ professional learning. We drew on interview data from 11 teachers who, as one part of their professional development, were undertaking MA degrees in education. We explored: how far they saw the personal as the ultimate aim in education; the functional in relation to personal in teacher development; transformation and dynamism within teacher learning, which reflected the personal; and the role of challenge and critical reflection within the functional to serve the personal. The MAs our teachers engaged in seemed to provide opportunities for learning that reflected personal goals. These included: the spaces to interact with teachers from a range of backgrounds; encouragement to explore existing published educational research; provision of teaching that could provide a model for their own practice; and support for carrying out action research into an area of practice that each individual found important.