1 Languages, gender, status and marginalisation

When a language is seen to have high status and importance, access to it can be limited for learners who are marginalised, and learners who have restricted opportunities or roles in society.

These learners may be:

• girls and women
• learners from minority ethnic communities
• learners from language minority groups
• learners living in poverty
• learners who have experienced forced migration.

Social and cultural contexts affect how we experience languages and language learning. Social and cultural expectations influence what we do with our languages. The value of a language will vary for individuals and groups, depending on how and why they use the language, and how they are expected to use the language by others.

Attitudes to languages are influenced by what teachers, families, girls and boys see as the status and purposes of the languages and interactions of language, gender, status and marginalisation can be noticeable where English is the medium of school instruction.

Think of examples from your own experience:

• Are some languages in your context more important than others?
• Are there languages that are considered to be more important for men, and languages that are considered more important for women?
• In your context, why do some students learn English, but not others?
• Are there different expectations for girls and boys, or for certain groups of students, when it comes to learning and using English?
• What do learners in your context hope to do with their languages?

With these ideas in mind, now read from the EMEGen research.