Volume 01 - Issue 1

Article An ecological approach to language pedagogy, programs, and departments

Authors
Swanson, Bridget; Levine, Glenn S.
Volume
Volume 01 - Issue 1
Date Issued
2020-10-15
Keywords
ecological approaches; complex dynamic systems theory; language program direction; language pedagogy
Publisher
University of Hawaii National Foreign Language Resource Center; (co-sponsored by American Association of University of Supervisors and Coordinators; Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition; Center for Educational Reources in Culture, Language, and Literacy; Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning; Open Language Resource Center; Second Language Teaching and Resource Center)
URI/DOI
10125/69841
PDF
Citation
Swanson, B., & Levine, G. S. (2020). An ecological approach to language pedagogy, programs, and departments. Second Language Research & Practice, 1(1), 65-85. http://hdl.handle.net/10125/69841
Record Details
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Abstract
Responding to persistent criticisms of post-secondary language education, this article frames the language program in an ecological perspective. The long-discussed curricular and administrative bifurcation of language departments is cast as a symptom rather than cause of tensions and limitations of post-secondary language education. Moving beyond binary categorization and a limited focus on the department, an ecological approach instead views the department as a complex dynamic system and postmodern and postcolonial theory as a macro-level component of the system that can serve as a counterforce to neoliberal pressures that undermine language education in the United States. Implications of an ecological approach are detailed, including proposals for it to become the new normal for pedagogy, language programs, and departments.