This presentation will examine how politicians in the United States apply neo-nationalism to the language-in-education policies they support. The study applies critical discourse analysis to publicly available state-level policy proposals pertaining to language-in-education policies for second/foreign language learners.
What makes neo-nationalism unique from conventional understandings of nationalism is the hyper-attention to border maintenance and internal homogeneity within spaces of established nationalized boundaries (Eger & Valdez, 2015). Over the last decade, political parties across global spaces have utilized neo-nationalist ideology to attain increasing levels of political legitimacy. One such location is the United States of America. Politicians at the national and state levels in the United States can be observed using neo-nationalist ideology in public statements to justify legislative proposals on a range of issues. One issue of interest for neo-nationalism is that of language-in-education policy, especially as it pertains to second/foreign language learners. This is because language is commonly recognized within nationalism as a key platform of cultivating and maintaining a shared nationalized essence. This presentation will examine how politicians in the United States apply neo-nationalism to the language-in-education policies they support. The study applies critical discourse analysis to publicly available state-level policy proposals pertaining to language-in-education policies for second/foreign language learners. Organized as case studies, the analysis will illustrate how neo-nationalist ideology can inform decision-making in state governments, the locus of education policy for each state. References Eger, M. & Valdez, S. (2015). Neo-nationalism in Western Europe. European Sociological Review, 31(1), 115-130.
