THE POLITICS OF PLURALISM AND ASSIMILATIONIST POLICY IN ANN ARBOR'S BLACK ENGLISH TRIAL: SOCIOLINGUISTICS AS A POLICY SCIENCE

C. Jan Swearingen, David L. Jacobs and James Sledd

Review of Policy Research, 1981, vol. 1, issue 1, 111-132

Abstract: Sociolinguistics has generally promoted assimilationkt language policy even though many sociolinguists are ardent supporters of cultural and linguistic pluralism, and have been politically active in support of the languages and cultures of their research subjects. The 1978 Ann Arbor Black English Trial‐the King decision depended heavily upon the testimony given by sociolinguists in support of the plaintiffs, who argued that they had been denied an equal educational opportunity. The King decision exemplifies a problematic and unresolved conflict between linguistic research as a descriptive enterprise and applications of linguistic research which, by and large, implement assimilationkt language policy. Many sociolinguists favor the retention of cultural and linguistic pluralism, yet their research is utilized to design programs which will promote literacy in standard written English. The King decision suggests that the participation of sociolinguists in policymaking processes simultaneously improves the data base underlying policy decisions, and complicates the implementation of new policy by disseminating linguistic data which clash with mainstream cultural values, thereby generating a backlash against the new policy.

Date: 1981
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