I've got a gut feeling that I'd regret not choosing Spanish’. A critical discourse analysis of language option choice discussions on Mumsnet and Studentroom

TY - JOUR

T1 - I've got a gut feeling that I'd regret not choosing Spanish’. A critical discourse analysis of language option choice discussions on Mumsnet and Studentroom

AU - Lanvers, Ursula

AU - Lambrechts, Agata

AU - Crosswaite, Madeline

N1 - © 2019 Association for Language Learning. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2019/12/27

Y1 - 2019/12/27

N2 - Like other anglophone countries, the UK is experiencing a language‘crisis’, in that fewer and fewer students opt to study a foreign language (FL)beyond the compulsory phase, and that the UK’s language skills do notmatch its economic needs. Despite strong statements of commitmentsto increase FL uptake, decline in FL uptake in the UK’s four nationspersists. In a novel approach, this study investigates how keystakeholders (parents, students) discuss whether to continue with FLstudy beyond the compulsory phase on the internet platforms Mumsnetand Studentroom. The researchers undertook a thematic analysis ofthreads relevant to this topic on these platforms, in two equal-sizedcorpora from Mumsnet and Studentroom respectively. The analysis ofstakeholders’ stances towards both current, and wished for, FL policiesand practices is then utilised to formulate five FL policy suggestions thatrespect stakeholders’ preferences and concerns, and could lead tofacilitating the choice for a FL beyond the compulsory phase.

AB - Like other anglophone countries, the UK is experiencing a language‘crisis’, in that fewer and fewer students opt to study a foreign language (FL)beyond the compulsory phase, and that the UK’s language skills do notmatch its economic needs. Despite strong statements of commitmentsto increase FL uptake, decline in FL uptake in the UK’s four nationspersists. In a novel approach, this study investigates how keystakeholders (parents, students) discuss whether to continue with FLstudy beyond the compulsory phase on the internet platforms Mumsnetand Studentroom. The researchers undertook a thematic analysis ofthreads relevant to this topic on these platforms, in two equal-sizedcorpora from Mumsnet and Studentroom respectively. The analysis ofstakeholders’ stances towards both current, and wished for, FL policiesand practices is then utilised to formulate five FL policy suggestions thatrespect stakeholders’ preferences and concerns, and could lead tofacilitating the choice for a FL beyond the compulsory phase.

U2 - 10.1080/09571736.2019.1702085

DO - 10.1080/09571736.2019.1702085

M3 - Article

SN - 0957-1736

JO - Language Learning Journal

JF - Language Learning Journal

ER -