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Ideas, power and agency: policy actors and the formulation of language-in-education policy for multilingualism

Erdocia, Iker orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-2459-1346, Nocchi, Susanna orcid logoORCID: 0000-0003-1389-8035 and Ruane, Mary (2022) Ideas, power and agency: policy actors and the formulation of language-in-education policy for multilingualism. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development . ISSN 0143-4632

Abstract
The processes of formulation of language policies have not been researched thoroughly. This paper aims to explore the relationship between ideas, power and agency in language policy-making and specifically with reference to the formulation of language-in-education policy for multilingualism in Ireland. Through an argumentative approach to language policy and using a discursive institutionalist framework, the paper examines data from policy documents and interviews with policy actors in the Department of Education and Skills. The paper reports on the ways in which agentive discourses are constrained and enabled by institutional structures. The analysis shows how power resulting from asymmetric internal forces and the hierarchical architecture of institutions prevailed over the capacity of some actors to promote their ideas through discourse. Moreover, it shows how static ideational elements are powerful structural constraints on agency. The paper argues for a conceptualisation of actors in policy-making as agentive individuals who engage in a dynamic struggle over ideas to realise complex and changing policy goals. It concludes by claiming that a focus on discursive forms of power in the policy analysis at the so-called macro level would be beneficial for language policy scholarship.
Metadata
Item Type:Article (Published)
Refereed:Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:Language policy and planning; language-in-education policy; language policy-making; Ireland; bilingualism; education policy
Subjects:Humanities > Irish language
Humanities > Language
Humanities > Linguistics
Social Sciences > Education
Social Sciences > Multiculturalism
Social Sciences > Public administration
DCU Faculties and Centres:DCU Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Science > School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies
Publisher:Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
Official URL:https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2022.2077352
Copyright Information:© 2022 The Authors.
Funders:Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Dublin City University
ID Code:27275
Deposited On:27 May 2022 11:46 by Iker Erdocia Iniguez . Last Modified 15 Mar 2023 15:04
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