Frowe, Ian (1999) Language, ideology and education. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between language and social reality. The position
argued for is one which sees language as having a constitutive role to play in the formation
and maintenance of the social world. It elaborates and develops a view expressed by Quentin
Skinner, namely, that language and the social world are mutually supportive and exist in a
state of dynamic interaction. Because language has this constitutive role in relation to the
social world attention to the use of language is important for the language we employ will be a
significant factor in determining the nature of that world.
The notion of ideology is defined in a critical sense as 'malign decontestation', i. e., the
presentation of that which is contestable as if there were only one legitimate perspective. The
concepts of absolutism and universalisation are taken as key ideological markers. Given the
constitutive role of language, the identification of ideological language becomes important
because aspects of the social world which are informed by such a language will reflect the
errors inherent in the linguistic structures themselves. One of the central arguments of the
thesis is that ideological language often arises when insufficient attention is paid to the
ontological differences between activities whose subject matter is the natural world and those
whose subject matter is the social world.
There is a focus on educational issues because the impetus for this thesis arose out of a
growing unease with the nature of the language used in relation to this topic. Although a
concern with the language of education is not uncommon, the full significance of the language
we use in this area is often unacknowledged because the necessary theoretical background is
absent. It is the main purpose of this thesis to provide a philosophical justification for this
concern.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Language and culture, Language and education, Ideology
Official Date:	September 1999
Dates:	Date Event September 1999 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Philosophy
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	191 p.
Language:	eng

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