Awkward questions: language issues in the 2011 census in England.

The 2011 Census in England broke new ground, as a question about language had never previously been asked. After stakeholder consultations and a series of trials, the census authority decided on two questions based on earlier censuses in the USA: one about the respondent’s ‘main language’ and anothe...

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Publicado en:Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 181 - 194
Autor principal: Sebba, Mark
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Mar2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        au: Sebba, Mark
        affil: Department of Linguistics, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK
      su:
        Census
        English language ability testing
        Monolingualism
        Questionnaires
        Test validity
        Acquisition of data
        United Kingdom
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        subj:
          United Kingdom
          Census
          English language ability testing
          Monolingualism
          Questionnaires
          Test validity
          Acquisition of data
      keyword:
        language policy
        multilingualism
        self-assessment of language proficiency
      ab: The 2011 Census in England broke new ground, as a question about language had never previously been asked. After stakeholder consultations and a series of trials, the census authority decided on two questions based on earlier censuses in the USA: one about the respondent’s ‘main language’ and another about proficiency in English. This paper provides a critique of the census questions, showing how the pressure to produce questions which were straightforward to answer and consistent with the predominant monolingual ideology led to the choice of two questions which were problematic in different ways. This raises doubts about the validity of the questions themselves and the usefulness of the data collected.
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    language: English
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