Language Acquisition and Power: A Theoretical Framework

Language acquisition refers to both learning and teaching a language. It might be argued that both learning and teaching are two sides of the same coin; that a teacher teaches a language while a learner learns it. However, that is not how the terms are used here. When one talks of learning one’s focus is on demand. People are willing to learn a language; they demand it. The process of teaching is a response to this demand. The focus on teaching, on the other hand, looks at the supply side. In an open-market situation public demand will create and condition supply. In other situations, however, such an equation will not hold. One may force the teaching of a language by decree and offer no choice. In such cases one would be justified in concentrating only on teaching and not on learning because it would no longer be possible not to appear to learn a language which is being forcibly taught though, of course, it would be possible to resist it in various ways.