Thorny issues with academic language: A perspective from scientific practice

Abstract

A debate over the construct of academic language (AL) has engendered significant polarization in the field of language education. The issues at the heart of the AL debate are thorny and persistently elusive to resolve. Yet they are not unpredictable, particularly when viewed from the perspective of how scientific communities advance knowledge. In this article, we highlight two thorny issues with AL from the perspective of scientific practice: (a) the modeling issue and (b) the paradigm issue. For each issue, we discuss methodological and pedagogical implications using examples from research on language use in STEM education. Further, we analyze how the two thorny issues have manifested in other contentious debates in language education (cognitive-social debate, translanguaging vs. codeswitching). Finally, we propose ways forward in light of the thorny issues toward advancing our collective knowledge as a community of researchers and practitioners committed to the education of language minoritized students.