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Revered and reviled : an outline of the public debate regarding classical language education

Alexandra Vereeck (UGent) , Evelien Bracke (UGent) , Katja De Herdt (UGent) and Mark Janse (UGent)
(2024) JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING. 25(50). p.101-115
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Abstract
The value of classical language education is subject to a fierce dispute, waged continuously and internationally. While some dismiss Classics as useless or elitist, others herald its extraordinary formative value and the many benefits that await pupils. This article aims to give a novel overview of the public debate regarding classical language education, which is defined as follows: the controversy about the instruction of Latin and/or Ancient Greek at the secondary educational level, as it emerges from Western traditional media in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The reader is provided with historical insight into this debate that many classicists find themselves in the middle of, as well as with a logical and coherent framework of the various arguments pro and contra. The arguments are embedded in the history of classical language education, classified into categories, analysed and discussed at length. The classification of arguments hinges on the two main lines of criticism towards the study of classical languages, which are inspired by egalitarianism and utilitarianism respectively. As a backdrop to the analysis, we rely on the sociolinguistic theory of language ideology. The general conclusions of this paper are that the value of classical language education is indeed a highly ideologically charged matter, and that the surrounding public debate has known a remarkably high level of continuity.
Keywords
classical language education, public debate, language ideology, educational equity, transfer value, MENTAL DISCIPLINE, LATIN, SAT, STUDENTS, GRAMMAR

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MLA
Vereeck, Alexandra, et al. “Revered and Reviled : An Outline of the Public Debate Regarding Classical Language Education.” JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING, vol. 25, no. 50, 2024, pp. 101–15, doi:10.1017/S2058631024000424.
APA
Vereeck, A., Bracke, E., De Herdt, K., & Janse, M. (2024). Revered and reviled : an outline of the public debate regarding classical language education. JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING, 25(50), 101–115. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631024000424
Chicago author-date
Vereeck, Alexandra, Evelien Bracke, Katja De Herdt, and Mark Janse. 2024. “Revered and Reviled : An Outline of the Public Debate Regarding Classical Language Education.” JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING 25 (50): 101–15. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631024000424.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Vereeck, Alexandra, Evelien Bracke, Katja De Herdt, and Mark Janse. 2024. “Revered and Reviled : An Outline of the Public Debate Regarding Classical Language Education.” JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING 25 (50): 101–115. doi:10.1017/S2058631024000424.
Vancouver
1.
Vereeck A, Bracke E, De Herdt K, Janse M. Revered and reviled : an outline of the public debate regarding classical language education. JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING. 2024;25(50):101–15.
IEEE
[1]
A. Vereeck, E. Bracke, K. De Herdt, and M. Janse, “Revered and reviled : an outline of the public debate regarding classical language education,” JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING, vol. 25, no. 50, pp. 101–115, 2024.
@article{01HRMVA029QV3RFR9RQZ8R4NZA,
  abstract     = {{The value of classical language education is subject to a fierce dispute, waged continuously and internationally. While some dismiss Classics as useless or elitist, others herald its extraordinary formative value and the many benefits that await pupils. This article aims to give a novel overview of the public debate regarding classical language education, which is defined as follows: the controversy about the instruction of Latin and/or Ancient Greek at the secondary educational level, as it emerges from Western traditional media in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The reader is provided with historical insight into this debate that many classicists find themselves in the middle of, as well as with a logical and coherent framework of the various arguments pro and contra. The arguments are embedded in the history of classical language education, classified into categories, analysed and discussed at length. The classification of arguments hinges on the two main lines of criticism towards the study of classical languages, which are inspired by egalitarianism and utilitarianism respectively. As a backdrop to the analysis, we rely on the sociolinguistic theory of language ideology. The general conclusions of this paper are that the value of classical language education is indeed a highly ideologically charged matter, and that the surrounding public debate has known a remarkably high level of continuity.}},
  author       = {{Vereeck, Alexandra and Bracke, Evelien and De Herdt, Katja and Janse, Mark}},
  issn         = {{1741-7627}},
  journal      = {{JOURNAL OF CLASSICS TEACHING}},
  keywords     = {{classical language education,public debate,language ideology,educational equity,transfer value,MENTAL DISCIPLINE,LATIN,SAT,STUDENTS,GRAMMAR}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{50}},
  pages        = {{101--115}},
  title        = {{Revered and reviled : an outline of the public debate regarding classical language education}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1017/S2058631024000424}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}

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