Pedagogy and Practiced Language Policies: The Case of Mandarin Language Teaching in Scottish Primary Schools

This chapter examines how the notion of “practiced language policy” can be applied in the domain of foreign language teaching. Specifically, it focuses on a primary school Mandarin classroom in Scotland, where the Mandarin teacher is a locally trained Scottish teacher. Through a Conversation Analysis of classroom interactions audio-recorded over a period of 12 weeks, this study highlights the norms of language choice in that classroom. This set of norms is detached from the language education policy texts and discourses. Notably, the research reveals the interplay between the norms of language choice and the pedagogical frames at play in that classroom. The aim of this study is to contribute to the underexplored relationship between practiced language policy and pedagogy.