Language pedagogy in the United States: A comparative analysis of California and Tennessee through the European lens.
Abstract
The United States is a diverse backdrop of languages, cultures, and geographic landscapes. As a result, the 50 states vary greatly.
An especially overt contributor to this diversity is the concept of states' rights, as set forth in the 10th amendment of the American constitution, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" (Lawson & Shapiro, 2021). Due to this foundational aspect of American politics, individual states have a significant amount of agency to set laws and guidelines in a wide variety of sectors.
The education sector is especially varied with each state setting its own standards and curricula, as well as implementing unique centralized exams at the state level. As such, language learning and teaching in the United States presents a varied landscape of languages and language learners.