Bonny NORTON

From Precis

Bonny Norton, born and raised in South Africa in the turbulent apartheid years, learnt at an early age the complex relationship between language, power, and identity. As a reporter for the student newspaper at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, she investigated the draconian language policies of the state, which sought to impose the Afrikaans language on resistant Bantu-speaking students in apartheid schools. Bonny’s interest in language and social justice has been fuelled by her language research in different parts of the world, including southern and eastern Africa, south Asia, and North America. She is centrally concerned with the ways in which language research can address larger social inequities, and make a difference to language learners and teachers at grassroots level. As such, her research addresses a wide range of topics, including identity and language learning, critical literacy, and language planning. Her most recent research is focused on east Africa, and she has helped to set up a research network and website (http://www.renafrica.org) to promote and disseminate research on applied linguistics and literacy in Africa and the diaspora. Currently a professor in language and literacy education at the University of British Columbia, she is also affiliated with the University of the Witwatersrand and King’s College, University of London. Further details of her work can be found on her website at http://www.lerc.educ.ubc.ca/fac/norton .