Abstract

In this talk, I revisit language acquisition from a scalar perspective (e.g., De Costa & Canagarajah, 2016; Hogan-Brun & Hogan, 2013; Hult, 2016; Larsen-Freeman, 2018), reflecting on how all educational stakeholders are involved with language planning decisions. In his book Language Planning and Social Change, Cooper (1989) added language acquisition planning as a fundamental type of planning alongside corpus and status planning. The

successful management of language form (corpus) and language function (status), he offered, requires careful planning about language learning in order to develop capacities for individual language use in social context.

Drawing on a body of research about what can be characterized as situated language policy and planning (Hult, 2014, 2017; Siiner, Hult & Kupisch, 2018), I explore how language acquisition planning goes beyond curricula to encompass the full range of decision-making by educational stakeholders including teachers and students (e.g., Hult, 2018; Menken & García,

2010), parents and families (e.g., Smith-Christmas, 2016), and other community members (e.g., McCarty, 2011). I use examples from a variety of studies to demonstrate how language acquisition planning is relevant for these different stakeholders. I conclude with suggestions for raising awareness about language acquisition planning in the training of teachers and administrators and in outreach to parents and communities.