A sociolinguistics of the utopian and the use of language in classrooms

The notion of the Utopian use of language in classrooms was developed and applied as a theoretical tool during the empirical study of language in classrooms. It is claimed that a notion like this may turn out to be particularly profitable when the purpose is to interpret and characterize the content and consequences of a certain use of language. It enables us to present the results of the interpretation in a form that facilitates the proposal of alternative ways of using language by the persons involved - in this case, by the teachers. A sample from the interpretations is presented, and the conclusion is ventured that it is necessary to anchor the sociolinguistic descriptions of actual language use in a sociological conception of the relevant social praxis - in our case taken from the sociology of education.