Language Incompetence

"This is a ground-breaking book, situated at the intersection of disability studies and applied linguistics. Suresh Canagarajah writes about important contemporary themes. He argues for a non-deficit perspective, where English language students are no longer seen as needing remediation. He criticizes applied linguists’ exclusive reliance on western discourse and knowledge-making practices. He establishes the importance of social networks, material resources, and distributed practice in the emergence of meaning. He calls for researchers to engage in ethical inquiry, consistent with several recent reminders that applied linguists should seek to solve problems in the real world. In short, this is a thought-provoking book—a memoir sure to spark much discussion."

Diane Larsen-Freeman, University of Michigan, USA

"Reading Language Incompetence is a unique experience – we encounter a very different author than what we usually expect when we read academic literature. Indeed, this is a very different author than the Suresh Canagarajah that we have known from his academic literature. But there is incredible strength embodied in the anomalies of this book, just as the author argues for the strength in anomalous embodiment more generally. Most impressive is the honesty with which Canagarajah recounts his engagement with disability, through layers of internalized ableism, grappling and often struggling with the ways that our academic discourses suffice, and do not suffice, to recognize the very real vulnerability of our bodies and minds. Language Incompetence should be read by any student or scholar invested in the reliability and normativity of linguistics, of science, of rhetoric – Canagarajah will gently replace their desire for precision and certainty with something much more human."

Jay Dolmage, Professor of English, University of Waterloo, Canada; Editor, Canadian Journal of Disability Studies