Lowe (2020) writes about the term "native speaker" as a social construct, which means...

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Exploring Lowe (2020) and the notion of a social construct around the term "native speaker" requires inspecting what the term is commonly linked to and what it is not.
Option 1: "Native speaker" is a useful category for deciding if someone needs to take ESL classes or not. This view treats native speakers as a clear cut criterion for language instruction needs, which aligns with a prescriptive, score-based approach rather than a social-construct view. It ignores the complexities of multilingual competence and can reinforce gatekeeping, so this option does not capture the social-constructed, nuanced perspective Lowe highlights.
Option 2: If we look at what language someone spoke from childhood, we can determine whether they are a "native speaker" or not. This line of thought implies a fixed, biologically determined status based on early exposure, overlooking the social dimensions and ongoing development of language use. It reinforces essentialist ideas rather than the analytic focus on social factors and power dynamics that a social-construction lens emphasizes.
Option 3: The term "native speaker" relates to assumptions about proper/prescriptive rules about English and other social factors, such as race and nationality. This choice foregrounds the core idea of Lowe’s discussion: the term is entangled with normative judgments about correctness and with social categorizations (race, nationality) that shape who is deemed a “proper” user of English. It reflects how language ideology operates beyond linguistic competence to include social organization and power.
Option 4: The term "native speaker" can be applied if someone meets specific criteria, but if they don't, then we use other social factors to decide how proficient their English is. This option tries to frame native-speaker status as criterion-based but then shifts to measuring proficiency via social judgments, which still relies on external, constructed criteria rather than a critical, sociolinguistic understanding of how the term operates in society. It mixes criteria with social judgments in a way that can obscure the social-construct perspective Lowe emphasizes.

In summary, Option 3 directly engages with the central claim that the label "native speaker" rests on normative assumptions and social classifications, rather than purely linguistic facts. The other options describe more essentialist or prescriptive uses or imply a rigid criterion, which conflicts with the social-construct interpretation and its critique of biases tied to race, nationality, and prescriptivism.

ling_222_120251_246103 Week 5 Reading Quiz

Lowe (2020) writes about the term "native speaker" as a social construct, which means...

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