Abstract
The concept ‘language legitimacy’, which entails issues of social class, ethnicity and culture as well as those of dominance and power, is a very important one with implications for both educational policy and practice. This article begins with a brief discussion of the two major ways in which the concept of ‘language legitimacy’ has been used in the scholarly literature (i.e., sociologically and linguistically), and while recognizing the validity of both approaches, emphasizes the significance of the linguistic understanding of the concept. It then provides a critique of manifestations of ‘language legitimacy’ in educational discourse, arguing that the underlying assumptions of the concept are not defensible. Finally, it raises the question of the implications of ‘language legitimacy’ for the linguistic human rights of students