Abstract: | This paper picks up and discusses issues regarding the relationship between language and practice commented upon by Michael Fielding in an earlier edition of this journal. The position taken is sympathetic to Fielding's concerns but attempts to situate the debate in a wider theoretical perspective. The basic thrust of the argument centres around two considerations: the extent to which language may be said to be partly constitutive of educational practices and a radical misconception as to the nature of education inherent in what Fielding labels 'the language of performativity'. |