From common sense to a family of concepts: introducing the frameworks to define language ideology

Language ideology research in regards to language teaching is now a prevalent research domain with expanding views and insights concerning how language ideology impacts various social arenas (e.g., Green-Eneix, 2025; Sah & Uysal, 2025; Spitzmüller, 2024). Scholars, researchers, and students in applied linguistics, language education, and related fields seeking to conduct research focusing on language ideologies will find plethora of not only empirical research but also reviews, books, and entire journals dedicated to the concept of language ideology making entering the conversation seem daunting (e.g., Kroskrity, 2021; Rosa & Burdrick, 2016; Wiley, 2014; Woolard, 2021). This is exacerbated as the term language ideology takes on a multiplicity of views, theoretical stances, and fuzzy terminological choices, erecting a labyrinth of interpretation. I argue in this presentation that the field has framed language ideology through three primary conceptual frameworks: ideology-as-theory, ideology-as-critique, and ideology-as-practice. I achieved this aim in two ways. The first is by reviewing the literature that has been conceptualized and adopted in applied linguistics across these three overlapping orientations. Then, the second way is by presenting how these frameworks inform the methodological choices and the way language ideologies are identified across three studies. In achieving these aims, I call on (future) researchers examining language ideologies to distinguish their operationalization of language ideology by distinguishing what orientation that are taking. Lastly, I propose areas emerging related to the way language ideologies are shaped by our experiences, materialized in our communities and professions, and assembled to shape our immediate performance.