Abstract
Abstract The two notions of scope and access connect an understanding of societal multilingualism in a socio-economic context (linguistic relations) with the analysis of individual multilingualism (linguistic repertoires and linguistic practice). These notions produce a theoretical framework for discussing sociolinguistic inequalities that links the macro-level of social relations with the micro perspective of specific individuals and practices. Linguistic relations are dynamic and can undergo abrupt changes that urge multilingual speakers to restructure their linguistic repertoires to adapt to altered linguistic relations. With the help of the concepts of access and scope, we can describe which social functions specific linguistic resources have (scope) and how speakers are positioned to acquire these resources (access). This describes the relation of speakers to their linguistic resources as currently (un)available (scope) and potentially (un)learnable (access), depending on the social context in which they are practiced. Using these notions as a theoretical framework, this text discusses two scenarios of change connected to mobility and immobility illustrated with examples from research in the Republic of Moldova. The first case is one of ruptured sociolinguistic relations because of drastic changes in a state’s language policies with which immobile speakers are confronted. A highly qualified Moldovan labor migrant in Italy serves as an example of mobility.
Highlights
The two notions of scope and access connect an understanding of societal multilingualism in a socio-economic context with the analysis of individual multilingualism
These notions produce a theoretical framework for discussing sociolinguistic inequalities that links the macro-level of social relations with the micro perspective of specific individuals and practices
This paper presents a theoretical framework that describes what linguistic resources and linguistic practice mean for the positioning of individuals in the context of social relations that can be used to explain processes that mobile multilingual adults face
Summary
(1) Ştiţi / cum să vă spun / eram / am făcut şi aşa lucruri cînd toată ziua nu vorbeai cu nimeni [...] sau de exmplu am făcut doi ani tot baby sitter cu o. Her linguistic repertoire had less scope within these linguistic. Contrasting cases of mobility such as Viorela’s with cases of immobility, this article presents a theoretical approach to describing linguistic inequalities with the help of the notions of scope and access These two hinge notions connect descriptions of societal multilingualism in a socio-economic context (linguistic relations) with the analysis of individual multilingualism (linguistic repertoires and linguistic practice). She is one of several thousand highly qualified Moldovan labor migrants working in households in Italy She is an example of circular migration that requires constant adaptation to different and sometimes new linguistic relations
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