Diverse Voices in a Second Language Classroom: Burlesque, Parody and Mimicry

Abstract

Competence has been theorised as the appropriation of voices that have audibility and status within specific social contexts. In this study, I employ this approach to examine how students in a second language classroom deploy linguistic and cultural resources to both resist and appropriate aspects of the teacher's voices. A key episode is analysed to show the nuances of students' ventriloquation of diverse voices (not normally associated with traditional classroom talk) to construct a complex social order and shifting strategic identities.