Social inclusion through multilingual ideologies, policies and practices: a case study of a minority church

Abstract

Adopting a materialist and processual approach to language and specifically multilingualism, this paper explores what language ideologies a minority, non-educational institution embraced and how this facilitated social inclusion through constructing institutional multilingualism within societal monolingualism. Specifically, I document how a Chinese church in English-dominant Canada developed institutional multilingualism over time by adopting multiple languages institutionally, allowing code-switching in various events, and assigning speaking roles based on identities beyond linguistic performance. Examining the socioeconomic conditions that made multilingual ideologies, policies and practices commonsense at that church, I discuss the implementational and ideological spaces that may be opened up, as well as the challenges they presented for individuals and institutions. In order to further the social inclusion agenda, I argue for making the materialist and processual view of multilingualism more accessible and operational to the general public, and particularly to educational practitioners.