Abstract
In this article, we explore the emergence of a new translingual repertoire among young adolescents of Moroccan and Algerian origin in Galicia and the role it plays in reconstructing the transnational identity of young people within the Maghrebi diaspora. The data include a multimodal corpus with spoken and written interactions, collected as part of a classroom action research project, in which each student reconstructed their family and school language repertoire, as well as a WhatsApp group chat set up with the same young people. The results of our analysis reveal how the intercrossing of parental and adolescent agency plays a crucial role in dealing with the new multilingual translingual repertoire. The findings also indicate how this repertoire is deeply rooted in Moroccan Arabic as the family language and the incorporation of local languages, namely Spanish and Galician, and relies heavily on translingual multimodal practices, associated with transnational trajectories and the local schooling process of these young people.
Highlights
We explore how a new translingual repertoire has emerged among young adolescents of Moroccan and Algerian origin in Galicia and the role of the new communicative repertoire in addressing issues of identity (Moustaoui Srhir 2016, 2019a; Pereiro et al 2017)
We have shown how young people of Maghrebi origin form a visible community of practice within the school context, generating new knowledge through shared experiences that enables them to cooperatively acquire and create new hybrid communicative practices, such as Arabizi and the so-called el mezclado (“mix”)
We have observed their widespread use in digital communicative practice of Arabizi, a non-standardized script system that consists of using the Latin alphabet to write Arabic or Dariya
Summary
We explore how a new translingual repertoire has emerged among young adolescents of Moroccan and Algerian origin in Galicia and the role of the new communicative repertoire in addressing issues of identity (Moustaoui Srhir 2016, 2019a; Pereiro et al 2017). Languages 2019, 4, 63 and Spanish (Galician, Venezuelan, Uruguayan, Argentinean, or Colombian Spanish), Moroccan and Algerian Arabic, Amazigh, French, Wolof, Russian, Romanian, and Portuguese, amongst other languages These languages and varieties form symbolic frames of self-identification and self-affirmation (Bourdieu 1977) and are of particular relevance amongst young people of Maghrebi origin, some of whom, they were born in Galicia, comprise a strong allochthonous group within the community and the educational environment, both in terms of their number and social visibility. This contrasts with other varieties of Arabic and Amazigh, for which the language skills of the respondents are lower: 18 respondents claimed to have an intermediate/advanced knowledge of other Arabic varieties—a number that drops to just 13 in the case of the Amazigh language Within this educational context, the Maghrebi group can be considered to form a community of practice (Wenger 2001), in which its members forge a network of dense, multiple social relationships (Milroy 1980), in which young people of Moroccan origin exert a strong leadership. What are the underlying processes involved in addressing this new translingual repertoire?
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