Language Ideologies Research Articles

The Invisible Multilingualism of Post-Soviet Migration as a Challenge to the Theory of Translanguaging

This article proposes to look at the theory of translanguaging from the angle of its universality/non-universality, bringing into discussion a new empirical case - speech strategies and practices of highly educated multilingual migrants from the former USSR and multilingual residents of modern Russia. The authors conclude that people whose socialization took place in this region are characterized by rigid ideas about the language norm and authenticity, about the “purity” of languages and high standards of speaking them. These concepts apply to all languages, both native and foreign. Traditional and conservative language ideologies are widespread in the Soviet and post-Soviet area, which is the reason why translanguaging is often perceived as careless speech, incomplete language competence. In this sense, this regional case demonstrates the non-universality of translanguaging theory and the importance of contexts in which attitudes towards multilingualism, linguistic norm and related linguistic phenomena are formed. It is primarily the western democratic, postcolonial context of translanguaging practice and theory that explains why the language attitudes and speech behavior of residents of (post)Soviet region do not fit into it.

An Analysis of Code-Mixing Used by Azka Corbuzier on Youtube Channel

This research is aimed to analyze the types and the factors of code-mixing by Azka Corbuzier on two videos podcast YouTube channel. This research used a descriptive-qualitative method to analyze the data. The data of the research are from the utterances that contain words or phrases in code-mixing uttered by Azka Corbuzier as the speaker on the YouTube channel. The researcher found 125 data of code-mixing in Azka Corbuzier’s video podcast. The theory of Muysken (2000) is applied to identify the types of code-mixing in Azka Corbuzier’s podcast videos. Furthermore, the theory of Bhatia and Ritchie (2006) is used to determine the factor of code-mixing. The result of this research shows that the type of congruent lexicalization was the most common type of code-mixing found in the data. Meanwhile, the type of insertion was the least common type used by Azka Corbuzier. For the factor of code-mixing, participant roles and relationship factor was the most influential factor in code-mixing found in the data. Meanwhile, language attitude, dominance, and security were the least factors influencing Azka Corbuzier to use code-mixing. This research gives a contribution to sociolinguistics in terms of the code-mixing of a bilingual teenager.

Family Language Ideology in English and Academic Performance of Junior High School Students in Chongzuo City of Guangxi Border Areas

The study aimed to explore the family language ideology in English and academic achievement among junior high school students. By adopting a quantitative approach, data were collected from students. The findings indicated that students had a negative perception towards English as a destructive language, held a favorable view of English as a pluralistic language, and recognized its importance in embracing diversity but also perceiving it as relatively irrelevant to their local community. The results also revealed no significant relationship between students' perception of family language ideology and their English grades. The study highlighted the need for comprehensive language programs with differentiated instruction and interventions to enhance students' language proficiency. Recommendations include promoting multilingualism, enhancing cultural sensitivity and curriculum, involving community, implementing long-term research to delve into qualitative studies to gain deeper insights into language attitudes and academic performance among students, and considering the socio-cultural context.

Micro language planning in Mandarin-dominated Chinese language education: voices from dialect-background heritage learners in New Zealand

ABSTRACT The field of language policy and planning has seen increasing scholarly attention that explores social actors’ micro language planning towards a given language policy situation at the grassroots level. In educational contexts, teachers and educators are often considered pivotal locals whose agency, when enacted in micro language planning, can contribute to educational language policymaking. However, little attention has been given to learners – those on the receiving end of educational language policy. Situated in the current discourse concerning Mandarin-dominated Chinese language education, within the context of China’s promotion of Mandarin language learning, this study examines dialect-background heritage learners in a tertiary-level Mandarin Chinese language programme in New Zealand. By adopting the concept of micro language planning, this study explores how dialect-background heritage learners perceive and react in a Mandarin-dominated Chinese programme. The findings show that dialect-background learners exercise agency to interpret, implement, reject, and negotiate language policy according to their self-identified language needs. However, their ability to enact agency is also constrained by a series of social realities including socio-economic discourse, language ideology, language proficiency, and technology development. This study offers implications for language policy makers involved with different levels of Chinese language policy.

Perceptions of regional origin and social attributes of phonetic variants used in Iberian Spanish

AbstractSociodemographic information, such as a speaker’s regional origin, is intimately related to the judgments and social evaluations that listeners assign to that speaker. This association between linguistic form and social information can also lead to linguistic profiling, a harmful form of discrimination. The present study examines the geographic classifications and social attitudes attributed to ten phonetic variants used within regional varieties of Iberian (i.e., European) Spanish. We are specifically interested in understanding listeners’ geographical classifications and language attitudes held toward Andalusian Spanish, which is a less privileged regional variety spoken in Spain’s southern region, as compared to north-central Peninsular Spanish (NCPS). The results of an online survey show that 165 listeners were fairly consistent when geographically classifying Andalusian-sounding stimuli as originating from the south of Spain. Importantly, the respondents also attributed less favorable social meaning to the Andalusian-sounding stimuli in comparison to the NCPS-sounding stimuli. We link the findings to broader themes in sociolinguistics, such as language-based discrimination, linguistic insecurity, and the social motivations of language change.

A systematic review of research on translanguaging in EMI and CLIL classrooms

ABSTRACT The past decade witnesses a surge of empirical research on translanguaging in educational contexts of English medium instruction (EMI) and content and language integrated learning (CLIL). This systematic review analyses the methodological development, the theoretical underpinning and research themes of translanguaging in EMI and CLIL contexts. A search of five databases identified 103 publications on translanguging in EMI/CLIL contexts, published from April 2015 to May 2022. Among them, 66 were peer-reviewed journal articles, with research conducted in EMI/CLIL classrooms across various subject disciplines. In-depth analysis identifies five major research foci, including translanguaging practices in pedagogy, translanguaging practices and language ideology, translanguaging practices in teacher-student and/or peer interactions, and the effect of translanguaging practices on language and content learning. The review suggests a need of conducting more empirical research on translangugaing-oriented assessment in EMI/CLIL, the lack of which may lead to unsustainability of the discussions on the issues related to equity, repertoire and creativity in translanguaging pedagogy. Furthermore, more research is needed to explore translanguaging practices in EMI/CLIL with the affordance and constraint of digital practices, considering the increasing integration of digital technologies in learning and teaching. The implications of the findings for methodology, research directions, and pedagogy are discussed.

Loyalty as Language Attitude to Sustain Nusa Penida Balinese Language

The island of Nusa Penida is one of the islands in the province of Bali, Indonesia that has been known as a tourist destination. The research that was conducted in this island has the purposes of (1) finding out the language attitude of the people of Nusa Penida towards the three languages spoken on the island namely the Indonesian language, Nusa Penida dialect of the Balinese language (NPB) as well as foreign languages and (2) the factors that make the condition as it is at present. This research is very important to find out the recent condition of NPB to be used as the authority as the bases of making language policy. The respondents of this research were taken from three different generations to see the system of language transfer and to find out how much of the language is spoken these days. The findings show that NPB is still spoken in all generations in vital domains like household, social, traditional and religious activities as well as at school (outside classroom); the reasons for the strength of NPB are the type of tourism they mostly have, their loyalty to the language considering that it is used as a symbol of ethnicity, and their pride of being the people of Nusa Penida, the island that is famous for its religious as well as ecotourism.

Which side are you on? The role of attitudes in reasoning practices in student-group interactions regarding a socio-scientific issue related to climate change

ABSTRACT While researchers have stressed the importance of engaging students in activities that enhance their reasoning practices, few have scrutinised the factors that impact the reasoning involved in such activities. We explored the role of attitudes in student-group interactions concerning a climate change-related socio-scientific issue and how those attitudes emerged from the reasoning process. We applied Martin and White’s [(2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. Palgrave Macmillan] appraisal framework for studying attitudes in oral language to analyse two student groups involved in a discourse as they constructed arguments supporting further petroleum exploration. The two groups displayed unique patterns of attitudes towards additional exploration: one group displayed strong, positive attitudes, while the other displayed varied attitudes, including doubt and insecurity. These more complex attitudes in the second group were important to how these students reasoned about the issue, enabling them to appreciate the complexity of the issue, as the expression of multiple perspectives and doubt opened a richer inquiry into the socio-scientific issue, enhancing the quality of their reasoning. Our findings point to the significance of considering students’ attitudes when organising activities were students’ reason about a socio-scientific issue.

Discursive construction of online teacher identity and legitimacy in English language teaching

ABSTRACT The paper investigates YouTube teachers’ identity construction within dominant language ideologies. Drawing on the constructs of language teacher professional identity, social media micro-celebrity persona, linguistic entrepreneurship, and raciolinguistic ideologies and online persona, the study analyses banner images, biographies, and semi-structured interviews of online teachers and provides a framework for understanding online teacher identity. The findings reveal that online teachers strategically align or distance themselves from different identity positions to foreground their identity as online English teachers. The findings point to the complex identity construction of online teachers as they navigate the complex terrain of the online English language teaching (ELT) marketplace dominated by neoliberal and raciolinguistic ideologies. The study contributes to a better understanding of the opportunities offered by technology in promoting or challenging such ideologies and calls for a recognition of the identity work online teachers put in to foreground their teacher identity.

Passionate humility for global constitutionalism in the aftermath of the Russo-Ukrainian war

Passionate humility for global constitutionalism in the aftermath of the Russo-Ukrainian war

Language and tourism in Cambodia: a multi-case study of the linguistic landscape in Phnom Penh hotels

ABSTRACT Cambodia’s multilingual and multicultural ecology has in recent decades been largely influenced by globalisation and tourism. International businesses within the tourism industry, such as hotels, often impact the multilingual ecology of societies when they bring with them their linguistic practices and attitudes. This article thus presents the findings from a multi-case study of the linguistic landscape in four hotels in Phnom Penh, which seeks to investigate how language policy and language attitudes influence language use in hotels. A small sample of public signs in four different four-star and five-star hotels was qualitatively analysed and the findings used to complement existing literature on spoken language in hotels. The findings reveal the dominance of English, as well as the visibility of Chinese and Khmer in the linguistic landscape, and the factors contributing to each language’s level of prominence are discussed.

A critical discourse analysis of ELT institutional contradictions in language policy and recruitment in Japan

This paper analyses a series of websites of language institutions in Japan and highlights the consistent contradictions between the language policies advertised and the recruitment of non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) conducted. I did a qualitative website study that involved an analysis of the most in-demand ELT companies and organizations in Japan. The websites were of ELT institutions, which were a mix of private institutions that teach for profit, and organisations that are mediators in supplying teachers (Assistant Language Teachers–ALTs) for schools around the country. The aim of this was to compare and contrast the discourse in language ideology with recruitment policies at these companies regarding NNESTs. Conducting a study of these companies’ websites enabled me to find and highlight trends in recruitment and language ideologies where I found a series of inconsistencies but also some encouraging trends in moves towards a more global outlook in teacher recruitment and discourse ideology. At the heart of the analysis was the question of whether a move towards more NNEST recruitment was due to changes in language ideology or economic necessity. The increase in non-native English-speaking teacher recruitment in Japan would be an encouraging development in attitudes and policy if it was related to a recognition of how the linguistic landscape in the 21st century is evolving but it seems apparent that economic factors are the motivating factor.

On Politically-Driven Language Discrimination in Post-Soviet Space (from the Example of Occupied Abkhazia)

The aim of this paper is to reflect the policy of the government of Georgia towards creating higher education opportunities for the youth residing in Abkhazia and outline the supporting measures taken by the Georgian side that contribute to Abkhazian youth’s integration into the mainstream of academia locally and worldwide. Accordingly, as the background of the issue, we start with a brief description of the language ideology in the occupied area and then move to a discussion of the factors which demonstrate the opportunities that ensure and simplify access to higher quality education in Georgia as well as abroad for the targeted group. There are two substantive issues: first, Russian language ideology imposition on Abkhaz youth and, second, the benefits of acquiring a degree in Georgia. We argue that the collapse of the Soviet Union and Georgia’s recent pro-Western politics have paved the road to new possibilities for cultivating a linguistically diverse, multiethnic, and tolerant society throughout Georgia. Young people living in both the occupied region and Georgia represent the generation that should cohabitate and find a common path of understanding and peace in order to build a common better future.

Understanding parental agency in family language policies from language-as-resource ideology perspective: the case of three Shanghainese families

ABSTRACT This study investigated three local Shanghainese families’ family language policy with a special focus on understanding parental agency through the perspective of parents’ language ideology. Data for this study came from semi-structured interviews with one parent from each family. A process combining deductive and inductive analysis captured the (sub)dimensions of language-as-resource ideology identified from the parents’ data, followed by relating their language-as-resource ideology to the identified language practice and language management. The study found that parental agentic efforts are carried out on two levels: the negotiations of the family linguistic environment and the allocation of educational resources for language learning. The study further argues that the parental agency is essentially parents’ conscious decision-making on whether to follow, alter, or complement the linguistic environment that the larger society offers for the children’s multilingual development. Parents’ ideological beliefs on what kind of language resources they wish their children to obtain, prioritising accessing social resources and citizenship resources, guide the negotiating process. The study supports elevating the status of Fangyan in Chinese society, and also suggests expanding parents’ understanding of language resources, especially from the perspectives of families and individuals.

‘L'arte in prattica’: Reconstructing Orazio Toscanella's language ideology

AbstractThis paper examines the dynamics which led to the formation of Italian by reconstructing the language ideology of the teacher and polygraph Orazio Toscanella, i.e. one of those cultural mediators who, in the sixteenth‐century Venetian printing market, were actively involved in the promotion of the vernacular. Looking for traces of Toscanella’s language ideology through a range of paratextual materials (title‐pages, prefatory letters), we reconstruct his ideas on the vernacular. These reveal an eclecticism which is not entirely coherent, but which can be understood in light of this polygraph’s pedagogical objectives, and of his pressing need to respond to the market’s requirements. By focusing on Toscanella’s translation of Vives’ Exercitatio, published in 1568 under the title Flores Italici, we then compare the ideas conveyed in the paratexts with the author’s linguistic usage in the text: we thus show that Toscanella’s eclectic ideas on language and his need to accommodate the market’s requirements also shaped the type of vernacular he proposed to his readers. This focus on Toscanella’s paratextual production allows us to investigate the way in which the ‘high’ vernacular model was re‐elaborated and disseminated to a broad audience, and the extent to which such re‐elaboration was influenced by commercial concerns.

“I’m not angry!”: language ideologies, misunderstanding, and marginalization among North Korean refugees in rural South Korea

Abstract This qualitative study examines the language attitudes and language use of two North Korean refugees living in the Gyeongsang provincial region of South Korea and actively trying to assimilate into mainstream Korean society. In interviews, the participants expressed a hierarchical view of three varieties of Korean (their North Korean Hamgyong dialect, the South Korean Gyeongsang dialect, and standard South Korean). They discussed how their North Korean accents exacerbated their marginalization, described the Gyeongsang dialect as “ignorant” and “rude,” and explained how and why they were trying to acquire standard South Korean. They also described how their North Korean accent continued to affect their communication with local South Korean speakers, who often perceived them as sounding angry and commanding. The participants had developed diverse communicative strategies in response to these language-related challenges, including smiling so as to not appear aggressive, remaining silent to avoid being outed by their speech, speaking carefully to appear more South Korean and avoid potential misunderstandings, and proactively revealing their North Korean background and seeking their interlocutors’ understanding in advance. Based on the findings, the study offers practical implications for language-support programs designed for North Korean refugees.

Sweden’s multilingual language policy through the lens of Turkish-heritage family language practices and beliefs

AbstractThis study explores the language maintenance efforts of Turkish heritage-speaker families in Sweden and their relation to state-level language policy from three angles. First, Swedish mainstream language ideology is described as it manifests in legislation, language policy and mother-tongue tuition. Then, the language practices of the families of 105 Turkish/Swedish children (age four to seven) are characterised via a questionnaire survey. This is complemented by findings from a follow-up study two years later, where ten of the families participated in interviews and home observations. Parents preferred to speak Turkish and wanted their child to learn and speak Turkish alongside Swedish. Another common denominator was the children’s early, extensive preschool attendance. Parent-child interaction was predominantly Turkish, although second-generation parents raised in Sweden reported higher uses of the majority language Swedish. Exposure to Swedish increased over time due to schooling, sibling interaction and media use, but third-generation children still spoke Turkish to a considerable degree. In their heritage-language maintenance efforts, many parents enlisted the support of grandparents, mother-tongue tuition, and literacy activities. Parents generally considered Turkish and Swedish equally important and showed low levels of anxiety regarding their children’s bilingualism, unlike what has been reported in studies of the same ethnolinguistic group in other national settings. The interviews revealed that parents who consulted Swedish health professionals and teachers were advised to speak and support the heritage language (Turkish) and maximise exposure to it in the home. Whilst unusual from an international perspective, this is in line with the official multilingual language ideology in Sweden.

The limits of thematization

AbstractA fundamental capacity of language is its reflexivity. But not every aspect of language is equally accessible to being reflected upon. Michael Silverstein's 1981 paper, the “Limits of Awareness,” set the terms of this discussion in linguistic anthropology with his study of speakers' “awareness” of pragmatic forms and their corresponding capacity to talk about them. His notion of differential “awareness” of aspects of language has since been foundational to linguistic‐anthropological understandings of language ideologies. Here we consider Silverstein's argument with reference to our research in Laos, exploring the limits of metalinguistic discourse. We argue that the apparent constraints on our capacity to talk about aspects of language do not evidence limits of awareness of elements of language, but rather constraints on our ability to thematize those elements, that is, to bring them into joint attention. The central issue is thematization, and the relation of interest is a relation of joint attention between speakers. Metalanguage is thus constrained not (only) by psychological limits but by the social and semiotic limits on what people can bring into mutual focus within interactions. To present our framing of the issue and show what it helps us see, we distinguish two kinds of thematization and describe their subtypes, affordances, and constraints. We then demonstrate how social conventions—broadly understood—can circumvent these constraints, allowing people to thematize otherwise difficult to thematize forms.

Exploring the use of ICT by language instructors at a university in Kazakhstan: Expectations, realities, and factors influencing adoption

The field of English Language Teaching (ELT) is undergoing a revolutionary shift in response to the spread of English as a lingua franca around the world, aligning itself with the needs of English as a tool for international communication (Cameron & Galloway, 2019). This change calls for a closer look at how teachers use information and communication technology (ICT) in ELT and how they view the changing environment. Research on educators’ attitudes about the use of ICT is crucial to examine before adopting such changes to ICT use practices, since this offers invaluable insights into the viability of curriculum innovation in language teaching and learning. There have been more studies addressing language attitudes on ICT use, but there remains a scarcity of studies that look at instructors’ views regarding ICT use beliefs from the perspective of multilingualism. Even though the body of knowledge about language instructors’ attitudes has grown, few studies have looked at teachers’ attitudes about ICT use from the perspective of their multilingualism (Dalvit, 2010). By filling this important gap, the current study aims to clarify how instructors’ perceptions of English, Russian and Kazakh in Kazakhstan’s higher education context interact with micro (personal beliefs), meso (colleagues in the department) and macro (wider environment). These attitudes have the potential to have a substantial impact on how successfully ICT use approaches are incorporated into a multilingual educational environment. Our understanding of how teachers’ ICT use attitudes manifest within the Kazakh multilingual context.

Perfection, hybridity or shutting up? A cross-country study of how language ideologies shape participation in international business

Employees’ participation in professional international business (IB) communication has important consequences for knowledge transfer and processing, a crucial function for multinational enterprises (MNEs). Research suggests that participation is shaped by language, but prior research has focused on firm-internal language dynamics, meaning that less is known about the influence of external context. We help redress this balance by drawing on the sociolinguistic concept of “language ideologies”. Language ideologies, or shared sets of beliefs about language(s) amongst social groups, are societal-level phenomena that employees bring with them to work. As such, they are part of the external social, political and historical context of IB activities. Our analysis of 82 interviews in three countries indicates that some language ideologies block participation and create friction, while others support participation. Implications for the conceptual understanding of language in IB and the management of internationally active firms are discussed.