Language Repertoires Research Articles

Language and the geopolitics of (dis)location: A study of Zimbabwean Shona and Ndebele speakers in Johannesburg

AbstractThe Zimbabwean diaspora is a well-documented phenomenon. While much research has been done on Zimbabwean migration to South Africa, the role that language plays in this process has not been well researched. This article draws on South African census data and qualitative fieldwork data to explore the manner in which Zimbabwean migrants use languages to appropriate spaces for themselves in the City of Johannesburg. The census data shows that African migrants tend to concentrate in the Johannesburg CBD, and fieldwork in this area reveals that Zimbabwean migrants are particularly well established in two suburbs—Yeoville and Hillbrow. The article explores migrant language repertoires, which include English, Shona, Ndebele, and a variant of Zulu. While many contributions to the migration literature tend to assume a strong association between language and ethnicity, the article shows how this relationship is mediated by geographic location and social positioning within the city. (Language, migration, Johannesburg, South Africa, Zimbabwe)*

Singaporean students’ language repertoires and attitudes revisited

AbstractSingapore has received a large amount of scholarly interest with regards to the structural and sociolinguistic properties of its local variety of English. In contrast, there is comparatively less empirical data on individual linguistic repertoires and usage patterns. Building on previous research into the linguistic and sociological background of young Singaporean adults, our study examines 450 students recruited from three distinct educational institutions: a university, polytechnics, and vocational training schools. A detailed language background questionnaire reveals the degree of multilingualism, patterns of language use, as well as language attitudes towards different languages. We find important differences between the three student cohorts examined here and are able to relate them to their social and ethnic backgrounds.

Managing heritage language development: Opportunities and challenges for Chinese, Italian and Pakistani Urdu-speaking families in the UK

Abstract Drawing on theories of family language policy and literacy environment, this inquiry explores and describes how family language policy is managed through literacy resources and literacy related activities in transnational families in the UK. A total of 66 families, each with at least one child between the age of 2 and 8, participated in this study. All children spoke English alongside their heritage/home language (HL), either Chinese, Italian, or Urdu. Data sources include: (a) a questionnaire about the children’s general background and the parents’ socio-economic and cultural capital and language practice in English and HL; (b) literacy resources and activities in both HL and English; (c) interview with parents. The results of this study show some interesting differences among Italian, Urdu and Chinese speakers, not only in their family language practices, but also in their attitudes towards mother tongue literacy and application of literacy practices in the home language. Although parental language management efforts were motivated by their aspirations to enrich their children’s language repertoires, the different degrees of variation in family language input indicate that sociocultural and socio-political realities present difficulties and constraints that prevent families from developing literacy in the home language.

United in Multilingualism. A Few Words About the Didactics of Multilingualism

Multilingualism is intrinsically linked with the European Union. Therefore, many European documents contain recommendations concerning its promotion, especially in the context of education. This paper describes the main axes of the European language policy. It also presents a suggested strategic model of developing plurilingual competence, which is one of the principal objectives of contemporary language teaching. The central point of the proposed model is the acquisition by pupils of the ability to make a conscious inter-language transfer, which requires them to create a set of strategies based on the resources of the language repertoire. This implies directing the didactic activities to the development of the ability to learn and emotional management that accompanies it, which requires the student to adopt a reflective attitude.

Foreign Language Classroom: Multilingual and Multimodal Space?

The article is focused on the elaboration of the theory of multiliteracy developed by the New London Group in the mid-1990s, with a special emphasis on multilingualism as a challenge for the teachers of English who need to acquire a new understanding of the rapidly changing learning environment shaped by the multitude of language repertoire performed in the classroom. The modern language communication necessitates a more dynamic way of interpreting and processing the information received through the construction of a personal search trajectory. Multimodal literacy as the goal of modern education requires developing of the ability to actualize meanings through the personal modality and narratives. The new educational context should be equally important and accepted by every participant engaged in the educational process, as well as, if necessary, be supplemented by new modalities. The English teachers’ experience of integrating multiliteracies into their practice is shown through the narrative enquiry approach.

Addressing English teachers’ concerns about decentering Standard English

Purpose This paper aims to address concerns of English teachers considering opening up their classrooms to multiple varieties of English. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the author’s experience as a teacher educator and professional developer in different regions of the USA, this narrative paper groups teachers’ concerns into general categories and offers responses to the most common questions. Findings Teachers want to know why they should make room in their classrooms for multiple Englishes; what they should teach differently; how they learn about English variation; how to balance Standardized English and other Englishes; and how these apply to English Learners and/or White speakers of Standardized English. Practical implications The study describes the author’s approach to teaching about language as a way to promote social justice and equality, the value of increasing students’ linguistic repertoires and why it is necessary to address listeners as well as speakers. As teachers attempt to adopt and adapt new approaches to teaching English language suggested in the research literature, they need to know their challenges and concerns are heard and addressed. Teacher educators working to support these teachers need ways to address teachers’ concerns. Social implications This paper emphasizes the importance of teaching mainstream, White, Standard English-speaking students about English language variation. By emphasizing the role of the listener and teaching students to hear language through an expanded language repertoire, English teachers can reduce the prejudice attached to historically stigmatized dialects of English. Originality/value This paper provides a needed perspective on how to work with teachers who express legitimate concerns about what it means to decenter Standardized English in English classrooms.

Teaching language components to deaf/hard-of-hearing and cochlear implant users: a literature review

ABSTRACT Cochlear implants are one of the possible ways for Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) individuals to detect sounds and as a mean of insertion in the social, academic and work environments. Nevertheless, in many cases, the cochlear implant alone is not sufficient, demanding hearing and expressive language skills rehabilitation to optimize the device used. This study aimed at reviewing scientific articles that described empirical research with interventions and/or teaching methods of various language repertoires to deaf and hard-of-hearing cochlear implant users. The review was carried out in five scientific databases considering all periods. On the first phase, 156 articles were identified and from these, 24 publications were selected. After being read, these articles were categorized and analyzed as to the participants, teaching targets and procedures adopted. On the last stage of the research, 10 experimental studies were selected and analyzed regarding procedures and results, indicating important factors in teaching this population. The results point to the necessity of an increase of scientific production in the construction and evaluation of effective verbal repertoires teaching programs for cochlear implant users.

Mexican transnational parents: What they have to say about inclusive education and their children’s educational needs

ABSTRACTThrough two qualitative case studies conducted over two years, this research examines the educational practices and perceptions of two working-class Mexican transnational families currently living in a Midwestern city in the United States. Findings indicate that for transnational families and their children, educational inclusion is about successfully developing the languages and language repertoires that children will need in their translocal educational institutions “here” and “there.” Understanding Mexican transnational parents’ perceptions of their children’s educational needs may provide new insights into the ways in which their schooling experiences could be improved in more inclusive terms.

Why Multilingualism and Multilingual Communication Jeopardize a Common Social Policy for Europe

AbstractThis paper studies the consequences of European multilingualism and multilingual communication for a common social policy in the Europe Union. In the past fifty years, the main focus of the Europeanization project has been on financial-economic developments and less on a common social policy. Even today, there is no common framework for social protection in the European Union. Common minimum income or wages for European citizens are lacking. In this paper, it will be argued that the lack of social protection has to do with Europe’s linguistic diversity. Language is seen as a building block of national communities and their political cultures. The European integration project can only continue if different European political cultures are shared. However, due to the fact that a neutral lingua franca is lacking, this has been unsuccessful so far. The interaction of social groups that have a different language repertoire with the structures of multilevel governance are responsible for the fact that some of these social groups, including the ‘Eurostars’, and national cosmopolitans benefit from social protection, whereas other groups lacking relevant language skills, such as anti-establishment forces, commoners, and migrants, are excluded from the European power domains. These power configurations can be fruitfully studied in the floral figuration model. Consequently, due to these patterns of inclusion and exclusion, true solidarity among European citizens is not within reach. These claims will be illustrated by a case study on the Netherlands, a country that has been pursuing neoliberal policies counterbalancing Eurozone and economic crises and is trying to assimilate migrants and other newcomers. Apart from assimilatory policies targeting migrants, language games used by competing forces are playing an important role in the discourse in order to set up power structures.

Gesticulating science: Emergent bilingual students’ use of gestures

AbstractThis article examines how emergent bilingual students used gestures in science class, and the consequences of students’ gestures when their language repertoire limited their possibilities to express themselves. The study derived from observations in two science classes in Sweden. In the first class, 3rd grade students (9–10 years old) were involved in a unit concerning electricity. The second class consisted of 7th‐grade students (13–14 years old) working with acids and bases. Data were analyzed by using practical epistemological analysis (PEA). When students’ language proficiency limited their possibility to express themselves, using gestures resulted in the continuation of the science activities. Furthermore, both peers and teachers drew on the used gestures to talk about the science content. In some situations, the meaning of the gestures needed to be negotiated. Regardless, the gestures were always related to language. Both students and teachers participated in this process, but the teachers directed the communication toward the goal of the lessons: learning how to talk science. The study contributes to the field by showing the importance of paying attention to and valuing bilingual students’ use of gestures as a way to express scientific knowledge. In addition, it demonstrates how teachers might draw on students’ gestures to teach science and discusses the importance of creating multimodal learning environments. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 55: 121–144, 2018

Beyond languages, beyond modalities: transforming the study of semiotic repertoires

ABSTRACTThis paper presents a critical examination of key concepts in the study of (signed and spoken) language and multimodality. It shows how shifts in conceptual understandings of language use, moving from bilingualism to multilingualism and (trans)languaging, have resulted in the revitalisation of the concept of language repertoires. We discuss key assumptions and analytical developments that have shaped the sociolinguistic study of signed and spoken language multilingualism as separate from different strands of multimodality studies. In most multimodality studies, researchers focus on participants using one named spoken language within broader embodied human action. Thus while attending to multimodal communication, they do not attend to multilingual communication. In translanguaging studies the opposite has happened: scholars have attended to multilingual communication without really paying attention to multimodality and simultaneity, and hierarchies within the simultaneous combination of resources. The (socio)linguistics of sign language has paid attention to multimodality but only very recently have started to focus on multilingual contexts where multiple sign and/or multiple spoken languages are used. There is currently little transaction between these areas of research. We argue that the lens of semiotic repertoires enables synergies to be identified and provides a holistic focus on action that is both multilingual and multimodal.

Language Use in a Multilingual Class: a Study of the Relation Between Bilingual Students\u2019 Languages and Their Meaning-Making in Science

In this study, we examine how bilingual students in elementary school use their languages and what this means for their meaning-making in science. The class was multilingual with students bilingual in different minority languages and the teacher monolingual in Swedish. The analysis is based on a pragmatic approach and the theory of translanguaging. The science content was electricity, and the teaching involved class instruction and hands-on activities in small groups. The findings of the study are divided into two categories, students’ conversations with the teacher and student’s conversations with each other. Since the class was multilingual, the class instruction was carried out in Swedish. Generally, when the conversations were characterised by an initiation, response and evaluation pattern, the students made meaning of the activities without any language limitations. However, when the students, during whole class instruction, were engaged in conversations where they had to argue, discuss and explain their ideas, their language repertoire in Swedish limited their possibilities to express themselves. During hands-on activities, students with the same minority language worked together and used both of their languages as resources. In some situations, the activities proceeded without any visible language limitations. In other situations, students’ language repertoire limited their possibilities to make meaning of the activities despite being able to use both their languages. What the results mean for designing and conducting science lessons in a multilingual class is discussed.

Translanguaging, learning and teaching in deaf education

ABSTRACTThis paper critiques the role of translanguaging in deaf education by examining how, and under what conditions, translanguaging practices can enhance learning and teaching. The paper explores the premise that translanguaging represents an additive view of bilingualism and multilingualism for deaf learners and offers an innovative departure from, and not a re-packing of, traditional teaching methods in deaf education. In this context, the additive aspects of translanguaging are conceptualised as ways of seeing and responding to the language resources of deaf learners and ways of teaching that recognise and promote bilingual and multilingual (sign and spoken/written) language skills. The innovative aspects of translanguaging are explained in terms of the focus on language as a social phenomenon, the emphasis on individual repertoires and attention to the mindful use of languages in the classroom. Examples of learner and teacher translanguaging are given that illustrate what translanguaging offers to deaf education in terms of understanding and supporting the language repertoires of deaf learners and for the development of pedagogy. The paper concludes by suggesting the conditions under which these benefits can be realised.

Young children capitalising on their entire language repertoire for language learning at school

ABSTRACTWhile translanguaging has been well researched in bilingual settings with older pupils and has been found to contribute to cognitive and personal development, there is little research on translanguaging of young multilinguals. In trilingual Luxembourg, at school, children learn Luxembourgish aged 4, German aged 6 and French aged 7, with the majority not speaking Luxembourgish on school entry. The number of languages to be learned may leave teachers little space to capitalise on home languages and encourage translanguaging. Drawing on qualitative methods, this paper contextualises and examines the practice and purposes of translanguaging of nursery and primary school children who speak a language other than Luxembourgish at home, while they collaboratively produce oral texts on the iPad app iTEO. The data stem from a longitudinal study using a multi-method approach. The findings indicate that the children made use of their multilingual repertoire in order to communicate, construct knowledge and mark their multilingual identity. Translanguaging was a frequent and legitimate practice in both classes although the older children drew less on home languages other than Luxembourgish. The children’s ability to translanguage and their opportunities for doing so were influenced by the multilingual learning environment, the curriculum and the language learning tasks.

Changing livelihoods and language repertoires: hunting, fishing and gold mining in the southeast Peruvian Amazon

AbstractThis article investigates how over the space of three decades the language repertoires of the Arakmbut people of the southeast Peruvian Amazon have shifted from being predominantly Harakmbut language based to Spanish language based. It asks not how one language has come to replace another in the daily lives of the Arakmbut, but what this shift represents in terms of changing lifestyles, social relations, desirable affiliations and the changing value Harakmbut and Spanish language resources have for them in furthering these relationships. Drawing on long term ethnographic research, it presents four scenarios over this period through which the changes in Arakmbut livelihoods from hunting and fishing to gold mining are discussed and what these changes mean in terms of their social, cultural and spiritual relationships with their territory. As their livelihoods have become more entwined with the gold economy and new national alliances and international networks, they have sought to reshape their communicative repertoires to respond to and ensure their continuing access to resources for their health and stability as a community in an intense and fast moving social, economic and cultural landscape.

Teaching and learning science in linguistically diverse classrooms

In this paper we reflect on the article, Science education in a bilingual class: problematising a translational practice, by Zeynep Ünsal, Britt Jakobson, Bengt-Olav Molander and Per-Olaf Wickman (Cult Stud Sci Educ, doi:10.1007/s11422-016-9747-3). In their article, the authors present the results of a classroom research project by responding to one main question: How is continuity between everyday language and the language of science construed in a bilingual science classroom where the teacher and the students do not speak the same minority language? Specifically, Ünsal et al. examine how bilingual students construe relations between everyday language and the language of science in a class taught in Swedish, in which all students also spoke Turkish, whereas the teacher also spoke Bosnian, both being minority languages in the context of Swedish schools. In this forum, we briefly discuss why close attention to bilingual dynamics emerging in classrooms such as those highlighted by Ünsal et al. matters for science education. We continue by discussing changing ontologies in relation to linguistic diversity and education more generally. Recent research in bilingual immersion classroom settings in so-called “content” subjects such as Content and Language Integrated Learning, is then introduced, as we believe this research offers some significant insights in terms of how bilingualism contributes to knowledge building in subjects such as science. Finally, we offer some reflections in relation to the classroom interactional competence needed by teachers in linguistically diverse classrooms. In this way, we aim to further the discussion initiated by Ünsal et al. and to offer possible frameworks for future research on bilingualism in science education. In their article, Ünsal et al. conclude the analysis of the classroom data by arguing in favor of a translanguaging pedagogy, an approach to teaching and learning in which students’ whole language repertoires are used as valuable resources for constructing meaning and for developing academic competences in the language of instruction. This is a conclusion that we support wholeheartedly and an educational practice that we hope to promote with this forum discussion.

The Internet as a global speech community. Towards plurilingualisms and English Lingua Franca

Abstract - Languages have traditionally been associated with specific ethnic groups confined to defined geographical areas and sometimes to certain discourse contexts or domains of use (e.g. French for diplomacy). Increasingly, telecommunication and most recently internet has meant that languages are no longer tied to particular geographical territories but may be found in various non-territorial dimensions. This has created a fluid, constantly changing global speech community in which different languages co-exist and interact in myriad ways and to varying degrees depending on the speakers’ backgrounds. Within this complex scenario, not only does English become in effect translocal language (ELF; Lingua Francas; Plurilingualism; Global Language Networks; Translanguaging.Pennycook 2007, Blommaert 2010) but English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) variations gain in influence, very possibly replacing traditional native-speaker varieties as the international standard (Seidlhofer 2011, Christiansen 2015), they will increasingly reflect the plurilingual reality in which speakers typically have at their disposal a repertoire of different languages. English, we can predict, will thus become in itself a microcosm of the wider linguistic situation especially on media such as the internet. In this paper, we will look at how far internet is leading to greater plurilingualism on the part of individuals and at how far ELF variations are emerging to reflect the multifarious linguistic backgrounds of members of the internet-based global speech community. To do this, we will analyse data from a variety of recent sources, comprising both big data (Pimienta et al 2010; Ronen et al. 2014) and specific case studies from samples of different typologies of websites (e.g. railway companies).

The Languages of Diaspora and Return

AbstractUntil quite recently, the term Diaspora (usually with the capital) meant the dispersion of the Jews in many parts of the world. Now, it is recognized that many other groups have built communities distant from their homeland, such as Overseas Chinese, South Asians, Romani, Armenians, Syrian and Palestinian Arabs. To explore the effect of exile on language repertoires, the article traces the sociolinguistic development of the many Jewish Diasporas, starting with the community exiled to Babylon, and following through exiles in Muslim and Christian countries in the Middle Ages and later. It presents the changes that occurred linguistically after Jews were granted full citizenship. It then goes into details about the phenomenon and problem of the Jewish return to the homeland, the revitalization and revernacularization of the Hebrew that had been a sacred and literary language, and the rediasporization that accounts for the cases of maintenance of Diaspora varieties.

Science education in a bilingual class: problematising a translational practice

In this article we examine how bilingual students construe relations between everyday language and the language of science. Studies concerning bilingual students language use in science class have mainly been conducted in settings where both the teacher and the students speak the same minority language. In this study data was collected in a class consisting of students aged 13–14. All students had Turkish as their minority language, whereas the teacher’s minority language was Bosnian. The class was observed when they were working with acids and bases. In addition, the students were interviewed in groups. They were asked about how they use their languages during science lessons and then asked to describe and explain scientific phenomena and processes that had been a part of the observed lessons. For the analysis, practical epistemology analysis and the theory of translanguaging were used. The results show how the students’ everyday language repertoire may limit their possibilities to make meaning of science. In particular, the teacher’s practice of facilitating and supporting students’ understanding of science content by relating it to concrete examples took another direction since the everyday words he used were not a part of the students’ language repertoire. The study also shows how the students used their minority language as a resource to translate words from Swedish to Turkish in order to proceed with the science activities. However, translating scientific concepts was problematic and led to the students’ descriptions of the concepts not being in line with how they are viewed in science. Finally, the study also demonstrates how monolingual exams may limit bilingual students’ achievements in science. The study contributes by presenting and discussing circumstances that need to be taken into consideration when planning and conducting science lessons in classes where the teacher and the student do not share the same minority language.

“La biblioteca es importante”: A Case Study of an Emergent Bilingual Public Library in the Nuevo U.S. South

ABSTRACTResearch examining ethnolinguistic community schools (García, Zakharia, & Otcu, 2013) proposes that local spaces not directly affiliated with schools sustain bilingualism and identity. Though researchers often theorize about how community schools sustain home language literacies, less research examines how local public spaces sustain bilingualism among immigrant communities and, more broadly, what this would resemble. With a conceptual framework modeled after García's (2009, 2011) theorization of translanguaging as a dynamic bilingual practice, we offer a counter to monolingual assumptions permeating current language education policy and ideologies. This case study of a public library examines a translanguaging space that offers a window into an emerging Latin American immigrant community in the U.S. South and the complexities of bilingual contact in the United States as a whole. We found that this nurturing public library fostered bilingualism, intentionally refuting language-minoritized stigmas for students learning English. With targeted programming and mentorship, the library challenged misinterpreted “deficit” views of emergent bilingual communities with reoriented views of English language learning to a translingual orientation (Horner, Lu, Royster, & Trimbur, 2011) that extends the innovative and critical practices of shuttling across diverse language repertoires. The public space of the library honored and cultivated the literacy practices of its local communities, and the importance of this is, without overstating, that public spaces for bilingual learning further the missions of all schools.