Receptive Multilingualism Research Articles

Multilingualism in performance appraisal interviews: strategies to bridge language gaps

This paper explores three multilingual strategies to bridge the lack of a shared first language as they are used during performance appraisal interviews, namely English as a business lingua franca, receptive multilingualism, and a lay interpreter. The study is based on authentic video-recorded performance appraisal interviews at a globally active Belgian company, and follow-up interviews with the managers. The analysis focuses on how the company deals with multilingualism from a management perspective, how the managers perceive these multilingual strategies from a language ideological perspective, and how these language ideological beliefs shape the language practices of the performance appraisal interviews. We conclude that this study provides novel insights into how globalized companies deal with multilingualism in the high-stakes and potentially sensitive interactional context of a performance appraisal interview by underlining the intertwined nature of language ideological beliefs and language practices as part of a broader multilingual language management strategy.

Usability of technological tools to overcome language barriers in health care: a scoping review protocol

IntroductionIn many healthcare contexts globally, where the languages of care providers and patients do not match, miscommunication or non-communication can lead to inaccurate diagnoses and subpar treatment outcomes. In order...

Web-based experiments in mediated receptive multilingualism

The article focuses on phenomena of cross-lingual comprehension mediated by a bridge language. In a web-based experiment, German speaking subjects – without any previous knowledge of Bulgarian – translate written Bulgarian stimuli relying on some knowledge of Russian. We investigate the importance of the selected individual and linguistic factors for success in mediated receptive multilingualism. Proficiency in reading in Russian and orthographic distance between Russian and Bulgarian cognates are the most important predictors.

Mediated receptive multilingualism: Comprehension of Finnish via Estonian by Russian-dominant upper secondary school students

Mediated receptive multilingualism: Comprehension of Finnish via Estonian by Russian-dominant upper secondary school students

Linguistic Assertiveness to Contest Minorization: Observations from Small Interventions to Boost the Use of Frisian in Fryslân

As Belmar, van Boven & Pinho (2019) pointed out, Frisians tend to quickly switch to Dutch in conversations in which their interlocutor either answers in Dutch or exhibits signs of struggling with Frisian. This accommodation is often seen as an act of politeness, but it also contributes to the minorization of, in this case, Frisian. Suay & Sanginés (2010) argue that linguistic assertiveness needs to be considered in language promotion campaigns, as it aims to empower speakers to break away from these dynamics of diglossia. In this paper we will present qualitative observations from two small interventions where 15 participants took part in Linguistic Assertiveness workshops designed to train them to trust receptive multilingualism and engage in bilingual conversations. The observations from these interventions show that politeness ideologies are an obstacle for the embrace of multilingual conversations, but positive attitudes and reports of positive experiences suggest that these can be contested. The results also suggest that further application of linguistic assertiveness - and the consequent embracing of bi-/multilingual conversations - may have a boosting effect on the use of the Frisian language in the province.

Comprehension of Ukrainian by Estonians via Russian: Structural and extra-linguistic aspects

This study explores how people use and expand their linguistic resources in the situation when they have some proficiency in L2 and try to understand L3 that is related to L2. The focus of the study is on the comprehension of Ukrainian by Estonian L1 speakers via their proficiency in Russian (L2). This situation is labeled as mediated receptive multilingualism. The aim of this research is to investigate the role of cross-linguistic similarity (objective or perceived, in the terms of Ringbom 2007) and extra-linguistic predictors of success in comprehension. In addition to measuring the success rate, we pay attention to the participant's perspective. The experiment was conducted with 30 speakers of Estonian as L1 and included a questionnaire, C-test in Russian, three Ukrainian texts with different groups of tasks, and debriefing. In this article, we focus on the task of defining Ukrainian words from the text and on debriefing interviews. The results showed that similarity, perceived or objective, is not the only decisive factor in facilitating understanding. The participants explanations confirmed our previous findings that similarity, albeit important, is only partly responsible for successful comprehension. This became clear from the debriefing interviews. In many cases, the participants' choice was affected by a range of extra-linguistic factors: general knowledge, context, exposure to various registers of Russian, M-factor, meta-linguistic awareness, and learnability. In some instances, context and general knowledge outweighed similarity. These findings show how similarity worked together with extra-linguistic factors in facilitating successful comprehension in challenging multilingual settings.

Translanguaging as a resource for meaning-making at multilingual construction sites

Abstract In this article we investigate spoken professional interaction at construction sites in Sweden, where workers from Poland, Ukraine and Estonia are temporarily employed as carpenters, ground workers and kitchen installers. We study how the workers use resources associated with different languages and how these resources are mobilized along with embodied resources for meaning-making. The analysis aims at investigating what social space the workers construct by going between or beyond different linguistic structures, as defined in the theory of translanguaging. The study is based on Linguistic Ethnography and Conversation Analysis is used for close analysis. We focus on instances of translanguaging, such as Swedish-sounding institutionalized keywords, practices of receptive multilingualism and the search for communicative overlaps in repertoires. The findings from busy construction sites show that the stratifying aspect gives some workers a voice in the organization, while others remain silent. Hence, it is primarily professionals functioning as team leaders, who talk to different occupational categories and use resources associated with different languages. The data provide an opportunity to investigate the theory of translanguaging and its transformative power in relation to professional settings that are linguistically diverse, but also strictly hierarchical.

Learning Japanese: observations from a lifelong experience

This paper discusses the author’s first encounter with the Japanese language at the age of 23 and documents his continuing response to it up to the present time. At first, the language learning methodology he had used before failed and proved to be inappropriate for learning Japanese. Then came the realization that learning a foreign language needs some previous knowledge to build on. The search for the most efficient way to master Japanese brought the author to receptive multilingualism, which by chance opens up new vistas for the aspiring learner to improve listening skills. The physicality of speech and the consequent importance of some form of outside stimulation for its development are discussed. Mention is made of how he came upon the idea of adapting childhood techniques in learning how to read to the acquisition of reading competence in the Japanese language. In connection with this, the author makes another digression on the relationship he perceives as existing between active and passive language skills, and from this proceeds with the mention of how this might be applicable to his progress to date in learning Japanese and why, for better or worse, this would not normally apply to classroom acquisition of Japanese either inside or outside of Japan today

The role of language exposure in mediated receptive multilingualism

In this study, we investigate the role of exposure to L2 Russian on comprehension of L3 Ukrainian by speakers of L1 Estonian, using the mediating knowledge of L2 Russian. The experiment involved 30 participants and the following materials: a questionnaire, C-test in Russian, word recognition and text comprehension tasks in Ukrainian. We demonstrate that in mediated receptive multilingualism medium to high levels of L2 exposure boost L3 comprehension regardless of measured L2 proficiency. However, exposure enhanced comprehension only on the word level and not on the text level, highlighting the importance of examining comprehension in a differentiated manner. The same restriction holds for targeted L2–L3 instructions, which were administered as a shortcut to increasing metalinguistic awareness between Russian and Ukrainian: these instructions improved L3 word-level but not text-level comprehension. Since in the absence of explicit instruction the role of exposure was more pronounced, we argue that exposure and instructions interact depending on the particular configurations of available resources, as language users attempt to understand another language. We conclude that exposure to medium language is a crucial factor that might significantly boost comprehension in the target language through increased metalinguistic awareness, either more directly or by creating opportunities for incidental learning. *** Sihtkeelega kokkupuute roll vahendatud retseptiivses mitmekeelsuses Artiklis analüüsime, kuidas eesti emakeele (L1) kõnelejad mõistavad ukraina keelt (L3) vene keele oskuse toel (L2) ehk millist rolli mängib kokkupuude vene keelega arusaamisel ukraina keelest. Katses osales 30 inimest ja materjalid koosnesid: küsimustikust, vene keele C-testist ning ukraina keele sõnade äratundmise ja teksti mõistmise ülesannetest. Uuringu tulemused näitasid, et vahendatud retseptiivse mitmekeelsuse kontekstis mõjutab L2-ga kokkupuude L2-st ja L3-st arusaamist kindlal viisil. Kokkupuude vene keelega avaldas positiivset mõju nii vene keele C-testi tulemustele kui ka ukrainakeelsete sõnade äratundmisele. Ukrainakeelsete tekstide mõistmist kokkupuude vene keelega aga märgatavalt ei mõjutanud, mis toob esile, kui oluline on arusaamise hindamine eristaval viisil. Teisalt hõlbustas L3 sõnade äratundmist nii keskmine kui ka kõrgem L2-ga kokkupuute tase, millest järeldub, et isegi vähene kokkupuude suurendab metalingvistilist teadlikkust. Katse sisaldas kahte sellisest hüpoteesist lähtuvat lisatingimust, mille põhjal formaalsed juhised võimaldavad teist, konkreetsemat õppimisallikat: mõned osalejad said eelnevalt formaalseid juhiseid ukraina keelest ja teised mitte. Need selged juhised aitasid kahtlemata kaasa L3-st arusaamisele ning nende puudumisel oli L2-ga kokkupuute roll veelgi märgatavam. Võib järeldada, et kui keelekasutaja üritab teisest keelest aru saada, siis eelmainitud tegurid, nii otsesemad kui ka kaudsemad, toimivad üksteisest sõltuvalt ja muutuvad vähem või rohkem märgatavaks olenevalt saadaval olevate ressursside konkreetsetest asetustest.

Hoe universeel zijn receptieve meertaligheidsstrategieën?

There are multiple ways in which language learners’ multilingual repertoire can be put to use in foreign language learning and teaching. One such use is receptive multilingualism (RM, cf. Blees & Ten Thije 2017). Despite the fact that RM has been found to be an effective means of communication between adult speakers of typologically related languages, like Dutch and German (see Beerkens, 2010; Van Mulken & Hendriks, 2015; Ribbert & Ten Thije, 2007), there is hardly any research investigating its use and effectiveness in younger learners in school settings (Ten Thije, Gulikers & Schoutsen, 2020). In this contribution, we present the results of a pilot study in which we investigate whether German secondary-school students make use of their multilingual repertoire by employing receptive multilingual strategies when decoding an unknown, but typologically related language (Dutch) and whether they can transfer these skills when decoding a less typologically related, unknown language (Maltese).

Fouta-Djallon linguistic ecology: Between polyglossia and small-scale multilingualism

Aims and objectives: The aim is to investigate, at the level of language ideology and language practice, a hybrid type of multilingualism attested in Guinea. Design/methodology/approach: The analysis is done in the framework of small-scale multilingualism studies, exploring, at the same time, the boundaries of the notion ‘small-scale multilingualism’. Data and analysis: The analysis is based on first-hand fieldwork data (2009–2020). I first analyze the historical and political circumstances that gave rise to language ideology with respect to Kakabe, and then I investigate how it coincides with language practice or diverges from it. Findings/conclusions: Fouta-Djallon multilingualism has evolved in the context of a highly stratified state based on institutionalized slavery. The hybrid nature of this language ecology is closely tied with the on-going process of emancipation. On the one hand, Kakabe, the descendants of slaves, strive to assimilate, politically and religiously, with the more prestigious social group. On the other hand, since this assimilation cannot be complete, a multicultural identity is being created which involves the use of multiple languages. This is expressed in a semi-receptive mode of language production, as opposed to receptive multilingualism, typical of many small-scale multilingual ecologies as well in the fact that code-switching within one sentence is avoided, the same way as in small-scale multilingualism, yet, in stark contrast to the latter, borrowings are very common in Kakabe. Originality/implications: This case represents an interest for the study of multilingualism, since it combines characteristics of a strongly inegalitarian polyglossic type, on the one hand, with such features as reciprocity both in language transmission and language production, on the other hand. It also reveals the existence of a semi-receptive language production mode that has not been described before.

Interjections as signals of mutual intelligibility in Turkish-Azeri receptive multilingual communication

In multilingual contexts, mutual intelligibility can be achieved using a variety of communication modes, one of which is Receptive Multilingualism. This study aims to examine the forms and functions of interjections that are utilized by Turkish and Azeri participants to ensure mutual intelligibility in receptive multilingual communication. The data used in this study was collected via a language background questionnaire, a word-guessing card game played by speakers of Azeri and speakers of Turkish, and stimulated recall interviews. The data was transcribed using the data transcription software EXMARaLDA. A functional analysis was conducted to identify the forms and the functions of the interjections that signal the participants’ stages of understanding in a number of extracts that demonstrated the speakers’ (non-)understanding. The findings revealed that the Turkish and Azeri interlocutors utilized interjections as communicative tools signaling mutual intelligibility in their receptive multilingual communication. The findings also revealed that while the interlocutors used cross-linguistically identical interjections to signal similar functions, some interjections were used for multiple functions.

Strange sounds, familiar words

Abstract When communicating across closely related languages or varieties (e.g. in interdialectal communication or in regions such as Mainland Scandinavia), speakers have to learn how to decode words that show partial phonological differences from the equivalents in their L1. Although contact situations like these are rather common, interlingual decoding has scarcely been addressed in the CxG literature. As a contribution to this field of research, the paper discusses how (a particular stage in) emerging receptive multilingualism can be modelled from a CxG perspective. Specifically, it deals with the idea that repeated interlingual decoding generates partially schematic cross-linguistic constructions mirroring the speaker’s knowledge about sound correspondences, as suggested by Diasystematic Construction Grammar (Höder 2019).

Lingua receptiva in Europe: the map and the territory

As a result of complex and closely-related social, political, economic and technological processes, significant changes are now occurring in the European language situation. While these processes foster participation in the transnational communication community, they also reinforce the linguistic identity, based on their distinction. In view of these contradictory but non-exclusive trends, one should consider the multilingual systems that would better reflect the dynamics of real changes. For this purpose, the concept of lingua receptiva will be presented. Geographical and cultural perspectives are taken into account in this paper. Emphasis is on the space of discursive interculturalism, in which contacts in more or less fixed language constellations constantly take place. Its allocation on the political map of the European continent is not performative, but based on the literature. However, it does illustrate the challenges for the future of European receptive multilingualism.

Interactive and ideological dimensions of receptive multilingualism in Luxembourg workplaces

This article investigates the use and perception of receptive multilingualism (RM) as an everyday multilingual practice in linguistically diverse workplaces in Luxembourg. RM refers to speakers each using a different language to speak to each other, while understanding the language used by the other speaker. Previous research has identified this practice as most likely to occur among typologically related languages, in specific contexts and in circumstances of explicit language negotiation. Our data, comprising spontaneous workplace interactions and interviews with cross-border workers at a range of workplaces in Luxembourg, broadens this picture to show RM being used between speakers of quite different language varieties, in a wide range of workplace contexts and for a variety of relational and transactional purposes. Using a dual analytical approach combining interactional sociolinguistics and language ideology analysis, we investigate both interactional characteristics and ideological constructions of RM, and consider the relative influence of linguistic and extralinguistic factors on this everyday multilingual practice at work.

Receptive multilingualism and second language acquisition: the language transition process of adopted children

ABSTRACT In this paper a context where receptive multilingualism represents a communicative strategy of adjustment in a context of second language acquisition is discussed. The traditional scope of receptive multilingualism has been extended to multilingual environments resulting from an experience of mobility, namely transnational adoptive families. Similar to other contexts of receptive multilingualism, this scenario involves asymmetrical language competences, but in this case language contact evolves quite rapidly in the acquisition of one of the languages involved. By means of 29 h of interactional data and discourse analyses, we investigated the family communication of three Italian families, one of them adopting in Russia and two of them in Chile. Unlikely for a lexically and structurally more distant language (Russian), in a framework of intelligible languages (Spanish-Italian), the adoption of receptive multilingualism leads adopted children to rely on a longer ‘receptive stage’.

L2 knowledge facilitating L3 learning: the role of Russian linguistic factors in understanding of Ukrainian by Estonians

This paper reports on an empirical investigation of how knowledge of L2 Russian can facilitate the acquisition of passive knowledge of L3 Ukrainian by speakers of L1 Estonian. The experiment was conducted with 30 speakers of Estonian as L1, who first filled in a sociolinguistic questionnaire, then completed a C-test in their L2 Russian, before carrying out a task testing their understanding of L3 Ukrainian words and texts, and providing some feedback in a debriefing session. We pay specific attention to the performance on the Russian C-test and how participants’ scores correlate with their results on the Ukrainian tasks. We also made an inventory of the grammatical and lexical elements that proved easy or difficult. The results show a positive correlation between the scores on the C-test and performance on the Ukrainian tasks. However, this correlation was lower for text understanding in Ukrainian than for understanding separate Ukrainian words. This suggests that a C-test score does not predict participants’ ability to understand the Ukrainian texts to a full extent, while it has better predictive value for the understanding of individual Ukrainian words. These findings suggest that learners use resources beyond just L2 lexical-grammatical knowledge in forming an understanding of texts in an L3 that is closely related to the L2. Keywords: mediated receptive multilingualism, comprehension, L3 language acquisition, C-test, Ukrainian, Russian, Estonian

Receptive multilingualism versus ELF: How well do Slovenes understand Croatian compared to Croatian speakers’ English?

Abstract This study investigates the degree of intelligibility of Croatian and Croatian speakers’ English for native Slovene listeners. For the purposes of the present experiment, 18 native speakers of Croatian were recorded narrating two short films in their mother tongue as well as in English. Each of the 135 participants, whose L1 is Slovene, listened to a recorded Croatian speaker retelling one story in their native language and another in English. The intelligibility of the two communicative modes was measured using multiple-choice questions. Overall, the level of comprehension was found to be higher for English than for Croatian. Two extralinguistic factors (border proximity and language preference) were also considered so as to gain a deeper insight into the nature of the intelligibility of English as a lingua franca (ELF) and receptive multilingualism as two potential mediums of communication between Croatian and Slovene speakers.

Mediated receptive multilingualism

Abstract This article introduces and defines the concept of mediated receptive multilingualism as a mode of multilingual communication which eases understanding between typologically distant languages through the medium of a language closely related to the target. In an experimental setting, Estonians without previous exposure to Ukrainian were quite successful in understanding Ukrainian texts via their knowledge of Russian. As expected, they made use of various language-specific elements to improve intelligibility, such as linguistic similarities between Russian and Ukrainian. However, a number of extra-linguistic factors were detected as influential predictors of success, especially metalinguistic awareness, exposure to Russian, exposure to various registers, experience with multilingual situations, learnability, and attitudes towards Ukrainian. These findings contest a static take on multilingual potential and point out the emergent nature of competencies and practices that become relevant in multilingual settings. Unconventional communicative modes – like mediated receptive multilingualism – may activate linguistic and sociolinguistic resources needed for establishing understanding in novel and potentially challenging communicative settings.

Language models, surprisal and fantasy in Slavic intercomprehension

In monolingual human language processing, the predictability of a word given its surrounding sentential context is crucial. With regard to receptive multilingualism, it is unclear to what extent predictability in context interplays with other linguistic factors in understanding a related but unknown language – a process called intercomprehension. We distinguish two dimensions influencing processing effort during intercomprehension: surprisal in sentential context and linguistic distance. Based on this hypothesis, we formulate expectations regarding the difficulty of designed experimental stimuli and compare them to the results from think-aloud protocols of experiments in which Czech native speakers decode Polish sentences by agreeing on an appropriate translation. On the one hand, orthographic and lexical distances are reliable predictors of linguistic similarity. On the other hand, we obtain the predictability of words in a sentence with the help of trigram language models. We find that linguistic distance (encoding similarity) and in-context surprisal (predictability in context) appear to be complementary, with neither factor outweighing the other, and that our distinguishing of these two measurable dimensions is helpful in understanding certain unexpected effects in human behaviour.