Coffee
Multilingual & Multicultural Communication
17th June, 2013, SOAS (U of London), Rm 211, Vernon Sq, Penton Rise, London WC1X 9EW
9.00: Introduction
9.15-10.00: ‘Multilingual
diversity in London’
Dina Mehmedbegovic
(Institute of Education,
University of London) & Lid
King (The Languages
Company), UK
London has been described
as ‘a mini-version of the
world, most ethnically diverse and cosmopolitan city
in the world’. Its streets are
rich with audio and visual
evidence that London is
inhabited by people who
speak and read many
languagaes. This contribution
will look at the attempts to
capture and map linguistic
diversity of London schools.
The comparisons between
the two key studies: Multilingual Capital (2000) and
Language Capital (2010)
reveal how wider political
changes influence patterns
of migration and London’s
linguistic profile. According
to the data collected for the
study Language Capital
(2010), there are 233 languages spoken by London
school children. These facts
and figures paint a picture
of a hyperdiverse metropolis
and a site of multiple and
massive global migrations.
This hyperdiversity is one of
the key ingredients that
make London one of the
lead global cities. At the
same time London’s diversity
is one of its greatest challenges. Negotiating multiple
and sometimes conflicting
backgrounds and identities
in classrooms and playgrounds, developing a sense
of belonging, partnerships
and social cohesion amidst
high rates of mobility and a
continuous influx of new
arrivals from other countries,
while engaging with language barriers, and dealing
with pockets of extreme
poverty and wealth, exclusion and elitism – these are
only some of the complexities linked to linguistic
diversity.
10.00 -10.45: ‘New Media
for Multilingualism:
Practice and Research
Questions’
Reinier Salverda & Cor van
der Meer (MERCATOR,
Fryske Akademy), The
Netherlands
The Mercator Research
Centre is an independent
and recognised reference
centre for policymakers and
professional workers in the
field of multilingual education and language learning.
In the first part of this
presentation we will discuss
the resources, networks and
provision
available
for
teaching and learning the
regional minority languages
of Europe. In the second part
we will focus on policies and
strategies that can enhance
their vitality and foster the
dissemination across Europe
of best practice in this
domain.
Coffee
11.15-12.00: ‘The
Relevance Of "Lingue
Franche": A (Critical)
Economic Perspective’
François Grin (Université de
Genève), Switzerland
The notion that using a "common language", often under
the label of "lingua franca",
is presented by some
analysts as a good solution
to the challenges of multilingual communication. Any
language might play this
role, but for a number of
geopolitical and economic
reasons, English is often
considered as the best
candidate to do so. This view
can still give rise to
different, sometimes even
opposing recommendations
for language policy, depending on how the concept of
"lingua franca" is constructed; but practically all
advocates of lingua francabased solutions invoke their
allegedly "economic" soundness. However, using a
lingua
franca
(whether
English or any other) does
not necessarily deliver economic advantages. Quite the
contrary, it can turn out to
be an uneconomic solution, in
both allocative and distributive terms. In this paper, I
first discuss some of the
ambiguities surrounding the
very concept of "English as a
lingua franca" before turning to the economic implications of linguistic hegemony (again, independently
of the nature of the
hegemonic language) that
necessarily
accompanies
lingua franca status as
currently proposed by some,
showing that it will generally
turn out to be harmful in
terms of the two core
economic
criteria
of
efficiency and fairness.
12.00 -12.45:
‘Communicating emotions
in multiple languages’
Jean-Marc Dewaele
(Birkbeck College, University
of London), UK
In this presentation I consider
the recent wave of research
into emotion and multilingualism. Cognitive psychologists, psychotherapists and
applied
linguists
use
different methodologies to
answer common research
questions: Are some languages of multilinguals perceived to be more emotional? What are the
consequences for their use in
various contexts? What is the
status and nature of emotion
words and emotion-laden
words in the bilingual
lexicon? Why do swearwords feel less offensive in a
foreign language? I will also
consider the role of foreign
language instruction on the
communication of emotion in
the foreign language.
Lunch
Sponsors: The International Association of Language and Social Psychology of Language (IALSP), The International Communication
Association (ICA), MERCATOR, Fryske Akademy (the Netherlands) & SOAS, University of London
2.00-2.45: ‘Cyberspace
and ‘reviving’ or
stimulating bilingualism in
young male and female
“dormant” bilinguals’
Anne
Pauwels
(SOAS,
University of London), UK
Research on bi- and multilinguals in migrant settings has
provided strong evidence
that those migrating at a
young age and those born
to migrant parents (often
referred to as ‘second generation’) are likely to undergo
a (significant) degree of language shift, sometimes resulting in a complete abandoning of the ‘heritage’ language. Particularly at risk
are young people whose
peers and social networks
do not display positive attitudes towards linguistic diversity or difference. Public
exposure of heritage language use is experienced
negatively
by
such
youngsters leading them to
‘hide’ their heritage language, severely restricting
its use to older family
members, or abandoning it
altogether. The advent of
internet-based communication and other forms of technology-mediated language
practices has had a significant impact not only on
available and preferred
modes of interaction but also
on the notions of private and
public
communication.
Through the internet one can
engage in a range of communicative practices which
provide privacy for the
interlocutors, but which take
place in public virtual spaces
reaching a large number of
people. Such communicative
environments may constitute
‘safe’ places for young bilinguals in which to use,
practice, and enhance their
bilingual practices. Here I
present some case studies of
young bilinguals exploring
the impact of the internet on
their communicative practices
linked to the heritage language. Specific attention is
paid to what extent this site
– the internet – creates gendered communicative practices that may result in
different levels of bilingualism
among
young
bilinguals.
2.45-3.30: ‘Diasporas:
Multilingual and intercultural communication
across time and space’
Li Wei (Birkbeck College,
University of London), UK
One of the key characteristics of the diaspora is its
complex connections with
people of a common root
across geographic locations
as well as historical times.
The nature and quantity of
the connections vary from
one place to another and
change over time. This talk
addresses some of the
communication issues associated with diasporas. Multilingualism and multiculturalism feature highly in
diaspora
communication.
Communication with others of
the same cultural heritage
but dispersed in different
places, and across generations and age groups, is a
typical, everyday pheno-
menon. Multilingual and
intercultural communication
can also create new spaces
for communication. Members
of the diaspora learn new
and different things from
each other, resulting in new
knowledge and identity construction. Understanding how
members of the diasporas
communicate with each other
across space and time
provides important insights
into multilingual and intercultural communication more
generally.
Tea
4.00-4.45: ‘The dynamics
of acculturation: an intergroup perspective’
attitudes as a determinant of
intergroup attitudes; (4) the
importance of the intergroup
climate in which acculturation
takes place; (5) acculturation
as a process – developmental and longitudinal
perspectives. I will present
research to illustrate each of
these points. Longitudinal
and experimental studies,
rarities in the acculturation
literature, will figure prominently. Research settings
include
Turkish-German
relations
in
Germany,
Indigenous-Non-indigenous
relations in Chile, African
migrants to Italy and ethnic
majority-minority relations in
the UK.
4.45-5.30: ‘Modelling
Multilingual & Multicultural
Communication’
Rupert Brown (Sussex
University), UK
Howard Giles (UCSB), USA &
Itesh Sachdev (SOAS,
The growing global trend of University of London), UK
migration
gives
social
psychological enquiry into In an era of globalisation,
acculturation processes par- this presentation will discuss
ticular contemporary rele- the place of multilingualism
vance. Inspired by one of not only in current disciplines
the earliest definitions of
but also in emerging cosmoacculturation (Redfield et al.,
1936), I will present a case politan identities and notions
for considering acculturation of global citizenship. It aims
as a dynamic intergroup to bring together the diverse
process. I first briefly review strands of research and
research stimulated by the models to develop core
dominant perspective in the aspects
and
principles
field, Berry’s acculturation
concerning
multilingual
&
framework. Noting several
limitations of that work, I multicultural communication.
identify five issues which
have helped to define our
own research agenda over
5:30 Reception
the past decade: (1) the
mutual influence of acculturation preferences and
intergroup attitudes; (2) the
influence of the perceived
acculturation attitudes of the
outgroup; (3) discrepancies
between
ingroup
and
outgroup
acculturation
Organisers: Itesh Sachdev (i.sachdev@soas.ac.uk) & Howard Giles (howiegiles@cox.net)