Multi- & Bilingualism & Biliteracy

Serbian/Albanian Bilingualism in Kosova: Reversal or Entrenchment of the Curse of Babel?

by Sarah Jansen

Undergraduate Research. Completed in partial fulfillment of SIT Study Abroad: Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans, Spring 2012. Advised by Yll Buleshkaj.

Dynamics of power between multiple languages in one space are indicative of and inform the relationship between the... more Dynamics of power between multiple languages in one space are indicative of and inform the relationship between the speakers of those languages. In post-conflict Kosova, two ethno-linguistic groups, Kosovar Serbians and Kosovar Albanians, live in a context where language has become politicized and long-standing linguistic, political, and social hierarchies of power have been radically disturbed. This paper describes the myriad of images of the Serbian language in the country, focusing particularly on those that come from the Serbian/Albanian bilingual Kosovar Albanian community. It then discusses how these inform language as a political tool and what the consequences of this are for peaceful intercommunity relations. A total of eight bilingual respondents from Prishtina and Prizren were interviewed about their perceptions, feelings, and use of the Serbian language, including how these may have changed over time. Three sets of images or narratives are identified, then this paper explores how each set relates to theories of bilingualism and potential for progressive social change.

"Tintin in the Arab World and Arabic in the World of Tintin." Alternative Francophone 1.5 (2012): 26-39.

by Ziad Bentahar

Das soziale und sprachliche Leben der zweiten und dritten Generationen in der Türkei

by Utku Tanrıvere

Cultivating Global Citizens: Parents' Choice of Foreign Language Immersion

by Hannah B. Emery

The Nature of Code-Switching in Puerto Rican Reggaeton Music

by Tim Gorichanaz

A number of bilingual Puerto Rican reggaeton artists use both English and Spanish in their lyrics. Why might these... more A number of bilingual Puerto Rican reggaeton artists use both English and Spanish in their lyrics. Why might these artists use code-switching in their music? Music is meant to convey a message; how does code-switching enhance or change that message? From these wonderings, this research asked: What is the nature and purpose of code-switching in Puerto Rican hip-hop? It was found that the density of Spanish in reggaeton music has evolved considerably over the first decade of the 21st century, and that the motivations for code-switching in reggaeton are overall similar to those in the music of other cultures.

A study of language identity and shift: The Calvinist Dutch of West Michigan

by Kara VanDam

Doctoral dissertation, Department of Linguistics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2007

From the perspective of the sociology of language developed by Joshua Fishman, and working from letters, newspapers,... more From the perspective of the sociology of language developed by Joshua Fishman, and working from letters, newspapers, secondary accounts, and grave inscriptions, this study describes and explains bilingualism and the loss of the Dutch language in two West Michigan Dutch immigrant communities from 1847-1930, the Reformed Church (RCA) Dutch and the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) Dutch. The loss of Dutch in some ways parallels the contemporaneous language shift of Norwegian immigrants (Haugen, 1969) and Swedish immigrants (Karstadt, 2002). The two West Michigan Dutch Calvinist communities were unique in their language shift experiences. The RCA Dutch experienced and promoted a rapid assimilation and shift to English. The CRC Dutch promoted a multi-generational maintenance of the Dutch language in a stable Dutch-English bilingual setting—the preservation of Dutch was not at the expense of the acquisition of English—and then consciously and abruptly abandoned the Dutch language in the years immediately after World War I. The CRC Dutch maintained their language for so long precisely because it was the marker of identity for them and it was inextricably tied to their faith; the RCA Dutch were able to abandon the Dutch language early on because it was not the marker of religious identity for them.

Critical Biliteracy in the ESOL Classroom: Bringing the Outside In with Dual Language Mentor Texts

by Stephanie Abraham

In a fifth-grade ESOL class, I used dual-language mentor texts to implement critical biliteracy practices for emerging... more In a fifth-grade ESOL class, I used dual-language mentor texts to implement critical biliteracy practices for emerging Spanish/English bilinguals. These texts relieved writing anxiety, scaffolded writing, and acted as an additional dual-language teacher. The students’ stories showed resistance to monolithic societal discourses and challenged English-only instructional norms.

En una clase de quinto año de ESOL, utilicé textos mentores en dos lenguas para implementar prácticas críticas de bilectoescritura con bilingües emergentes de español e inglés. Estos textos liberaron la ansiedad al escribir, sirvieron de andamiaje de escritura y actuaron como un maestro adicional de lenguaje dual. Las historias de los estudiantes muestran resistencia a los discursos sociales monolíticos y retan las normas escolares de sólo usar inglés

Abstract, Dedication, and Acknowledgments for the Hobbs (2011) dissertation published by SAS.

by Robert Dean Hobbs

The Hobbs (2011) doctoral study is published in the ProQuest Dissertations and These database, UMI No. 3484309

The purpose of the qualitative research was to assess models of education developed for the study to investigate how... more The purpose of the qualitative research was to assess models of education developed for the study to investigate how and when to incorporate second and third languages into the curriculum to improve language acquisition. Research indicates that L3 enhances and reinforces L2 and L1. The stratified systematic grounded theory study explored the perspectives of neurolinguists, psycholinguists, sociolinguists, and interdisciplinary education researchers to derive variables for constructing a new model of education. The outcome of the Internet survey revealed that 100% of the participants agreed that education must change and that teacher training must improve. Variables from the cross-disciplinary data contributed to the construction of an integrated model of multilingual education consisting of four primary models and other models to serve as tools for designing curriculum, instruction, and assessment as well as determining demographics and student meta-analysis of language abilities and storage in the brain. The first model emerged from the data to offer multilingual principles of education. The other primary models are macro, meso, and micro models. The macro model represents schools, instruction, assessment, and the curriculum cycle. The meso model depicts the developmental domains of the individual learner and includes a cyclical equation. The micro model delineates multilingual processing in the brain based on neurolinguistic research, variables from the current study, and Kees de Bot's bilingual adaptation of Levelt's language processing model. Recommendations include the incorporation of notional-functional pragmatic-aesthetic concepts as depicted in the models developed for the study and enhanced by input from published researchers with unique language and research repertoires who were located on four continents.

Young children and Gaelic: a language policy perspective

by Wilson McLeod

Reflections on current practices in Gaelic-medium preschools in Scotland and the further developments needed to ensure... more Reflections on current practices in Gaelic-medium preschools in Scotland and the further developments needed to ensure that children attending Gaelic-medium settings have high quality
preschool and Gaelic language learning experiences.

Young children learning in Gaelic: investigating children's learning experiences in Gaelic-medium preschool

by Wilson McLeod

Co-authored with Christine Stephen and Joanna McPake.

Gaelic-medium (GM) education is an important part of current efforts to revitalise the language in Scotland. Beginning... more Gaelic-medium (GM) education is an important part of current efforts to revitalise the language in Scotland. Beginning Gaelic-medium education in preschool is seen as a crucial entry point, enhancing the numbers entering GM primary education and facilitating transition to the school learning environment. However, it is essential that GM preschool is of high quality. Government-funded provision is expected to offer children the same learning
opportunities as their peers who attend English-medium
settings. Meeting these expectations is challenging because most children enter Gaelic-medium preschool from English-speaking homes so that the nursery or playgroup is their only exposure to Gaelic. Our earlier study mapped the range and extent of Gaelic-medium early education and childcare provision but in the research
reported here our focus was on what happens within settings, the children’s activities in the playroom and the ways in which practitioners help them to learn Gaelic, as well as ensuring that national expectations about curriculum and learning outcomes are met.

The visual construction of language hierarchy: the case of banknotes, coins and stamps

by Mark Sebba

To appear in Journal of Language and Politics, 2013

The visual construction of language hierarchy: the case of banknotes, coins and stamps

Abstract more The visual construction of language hierarchy: the case of banknotes, coins and stamps

Abstract
This paper analyses the way in which the text displayed on currency (banknotes and coins) and stamps constructs and reproduces linguistic hierarchies, reflecting the relative status of the languages in question in terms of prevailing language ideologies within the issuing country. The paper briefly discusses the selection of languages which appear on stamps and money, which is always in accordance with the official language ideology. It then goes on to show how the choice of language and the relative positioning and size of texts in those languages constructs the languages involved as of equal or unequal status. Two case studies are considered: the construction of equality between English and Afrikaans in South Africa on stamps and banknotes of the period 1910 to 1994, reflecting the constitutional requirement that those languages be treated ‘on a footing of equality’; and the construction of linguistic inequality in the stamps of Palestine and Israel, where first English (under the British Mandate) was shown as dominant over Arabic and Hebrew, and later Hebrew (in Israel) was shown to dominate over the other two.

The paper argues for a dual analysis of text in public texts like stamps and banknotes: on the one hand text is language, and is subject to a (socio)linguistic analysis, while on the other, text has a physical form and dimensions which mean that texts are interpreted in terms of their visual features and spatial relationships to other texts. The language hierarchies which are reproduced and transported by stamps and money are thus discursively constructed through a combination of text as language and text as image.

What do you mean by <bilingual>?: The dimensions of <bilingualism>

by Raúl A. Mora

Invited presentation at the Bilingualism Integrated Table, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, April 14 2012

Besides being a contested topic, the idea of <bilingualism> is one of those words where every involved... more Besides being a contested topic, the idea of <bilingualism> is one of those words where every involved stakeholder seems to have their own defintion (Dressman, et al. 1998). While there is an agreement about the “two languages” idea behind the definition, there are plenty of hazy areas about what entails being “bilingual”, what “bilingual education” programs are, and what it really means to think in terms of a bilingual society.
Partly building up and partly taking distance from the first presentation of this table (Golovátina-Mora, 2012), this session will first explore a series of factors that teachers and researchers should consider before engaging in a discussion of <bilingualism>. Then the presenter will problematize some of the existing goals of bilingualism by questioning the “two languages” assumption. Finally, we will discuss some of the implications of a revised view of bilingualism where issues of human rights (Mora, 2004), diversity (Blommaert, 2012), cosmopolitanism (Mora & Golovátina-Mora, 2011), world languages (Rajagopalan, 2010), and specific views of languages in context (Mora, 2011) should come into play as we question and rethink what it means to be <bilingual> in our local, global, and glocal contexts.

How a Child Acquires Irish

by Brian Ó Broin

Children do not acquire Irish by accident, even in the Gaeltacht. In a world where there are no monolinguals of Irish... more Children do not acquire Irish by accident, even in the Gaeltacht. In a world where there are no monolinguals of Irish and where the borders of all linguistic zones are being destroyed by telecommunications and improved transportation, it takes a formal decision by parents to declare Irish a household language (or to continue with its use as a household language).
Such a decision cannot be made haphazardly or without planning, as the default language for almost all activity in Ireland (even in the Gaeltacht) is now English. Intending Irish-language parents should be discussing the linguistic structure of their homes before their children’s birth, and perhaps even before pregnancy.
Planning ahead is key, as parents must be considering things such as community, family structure, education, and access to media long before these become issues.
Parents whose native language is not Irish are faced with the added difficulty of trying to raise children in a language not their own, often with poor resources for such a task. The best option is to start using the language immediately, regardless of current ability, as those who put off ‘improving’ their Irish never actually get around to it.
Children are learning Irish from the moment of their first breath (and probably before!), so the earlier their access to the language, the better. They must be hearing the language from a parent as often as possible. Most Irish-speaking households outside the Gaeltacht are bilingual, and the recommended language structure is OPOL (‘One parent – one language’).
Children should never be punished for speaking English, but by the same token, they must be highly encouraged to use Irish, even to the point of pretending not to understand them unless they speak Irish. Otherwise they will develop the habit of speaking English to the parent and the linguistic structure of the family will collapse.
Young children will often, perhaps even usually, speak English together if they live in bilingual communities, but there are possible strategies (although a little artificial) that may get them to speak Irish together.
Parents worry a lot about their children developing an English/Irish pidgin (particularly from their interactions with non-native speakers at Gaelscoileanna), but that fear is unfounded. Most Irish-speaking children develop fluency, even if their Irish, lacking the usual native-speaker’s phonetics, does not sound like that of the Gaeltacht.
Parents observe what they think is ‘bad’ Irish from young children, but the structure of Irish means that children develop perfect grammar only gradually (as opposed to English, which has an extremely simple morphology and ‘sounds’ more correct from an earlier age). There is, in fact, little cause to worry about Irish-speaking children, particularly given the number of children now being raised in the language.

Measuring balanced bilingual children with sentence-embeded word translation.

by Shin-Mei Kao

Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2 (1), 31-42,
doi:10.4304/tpls.2.1.31-42

This paper reports two studies. The first one investigates how two 10-year-old Taiwanese-Hungarian balanced bilingual... more This paper reports two studies. The first one investigates how two 10-year-old Taiwanese-Hungarian balanced bilingual twin boys translated sentence-embedded words between their native languages over a six-month period as the physical context around them changed. The second one compares how these two bilinguals and four monolingual children defined words in their native languages. The purpose is twofold: to explore the role of an active language in translation, and to propose a new measurement for bilinguals. The reaction time (RT) and accuracy of their verbal protocols were measured and analyzed. The bilingual children’s word translation reveals an active use of metalinguistic skills. The physical context did affect their RT and accuracy in general and in translating concrete/abstract concepts. The two bilinguals defined words as fast and accurate as their monolingual peers in both languages, but different definition aspects were identified from the answers of the two groups. The translation/definition task appears a comprehensive measurement for bilingual and monolingual children with any combination of languages

Book Review: Simon, S.(2006) Translating Montreal: Episodes in the Life of a Divided City

by Nora Koller

Language and Superdiversity (Blommaert & Rampton 2012)

by Jan Blommaert

Language planning as a discourse on language and society: The linguistic ideology of a scholarly tradition

by Jan Blommaert

Language policy and national identity

by Jan Blommaert

Semiotic and visual scope: Towards a materialist semiotics

by Jan Blommaert

Sociolinguistics and English Language Studies

by Jan Blommaert