Marginalization of a Language and Ensuing Cultural Shift

In this study, I report some preliminary findings of an ongoing research project that explores language use in different social contexts of situation from a cross-linguistic perspective. I have chosen a controversial yet pervasive social phenomenon, 'privacy', as the object of investigation to uncover how different languages create and shape social reality through written discourse (cf. Halliday, 1978; Hasan, 1984). The findings of this study are intended to address two broad research questions. First, what are the linguistic choices in constructing the social reality of privacy that are register-motivated? Second, what are the typological constraints that underpin those choices? Through this study, I hope to furnish a linguistic profile of privacy by providing a detailed description of language use in contexts of situation where privacy is discussed in public discourse in a multilingual environment. The sample data I used for this study contains instances of written texts that operate in socio-semiotic processes where privacy is regulated (legal terms and policies), argued (expert opinion) and reported (news report) in Japanese and English. The texts are analyzed 'from above' in terms of field, tenor and mode (see Halliday & Hasan, 1989); 'from below' in terms of lexicogrammar with a focus on the systems of TRANSITIVITY, MOOD and MODALITY (see

Choice Reviews Online, 1995

Originally presented at the second annual Whole Language Umbrella Conference, the 18 essays in this book address the three related themes of identity, responsibility, and practice. The essays in the book discuss how, whole language is defined, and how its We have had much help and support in bringing together the diverse voices in this volume. We wish to thank Dorothy Watson, who, as president of the Whole Language Umbrella, suggested that we draw together presentations from the second Whole Language Umbrella Conference in book form. Thanks also to Jerome Harste for his guidance in this effort, and to Yetta Goodman, who titled the conference and this selection of essays. We also wish to thank each of the contributors for their patience with the editing process. We would like to acknowledge Michael Spooner, Jane Curran, and David Hamburg of NCTE for their guidance and thoughtful feedback throughout this process. And as always in a work of this nature, we wish to thank our families for providing the support, patience, and time required to devote to this project.

Handbook of Multilingualism and Multiculturalism. Edited by Geneviève Zarate, Danielle Lévy and Claire Kramsch, 2011

Springer Reference Sozialwissenschaften, 2019

In this chapter I intend briefly to reconstruct the ways in which we can consider language as a cultural resource that people use to share their social world, organize their social life, and attribute values and meanings to their experiences. In particular, I consider the familiar question of the context needed to understand the facts of language in use. In order to understand language in terms other than the internal logic of the system, I show the importance of considering language as it is concretely exercised and practiced by people in concrete situations of use. As regards what should be considered an appropriate context for the exercise of language, I present different solutions given to the issue according to different academic styles and theoretical approaches. These solutions range from considering the context as a structural array of social characteristics that affect individual behaviour in society, through seeing it as the actual situation of talking together, or as the ...

2018

For half a century or more, semilingualism has been a controversial – much debated and much derided – idea. The present paper engages with some facets of this history. It traces the formation and early circulation in its context of origin: Sweden's nascent fields of bilingualism research and minority education. The paper analyzes semilingualism as a 'traveling idea', which has moved through networks of actors over an extended period of time. In Sweden from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, semilingualism was a key theme a range of discursive exchanges. It circulated in scholarly discussions about bilingualism and linguistic competence, and surged as a central theme in political debates on minority education, immigration and language policy. It likewise recurred in the media, and in various articulations of public opinion. In the course these travels, the idea of semilingualism became more and more implicated in the processes of revising Sweden's policies on linguistic minorities. By the 1970s, as the paper argues, the idea had begun to function as a 'policy-driver', which aided the 1977 nationwide introduction of the school subject of mother tongue instruction (MTI) for minority students. While most linguists have come to dismiss semilingualism as a scientifically flawed concept, the idea of semilingualism, as the paper shows, had nevertheless a decisive impact in policy making. This impact is still visible the inclusion of MTI in Sweden's national curriculum. This societal impact of this sociolinguistic idea, as well as the lasting consequences thereof, points to the importance of a reflexive sociolinguistics, which takes interest in the life and afterlife of the ideas it produces. The paper contributes to this endeavor.

Language, Culture and Society, 2019

This is the editorial of Language, Culture and Society 1:2 (2019), to be published in the Autumn of 2019