LINGUIST List 19.3256
Tue Oct 28 2008
Diss: Anthro Ling/Disc Analysis/Socioling: DuBord: 'Performing Bili...'
Editor for this issue: Evelyn Richter
<evelynlinguistlist.org>
1. Elise
DuBord,
Performing Bilingualism: An ethnographic analysis of discursive practices at a day labor center in the Southwest
Message 1: Performing Bilingualism: An ethnographic analysis of discursive practices at a day labor center in the Southwest
Date: 28-Oct-2008
From: Elise DuBord <eduborddrew.edu>
Subject: Performing Bilingualism: An ethnographic analysis of discursive practices at a day labor center in the Southwest
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Institution: University of Arizona
Program: Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2008
Author: Elise M. DuBord
Dissertation Title: Performing Bilingualism: An ethnographic analysis of discursive practices at a day labor center in the Southwest
Linguistic Field(s):
Anthropological Linguistics
Discourse Analysis
Sociolinguistics
Dissertation Director:
Ana Maria Carvalho
Dissertation Abstract:
This ethnographic research examines the social implications of theethnolinguistic contact that occurs in the U.S.-Mexico border region at aday labor center in Tucson, Arizona. I discuss the multiple values ofEnglish and Spanish in this setting and how individuals interpret andnegotiate these values in the construction and performance of identity.More specifically, I analyze how discourses of linguistic capital shape theorganization of this community and influence the dynamics of employmentnegotiations. The research setting includes immigrant day laborers(primarily from Mexico and Central America), employers who contractworkers, and bilingual volunteers who act as language brokers betweenworkers and their employers; all of whom use language to interactivelynegotiate their social status as they construct identities vis-à-vis othermembers of the community.
My analysis reveals a discourse that places a high level of linguisticcapital on Spanish-English bilingualism in the economic market. Although Ihave not found evidence that this linguistic capital has a real exchangerate into dollars, my data demonstrates that immigrants rapidly acquire andcontribute to this locally constructed discourse. I explore the techniquesthat workers use to exploit and promote their language abilities through'performances' of bilingualism that are realized not only to secureemployment, but also for social positioning within this community ofpractice. Language, then, is one of the many tools that both workers andemployers use in the construction of interpersonal relationships and socialhierarchies. In addition, I analyze gatekeeping encounters focusing on therapid employment negotiations that occur between day laborers and theiremployers, building on previous research with regard to the concepts ofrapport, co-membership, and the presentation of an institutional self.
Finally, I propose a model for the study of intercultural communication andcontact that reflects the dynamic nature of contact and the complexity ofoverlapping categories of identity. Identity formation is a multiplex andmultidirectional social construction that necessitates pushing beyondbinary models of intercultural communication. Identity construction isinformed not only by face-to-face interlocutors, but also by the linguisticecology of dominant and subordinate discourses and the imagined individualand collective interlocutors they evoke.
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