LINGUIST List 23.3461
Fri Aug 17 2012
Diss: Socioling/Chinese, Mandarin: Qian: 'Multiple languages, multiple worlds...'
Editor for this issue: Lili Xia
<lxialinguistlist.org>
Date: 17-Aug-2012
From: Yamin Qian <mindyqian
gmail.com>
Subject: Multiple languages, multiple worlds: A case study of the language use of Chinese ELL adolescents in Canada
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Institution: University of Toronto
Program: Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2012
Author: Yamin Qian
Dissertation Title: Multiple languages, multiple worlds: A case study of the language use of Chinese ELL adolescents in Canada
Linguistic Field(s):
Sociolinguistics
Subject Language(s):
Chinese, Mandarin (cmn)
Dissertation Director:
Antoinette Gagne
Dissertation Abstract:
Research has shown that late-arriving ELL adolescents are deeplyrooted in the sociocultural and educational system of their homecountry for a majority of their schooling time (Duff, 2001; Minichello,2001). In their transition to a new society in North America, this groupencounters sociocultural and linguistic differences in their daily lives.
Through a lens entitled Critical Multiple Social Spaces, which combinesMultiple Worlds Model (Phelan et al., 1991), Third Space (Bhabha,1994) and a sociocultural perspective on language use (Fairclough,2001; Pennycook, 2010), this qualitative case study focuses on 10Chinese ELL adolescents who came to Canada after the age of 15,and examines their cross-trajectory experiences of English practice intheir daily lives and their language identities. At the time of this study,they were at the stage of completing high school and applying foradmission to higher education institutions.
Findings showed that this group's language use in daily life is full ofconflicts, negotiation and consolidation, not only at school as a usualspace of contested language practice, but also at home, with peersand in other spaces. At school, social division existed both in and out ofclass, yet such social division was not merely due to ELL learners'reluctance to integrate. In addition, participants positioned themselvesdifferently in English Literature courses and core classes in accordancewith their perceived proficiency. Home - generally regarded as atraditionally stable space of language practice - became another site ofcomplex dynamics. Peer networks also emerged as embodying similarcomplications. In addition to racial and ethnic factors, age on arrivaland length of residence played a significant role in social interaction,impacting both same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peer networks.
Based on these findings, four categories are identified pertaining toparticipants' cross-trajectory language experiences, in which Englishspaces are positioned differently in relation to other spaces. Equallynoteworthy are the dynamics between social spaces, social relationsand language use, which shape - and are shaped by - symbolicpower, investment and language identities. The implications of thesefindings on ELL adolescents' language use in a broader migrationworld are also discussed.
Page Updated: 17-Aug-2012