LINGUIST List 25.2347
Thu
May 29 2014
Review: Applied
Linguistics; Language Acquisition: Davies
(2013)
Editor for this issue:
Rajiv Rao <rajivlinguistlist.org>
Date: 10-Mar-2014
From: Laura Dubcovsky
<ledubcovsky
ucdavis.edu>
Subject: Native Speakers and
Native Users
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Book announced at
http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-4224.html
AUTHOR: Alan Davies
TITLE: Native Speakers and Native Users
SUBTITLE: Loss and Gain
PUBLISHER: Cambridge University Press
YEAR: 2013
REVIEWER: Laura Dubcovsky, University of
California, Davis
SUMMARY
The book invites the reader to consider the two
terms of the title, “Native Speakers” and
“Native Users,” from new lenses. In his
preface, Davies lays out his thesis: changing
the reductionist definition of native speakers
as a universal condition given at birth, and
instead exploring the capacity of non-native
speakers, or in Davies’ terms, native users.
What the author argues is for a continuum
between native speakers and native users, where
“membership can change, it can be added
to[...],” and, in both cases, “membership
requires work” (p. viii). The book is divided
in nine chapters: the introduction (Chapter 1)
presents a general overview of the main
arguments and lays out examples proposed in
each chapter to illustrate Davies’ thesis.
Chapters 2 to 8 develop these examples through
empirical studies drawing from diverse
settings, distant in time and place, to
illuminate the author’s proposal of an existing
continuum between native speakers and native
users. The conclusion (Chapter 9) summarizes
Davies’ characterization of native speakers and
native users, connecting in an explicit manner
the theoretical foundation and practical cases
developed throughout the book.
In Chapter 1, Davies uses the comparison
between Second Language Acquisition Research
(hereafter, SLAR) and Applied Linguistics
(hereafter, AL) to reintroduce psycholinguistic
and cognitive notions in the native speaker
debate, revise the circularity regarding the
traditional definition of being a “native
speaker,” and question its status of being the
norm. After this analysis, Davies concludes
that the nature of these terms is more “a
political than a linguistic appraisal” (p. 2);
therefore, he proposes to investigate “whether
the native speaker and the native user are
separated from one another by a fundamental
difference or by a continuum” (p. 5). The
introductory chapter includes an overview of
the following chapters, which present varied
examples that contrast the theoretical
construct of an ideal and isomorphic native
speaker with real native speakers who coexist
with native users in multilingual and complex
societies.
Chapter 2 presents issues of language and
identity of négritude, as defined by Anglophone
and Francophone traditions in Africa. Davies
uses this scenario to review the related string
of concepts concerning nativeness: ownership,
origin, and identity. He relates this
conceptual chain to the well-known Linguistic
Relativity Principle (Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis),
especially in its strong form, because it
explores not only how language influences
thought, but also how the two share isomorphic
qualities. The chapter illustrates the sense of
language/identity loss through poems and novels
that reveal different perceptions, attitudes,
and cultural displacement, highlighting the
tension between spoken and written language
during the post-colonial era, during which it
has increased. After his brief historical
trajectory, Davies concludes that his coined
term, ‘native user,’ “is almost oxymoronic.”
(page #) As he explains, “If you are a speaker,
then it is taken for granted that you use the
language. If you are a user, then you are not a
native” (p. 11).
In Chapter 3, Davies considers what it means to
be a native user in the context of postcolonial
English in two particular settings: English as
a Lingua Franca (ELF) and English as used in
India. In the first part of the chapter, the
author notices that the simplified version of
the Standard English used in the ELF context is
definitely different from English as a second
or as a foreign language. He also departs from
the traditional opposition between native and
non-native speakers, since, in ELF settings,
communication is established among non-native
speakers. Davies defines a native user as “a
second-language speaker [who is] therefore not
a native speaker of his/her second language.
Furthermore s/he is a proficient user of that
second language” (pp. 27-28). In the second
part of this chapter, the author discusses the
use of English in postcolonial India. Usually,
scholars associate the “English in India” label
with written and more formal language (i.e.,
“high variety”) and the “Indian English” (IndE)
label with spoken and informal language (i.e.,
“low variety”). Davies highlights that while
written language enjoys conformity to a
standard variety that represents the “idealized
linguistic norm,” spoken varieties still differ
considerably, remaining as “a complex, elusive,
and problematic entity” (Schneider, 2007:
p.172, quoted on p. 34).
Chapter 4 pinpoints the different goals,
philosophies and settings of Second Language
Acquisition (SLA) and Second Language learning
(SLL) that guide the contrasting
characterizations of a native speaker. Notions
of innate knowledge, grammatical judgments, and
maturation have pervaded the SLA field,
supporting the idealized native speaker
construct. In contrast, SLL includes social
theory and the interdisciplinary work of
critical discourse analysis, systemic
functional linguistics, and genre theory (among
other areas). Rooted in AL, these scholars
elaborate a more social construct of native
speakers that presents both variability and
homogeneity in members of a community of users,
while also considering that the Standard
Language is typically accessed through
education. AL’s major success resides in the
attention given to strong language teacher
preparation and the development of effective
teaching methods; above all, the focus is on a
teaching of the Standard Language that enables
access for native speakers and second language
learners. In the author’s words, “the goal or
model of the educated second-language learner
is the Standard Language” (p. 51).
In Chapter 5, Davies considers native speakers
and native users within the framework of
language norms, highlighting that the stability
of language is more striking than its
variability (Sedlatschek, 2009). He recognizes
the central model and the unequal distribution
of the norm, as well as the negative
consequences that imposing Standard English may
bring to those with limited or no schooling,
and to those who speak different first
languages or non-standard dialects. However,
the author embraces the notion that Standard
Language is a social and psychological entity,
only possible through a two-way process of
language and education (Crystal, 1997, quoted
on p. 58). As Davies explains, Standard English
is acquired through education, and education
itself is dependent of the Standard English
medium. Therefore, native speakers and native
users gain language proficiency through
schooling and constant practice. The last part
of the chapter addresses main linguistic
arguments, such as the effect of Standard
English in different English contexts (e.g.,
areas of England, Australia and the
USA),different accents that are distant from
British pronunciation, descriptive and
prescriptive roles of the Standard Language,
political/apolitical considerations of
monolingualism as the norm, the spread of
English around the world, and the effects of
globalization, internationalization and
transnationalization on the use of Standard
English.
Chapter 6 offers three studies to empirically
support the main argument in favor of Standard
English as a model for both native speakers and
native users. First, the author frames the
studies in the context of International English
(IE) and World Englishes (WEs) in order to
explain the polarizing attitudes toward the
spread of English. Then, he explains the
purpose of the studies, which aim to prove
“whether the model or norm that native users
work to in their English performance is the
same or different from that of comparable
educated native speakers of English” (p. 73).
Finally, he summarizes his research. In the
first study, Davies and his collaborators
analyzed the norm used in English-proficiency
tests in Malaysia, Singapore, China, and India,
and obtained mixed results, as both
international and local criteria were accepted.
In the second study, the scholars revisited
issues of bias in the English used in
international proficiency tests. The essays
collected were not sufficient to provide
evidence, although bias could not be dismissed.
In the third study, Davies and his colleagues
analyzed the judgments of both educated native
speakers and non-native speakers regarding the
performance of native users of English, without
obtaining conclusive results about the question
of whose norms and whose judgments are to be
imposed in these exams.
Chapters 7 and 8 present two seemingly distant
linguistic events to illustrate the main
arguments developed in this book: the worship
of Quakers and examples of textual hoaxes,
respectively. Davies treats the Quaker meetings
as speech events, following a language learning
model that includes: (1) conversation, (2)
formal settings, and (3) continuing states of
incipient talk. After analyzing fifteen
meetings, the author brings to the fore a
comparison between the members’ behavior and
the nature of the religious and the linguistic
community. Among the similarities, the
researcher points out that the Quaker worship
is open to all, (most) members are amateurs
rather than professionals, and, like in other
forms of discourse, religious meetings
constitute a discourse that must be learned.
Above all, they have a norm or standard
language, given by silence, which is the
unmarked form of the silence/speaking tension
prevalent within the Quaker community.
In Chapter 8, Davies pays special attention to
advanced levels of reading proficiency. He uses
four textual hoaxes to show that only through
education readers can reach higher levels of
comprehension, interpretation, and critical
thinking. As the author claims, reading skills
need to be taught, regardless of native speaker
or the native user status, to uncover deception
and to become critical readers in a second
language. The last chapter (9), is a brief
summary of previous chapters, which enables
Davies to highlight his main arguments about
identity “loss and gains” (Chapter 2), the
variability of ELF among users and within
particular settings (Chapter 3), and the
importance of teaching Standard English norms
and rules (Chapters 4 and 5), and of presenting
evidence through empirical studies (Chapters
6-7-8). Both theoretical foundation and
practical examples support the author’s thesis
of a continuum of native speakers and users,
which reconciles the separation between
cognitive and sociolinguistic views derived
from SLAR and AL, respectively.
EVALUATION
“Native speakers and native users. Loss and
gain” brings a fresh look to key topics in SLA
and SLL. Davies takes the reader through
different scenarios, from Africa to India, from
religious to lay settings, and from past to
current events, to show common struggles that
both native speakers and native users have when
trying to become members of a linguistic
community. Moreover, long studied concepts,
such as Standard Language, norms, proficiency
tests and bias, the idealized status of the
native speaker, and language change and
stability are revisited in light of current
uses of English in globalized and post-colonial
societies (e.g., ELF, IE and WE). Davies’ deep
knowledge of language, literature and cultures
is evident through the wealth of empirical data
and literary concepts illustrated in each
chapter. Last, but not least, the author has
the ability to reconcile cognitive and
sociolinguistic perspectives, which enable him
to strengthen his own viewpoint.
The book is carefully structured through solid
arguments, which are richly illustrated by
literate examples or empirical studies. The
author wisely connects different chapters,
using the last paragraph of each of them to
introduce the following. This strategy provides
a purposeful thread of ideas that makes his
thesis flow throughout the entire book.
However, less cohesiveness is achieved in
Chapter 3, where Davies attempts to combine
quite different scenarios of the use of
English, and in Chapters 7 and 8, which have
seemingly distant examples. The author needed
to devote longer paragraphs to the historical,
cultural, and linguistic contexts rather than
to explicit connections with his major
points.
Overall, “Native speakers and native users.
Loss and gain” will be of particular interest
to students and scholars working on SLA and
SLL. The reader will find engaging examples and
rich references to literature that will revive
his/her interest in exploring the nature and
scope of native and non-native speakers and in
establishing stronger relationships between
theoretical and applied linguistics.
REFERENCES
Crystal, D. (1997). “English as a global
language”: Cambridge University Press.
Schneider, E. W. (2007). “Postcolonial English:
Varieties around the world”: Cambridge
University Press.
Sedlatschek, A. (2009). “Contemporary Indian
English: Variation and change”. Amsterdam: John
Benjamin.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Laura Dubcovsky is a lecturer and supervisor in
the teacher education program from UC Davis.
She has a Master’s in Education and a PhD in
Spanish linguistics with special emphasis on
second language acquisition from UCDavis. Her
areas of interest combine the fields of
language and education. She is dedicated to the
preparation of bilingual Spanish/English
teachers, and has presented her pre-service
course about Spanish across school disciplines
in different forums, meetings and workshops,
for professionals and parents interested in
bilingual education and in English as a second
language. She is dedicated to improving the
academic Spanish and the effectiveness in
teaching second language learners of future
bilingual teachers. Her article “Functions of
the verb decir ('to say') in the incipient
academic Spanish writing of bilingual
children,” published in 2008 in Functions of
Language, 15(2), 257-280, analyzes the writing
of bilingual school grade children, from a
Systemic Functional Language perspective.
Page Updated: 29-May-2014