Linguistic insecurity and the linguistic ownership of English among Singaporean Chinese (original) (raw)
Related papers
World Englishes, 2008
ABSTRACT: Singapore is unique in that it has not only embraced English as one of its official languages, but has made the language of its colonizers the de facto working language of the nation and the sole medium of instruction in all its schools, while assigning its other three official languages, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil, an L2 status in the school curriculum. With the use of English institutionalized in almost all domains of life, present- day Singaporeans grow up as ‘English-knowing’ bilinguals, acquiring English in the process of its use and interaction in school, in the playground, in the workplace, and increasingly in the home as well, making them native speakers of their variety of English. This raises interesting questions with regard to the ownership and authority of Singaporean speakers, and as to their legitimacy as mother-tongue speakers of the language. Drawing on Higgins' (2003) study on speakers' orientations towards English norms of Inner and Outer Circle countries, we examined Singaporean speakers' degree of ownership of their English norms along the dimensions of age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic class. In this paper we discuss some data from this ongoing study relating specifically to the language use of Singapore's Indian community, with a focus on how they positioned themselves in the process of articulating their orientations to English norms.
Thai Language Learners' Sense of English Ownership
PASAA, 2019
As a result of the important role English has played as a lingua franca in various world regions, a question has been asked whether this Anglo-American property has already been shared by speakers in non-native countries. This concern voices calls for increased attention to ESL/EFL learners' sense of self and their positioning with respect to English. This study explored Thai postgraduates' feelings about their taking ownership of English as an International Lingua Franca in ASEAN and how they view themselves in relation to the language. A qualitative approach was applied, using open-ended interview questions asking 44 postgraduates who enrolled on existing courses of the two English-related programmes. No shared sense of ownership is found, but the idea that English is used as a language for communication is highlighted. Since their relation to English is mainly found to be socioeconomic and English is widely recognised for the sake of their educational, economic and social growth and prospects, the assumption that ‗the West is the world' is still prevalent. Although getting involved in various English-related activities, these students' identity through their national language remains firm, and English is not considered the main determinant of their identity. The study provides suggestions aiming for valuing gains in English proficiency, together with instilling a respect for ASEAN local languages and cultures. Keywords: English as an international lingua franca, appropriation of English, ownership of English, present-day English
Natives, as anthropologists like to imagine them, are (…) rapidly disappearing (Appadurai 1988, p.39) In this paper, we review the debates about " new speakers " of regional minority languages in Europe and discuss how they can be understood as a phenomenon that challenges the linguistic ideologies that emerged with the development of nation-states, industrial capitalism and colonization. We apply the term " new speakers " to a variety of labels used in contexts such as Wales, Ireland, the Basque Country or Brittany to people who do not learn the local language through conventional family transmission, but more typically through education, e.g. bilingual or immersion schools or adult language courses (O'Rourke et al. 2015). It is not a new phenomenon in the sense that such profiles of speakers have always existed. What is new is the fact that the numbers of new speakers have become so large that they emerge as a distinct social category in these contexts. The ways these new speakers learn and the ways they speak these minority languages is perceived as noticeably different from what made up these linguistic communities in the past. As such, their presence unsettles the inherited ideological repertoires that articulated language, identity, authenticity and national belonging in the modern period. From this viewpoint, they constitute –we argue-one more amongst the many dissonances that contemporary sociolinguistics has identified in the received notions of languages as bounded entities inscribed in communities and territories in specific ways. The leaders of the COST New Speakers network have attempted (and only partially succeeded) to query researchers in other areas such as the sociolinguistics of migration or " world Englishes " so that they explored the connections between contentions over identity, authenticity and linguistic ownership in European minority language contexts and their own material. Given the fact that new speakers are by definition " non-native " speakers in the strict sense, the label can arguably be applied to examine other issues occurring around the emergence of new profiles of speakers due to migration, the appropriation of English in former colonies and also the internationalization of English. Thus, in this paper, we review mostly research on European territorial minorities; but we also spell out how we see the potential connections with these other fields within a wider theoretical framework. The concept of " the native " becomes therefore important in this context, and it connects with wider debates on the " native " in linguistics and anthropology about the politics that inform these disciplines. Our argument is that ideologies of nationalism and colonialism help understand why the category of " native speaker " provides the basis for ideological and political tensions that emerge in different though connected ways both in minority language contexts in Europe and North-America, and in former British colonies. We look at the ways in which these tensions are played out both in relation to language policies and on how academic disciplines like sociolinguistics, applied linguistics or linguistic anthropology inform the politics of language in these contentions.
The ownership of English in Taiwan
World Englishes, 2015
ABSTRACT: Although applied linguists have long asserted that individuals who have learned English as an additional language can rightly claim ownership of the language, this willingness on the part of academics to grant ownership to all users of English is ultimately of little consequence to the users themselves, who more often than not consider linguistic ownership to be determined solely by ethnicity or place of birth. This paper outlines a framework comprised of three aspects of language ownership—prevalent usage, affective belonging, and legitimate knowledge—and subsequently applies these concepts to a multi-case ethnographic study of English ownership (and lack thereof) among a group of Taiwanese English learners/users who privileged different ownership dimensions. Prevalent usage was found to be very important for achieving any degree of ownership, and the ability to make overt ownership claims ultimately depended on confidence and agency.
Language, Identity, and the Ownership of English
TESOL Quarterly, 1997
This article serves as the introduction to the special-topic issue of the TESOL Quarterly on Language and Identity. In the first section, I discuss my interest in language and identity, drawing on theorists who have been influential in my work. A short vignette illustrates the significant relationship among identity, language learning, and classroom teaching. In the second section, I examine the five articles in the issue, highlighting notable similarities and differences in conceptions of identity. I note, in particular, the different ways in which the authors frame identity: social identity, sociocultural identity, voice, cultural identity, and ethnic identity. I explore these differences with reference to the particular disciplines and research traditions of the authors and the different emphases of their research projects. In the final section, I draw on the issue as a whole to address a prevalent theme in many of the contributions: the ownership of English internationally. The central question addressed is the extent to which English belongs to White native speakers of standard English or to all the people who speak it, irrespective of linguistic and sociocultural history. I conclude with the hope that the issue will help address the current fragmentation in the literature on the relationship between language and identity and encourage further debate and research on a thought-provoking and important topic. Just as, at the level of relations between groups, a language is worth what those who speak it are worth, so too, at the level of interactions between individuals, speech always owes a major part of its value to the value of the person who utters it.
This paper reports on attitudes to the concept of ownership of English drawn from statistics obtained from a questionnaire survey among 365 local English teachers working at different teaching levels, coupled by the interview discourse collected from 21 local English teachers in upper northeastern Thailand. The data aimed at representing their ideological positionings. Most of the informants disapproved of the idea that other global English users besides the 'former' native speakers can also be owners of English. Their positionings might have been largely governed by their roles as English teachers with an orientation to the English as a Foreign Language (EFL) paradigm and its native speaker ideology. This affirms the findings from previous research that English teachers in local Thai contexts are mostly not interested in, nor are they aware about the critical outlook on the concept of ownership of English. It is thus proposed that local English teachers in Thailand have to be educated more in the critical tenets of English as an International Language (EIL) principle so as to start * The data used in this paper is drawn from the research entitled "The interrelationship of awareness of world Englishes, attitudes toward English varieties, and perceptions of desirable accents for English learning among English teachers in upper northeastern Thai provinces." ** The author has got Ph.D. in applied linguistics from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and is now a lecturer of English at the Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sakon Nakhon Rajabhat University. วั นศุ กร์ ที 15 กุ มภาพั นธ์ พ.ศ. 2556 คณะมนุ ษยศาสตร์ และสั งคมศาสตร์ มหาวิ ทยาลั ยบู รพา จั งหวั ดชลบุ รี การประชุ มวิ ชาการเวที วิ จั ยมนุ ษยศาสตร์ และสั งคมศาสตร์ ครั งที 7 "ความเข้ มแข็ งทางวิ ชาการสู ่ ASEAN"
"Ownership" of English in the Outer Circle: An Alternative to the NS-NNS Dichotomy
2003
The linguistic classi cation of English speakers from outer-circle countries, such as India, Malaysia, and Singapore, is often ambiguous because the Englishes they speak are considered different from interlanguages yet are not considered native varieties. This study investigates whether outer-circle speakers can be viewed as equivalent to speakers of mother-tongue varieties in terms of their ownership of English , that is, the degree to which they project themselves as legitimate speakers with authority over the language. An Acceptability Judgment Task was used to elicit and record talk among pairs from inner-and outer-circle countries while they judged 24 sentences. Drawing upon Zimmerman's (1998) concepts of discourse identities and situated identities, concept of footing, and Scollon's (1998) distinctions among the receptor roles, the analysis demonstrates the linguistic cues that indexed expressions of ownership through (a) references to the speakers' own English usage, (b) human subject pronouns, and (c) the modal can. The results reveal variation in degrees of ownership among both groups, but similarities across outer-and inner-circle groups.
The concept of Singaporeans as Native Speakers of English
In this study, I researched on the concept of the native speaker and its application to Singaporeans. In doing so, I am also examining language ideologies as what people think about languages ultimately leads to their personal definition of the term native speaker. I first did a literature review on the concept of the native speaker, language ideology and identity, English in Singapore, the Singaporean identity towards English and the idea of Singaporeans as native speakers. I followed up with research by interviews to analyse both Singaporeans’ and non-Singaporeans’ views on the same topics. Among the non-Singaporeans are people from Inner Circle countries as well as Expanding Circle countries, since people from Inner Circle countries are widely accepted to be the so-called native speakers and those from Expanding Circle countries are widely recognised as non-native speakers. I conclude with findings that suggest that non-Singaporeans who would not agree that Singaporeans can be considered native speakers usually do so because of a lack of understanding of the language situation in Singapore, and that Singaporeans who see it as a part of their identity as being English native speakers first have to convince themselves that they are so before confidently informing others that.
Minority language ownership and authority: perspectives of native speakers and new speakers
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 2016
The Irish language is a minority language undergoing the attenuation and accelerated change commonly seen as threatened languages come under increasing pressure from the dominant language. The decline of the numbers of traditional speakers and growing numbers of L2 speakers of Irish has given rise to some contested spaces regarding authenticity, accuracy and ownership of the language, as well as who has the right to produce and distribute the resources associated with/generated by the language. This study explored the attitudes and experiences of native and high-proficiency L2 speakers ('new speakers') of Irish with respect to these issues. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 Irish speakers, 7 young adult native speakers (four female, aged 18-26 years) and 10 young adult high-proficiency new speakers (six female, aged 19-31). Thematic Analysis showed a significant decline, in the view of both groups, in the confidence and authority of native speakers of Irish, and a change to a view among both groups that goodwill and commitment to the language's maintenance is more important than linguistic accuracy. The commonalities and differences between the native speaker and new speaker groups are explored, and the implications for the future of Irish are considered.