16.1675, Review: Multilingualism/Discourse: House & Rehbein (2004)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-16-1675. Thu May 26 2005. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 16.1675, Review: Multilingualism/Discourse: House & Rehbein (2004)

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1)
Date: 25-May-2005
From: Alexander Onysko < csab4165 at uibk.ac.at >
Subject: Multilingual Communication 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Thu, 26 May 2005 00:27:26
From: Alexander Onysko < csab4165 at uibk.ac.at >
Subject: Multilingual Communication 
 

EDITORS: House, Juliane; Rehbein, Jochen
TITLE: Multilingual Communication
SERIES: Hamburg Studies on Multilingualism 3
PUBLISHER: John Benjamins Publishing Company
YEAR: 2004
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-70.html


Alexander Onysko, Department of English (Linguistics), Universität 
Innsbruck, Austria

INTRODUCTION

The volume weaves various strands of multilingual communication into a 
multi-faceted work, which, to a large extent, reflects research conducted 
at the Research Centre on Multilingualism at the University of Hamburg, 
Germany. After two introductory contributions, multilingual communication 
is discussed as "Mediated multilingual communication" (part I),"Code-
switching" (part II), and as "Rapport and politeness" in multilingual 
settings (part III). Pragmatic issues also play a role in the functional 
analyses of part IV ("Grammar and discourse in a contrastive 
perspective"). According to their different foci the contributions go 
beyond canonical issues of multilingual communication and language contact 
and offer insights into pragmatics and translation studies.

SYNOPSIS

In the opening contribution, "What is 'multilingual communication'", House 
and Rehbein discuss the premise of the volume. For them multilingual 
communication comprises the following characteristics:
- The use of several languages for the common purposes of participants
- Multilingual individuals who use language(s) to realize these purposes
- The different language systems which interact for these purposes
- Multilingual communication structures, whose purposes make individuals 
use several languages (p. 1).

Furthermore, the editors broach the issues of multi-language 
constellations, discourse type (written and spoken), and the importance of 
multilingual communication in institutional settings. In terms of research 
the authors stress the method of contrasting languages, and they sketch a 
list of research objectives for multilingual communication. The 
introduction concludes with brief synopses of the individual contributions 
in the volume.

Clyne's introductory article "Towards an agenda for developing 
multilingual communication with a community base" calls for the creation 
of institutional efforts to foster multilingualism through maintenance of 
immigrant languages. Taking the example of Australia where "over 200 
languages are used in the homes" across the continent (p. 21), Clyne sees 
a vast potential for establishing curricular offerings of minority 
languages particularly in border areas and large cities throughout the 
European nation states. In order to underline the benefits of 
multilingualism, the author argues against some myths, which penetrate 
popular belief about multilingualism such as the notions that language 
develops autonomously and does not need institutional support, that the 
standard of the national language is declining in multilingual settings, 
and that two or more languages stand in a competitive relationship in a 
speaker's brain bearing detrimental effects on the speaker's language 
skills. Clyne also raises the question why globalization leads to 
linguistic monoculture instead of linguistic pluralism.

Part I "Mediated multilingual communication" features four articles, all 
of which deal with multilingual communication on the interface of 
translation or interpretation between L1 and L2. Bührig and Meyer 
investigate the role of ad-hoc interpreters as mediators in communication 
between doctors (L1 German) and patients (L1 Turkish or Portuguese). 
Despite the fact that ad-hoc interpreters in the study failed to express 
essential parts of the doctor's message (in particular by neglecting modal 
and passive structures), the patients still consented to the doctor's 
proposals for treatment.

In the "Interaction of spokenness and writtenness in audience design" 
Baumgarten and Probst discuss the use of features of spoken language in 
English and German popular scientific writings. They follow a functional 
approach to text analysis (Halliday 1979), and draw on Biber's dimensions 
for distinguishing spoken from written language (1988, 1995). A comparison 
between English original text, German parallel (original) text, and a 
German translation of the English original show an interesting outcome for 
the spoken language features of a) usage of speaker and hearer deictics 
and b) coordinating and subordinating conjunctions in sentence initial and 
medial position. While the English original incorporates more of these 
features than the German parallel text, the German translation takes a 
middle position between the two original versions. This indicates that, in 
the process of translation, English lexico-grammatical patterns can boost 
the frequency of the same patterns in a German translation, i.e. English 
exerts influence on German through "covert translation".

Another phenomenon of covert translation is presented in Bührig and 
House's paper "Connectivity in translation", which compares the German 
translation of the English transcript of a speech on business ethics 
delivered at Florida A&M University in 1997. The original and the 
translation exhibit differences in the realization of textual connectivity 
as exemplified by diverging uses of temporal clauses and prepositional 
phrases, by alternative renderings of discourse markers, and by a lack of 
lexical repetition, list structures, and compositional parallelism in the 
German translation. In terms of these connective features the German 
translation appears in a style that is more written and formal than the 
English original. According to the authors these differences arise from 
the application of a "cultural filter" (House 1977, 1997), which leads to 
a pragmatic shift in the process of translation.

Böttger's contribution "Genre-mixing in business communication" portrays 
how a translation can diverge from the original when the genre from the 
source language text is unknown in the same textual function in the target 
language. Thus, Anglo American corporate philosophies are typically 
expressed in a "creed genre" (e.g. repetitive sentence beginnings, 
alliteration, lexical repetition, and parallel structures) and communicate 
future-oriented values, both of which are lost in the German translations. 
Instead, the German versions express corporate philosophies indirectly and 
strike a warning note with the usage of "nur dann ... wenn"-constructions 
('only if...then'). The author claims that a reason for this genre-mixing 
is tied to the fact that the text type of Anglo American corporate 
philosophies has only recently been imported into the German language-
cultural area.

In Part II the phenomenon of code-switching is viewed from three different 
perspectives. Holmes and Stubbe ("Strategic code-switching in New Zealand 
workplaces") relate to the process of identity construction and to the 
expression of intergroup solidarity by means of code-switching between 
speakers of Maori English, Pakeha English (English spoken by European, 
mainly British, settlers), and Samoan. By analyzing the social affective 
functions of code-switches recorded in various working environments in New 
Zealand, the authors conclude that speakers of Maori English and Samoan 
switch from their distinctive intragroup codes closer to Pakeha English 
when interacting with Pakeha English speakers. In turn there is some 
evidence that the latter also employ features of Maori English to express 
solidarity with speakers of Maori English.

Edmondson's article "Code-switching and world-switching in foreign 
language classroom discourse" deals with a special case of code-switching 
since, in institutional language instruction, code-switches between common 
language and subject language are often employed by the teacher as an 
instructional tool allowing her/him to switch worlds, i.e. roles, from an 
initiator and model of target language discourse to an institutional 
pedagogic personae. For Edmondson, the analysis of learner and teacher 
interaction during English lessons in a German secondary school shows that 
a lack of code-switching, i.e. world-switching, can lead to 
miscommunication and pedagogic disarray that seems detrimental to the 
learning environment. Thus, the author concludes that a monolingual 
approach of target language only fails to account for the complexity of 
foreign language classroom discourse and that teachers should not "feel 
guilty or unprofessional, if they use a common language in order to 
communicate with learners, or, indeed, to teach them" (p. 175).

"The neurobiology of code-switching" presents the results of a study based 
on fMRI-scanning of subjects' brain activities while reading a version of 
Harry Potter riddled with intersentential code-switches between German 
(L1) and English (L2). The aim of the study is to map the change of brain 
activity induced by code-switching and thus investigate whether different 
languages are neurologically represented in different areas of the brain. 
The results for three subject groups (medical students, English language 
students, and interpreters of L1 and L2) demonstrate that reading in L2 
causes increased activation in Broca and Wernicke areas and in the right 
Broca area located in the right hemisphere. Activations in the right 
hemisphere are significantly higher in subjects with a pronounced 
discrepancy of L1 and L2. As the difference between L1 and L2 competence 
decreases, subjects show a stronger left lateralization. Additional 
activations at the moment of code-switching are measured in the prefrontal 
cortex (BA 9 and 10) as well as in the anterior cingulum. However, the 
authors conclude that these areas are not specialized in code-switching 
but generally function as centers of attention, comparison, and control.

Part III "Rapport and politeness" includes two articles addressing 
different pragmatic issues. In "Rapport management problems in Chinese-
British business interactions" Spencer-Oatey and Xing document a case 
study of miscommunication between British and Chinese businessmen during a 
visit of a Chinese delegation at the headquarters of a British company in 
England. The authors analyze a combination of discourse data and post-
event interviews by means of a multiple level account of miscommunication 
(Coupland et.al. 1991). After the awkward business interactions, the 
English and Chinese participants have mainly held the interpreter 
responsible for the occurrence of miscommunications.

"Introductions: Being polite in multilingual settings" offers a 
theoretical and empirical account on introduction formulae as instances of 
polite action. In their theoretical framework Rehbein and Fienemann assert 
six stages of action systems when people become acquainted: "strangeness, 
permission to introduce, naming and categorization, action system of 
(fleeting) acquaintanceship, longer lasting action system (getting to know 
questions), and familial type relationship (intimate relation)" (p. 234). 
In this multi-stage model, introduction formulae cover the stages from 
strangeness to (fleeting) acquaintanceship. The main empirical part of the 
article consists of a qualitative analysis of a conversation during a 
dinner party as a student (L1 Arabic) enters the room and is greeted and 
introduced in German by his fellow students (native speakers of Arabic, 
Estonian, Turkish, and German). From this and other speech situations the 
authors infer that patterns of politeness can be transferred from L1 to L2 
through a process of pragmatic transfer. Rehbein and Fienemann also 
establish homileïc discourse (characterized by linguistic actions such as 
storytelling, bantering, irony...) as an intercultural and interlinguistic 
foundation of polite speech acts.

Part IV "Grammar and discourse in a contrastive perspective" features two 
thematically related articles comparing features of German and Japanese 
grammar and their diverse discourse functions. Kameyama analyzes "Modal 
expressions in Japanese and German planning discourse". While German 
expresses modality through subjunctive verb forms, modal verbs, and matrix 
constructions (e.g. Ich glaube, dass; ich denke dass), Japanese employs 
complex modal constructions, e.g. negative statements, interrogative 
particle 'ka', deliberative 'na' and symbolic expressions. A case study 
portrays how, through interference, an L1 German speaker fails to 
coherently apply Japanese modality structures and thus conveys the image 
of a self-centered, insensitive and uncooperative speaker. This leads the 
author to conclude that, for the purpose of politeness, language teaching 
should focus on the contrast of expressing modality in German and Japanese.

The final contribution to the volume, "A comparative analysis of Japanese 
and German complement constructions with matrix verbs of thinking and 
believing" illustrates the differences and similarities of the German "ich 
glaub(e)-construction" and the Japanese "to omou"-construction in expert 
discourse (academic conferences and presentations and commercial 
presentations). Hohenstein divides the 'I think-constructions' into 
various subgroups according to the use of different complementizers 
(Japanese) and according to their occurrence as matrix constructions or as 
de-grammaticalized matrix constructions (German). For Hohenstein these 
distinctions make clear that even though 'I think-constructions' exhibit 
some crosslinguistic similarities such as speaker-deictic reference and 
the embedding of propositions, they are in fact non-equivalent due to 
language specific syntactic and pragmatic functions.

COMMENTS

The volume addresses a vast variety of aspects of multilingual 
communication, which renders it highly recommendable for a readership 
interested in multilingual issues, in translation studies, and in the 
functional-pragmatic analysis of discourse. Individual contributions might 
also appeal to researchers with an eye for the foreign language classroom 
and to linguists with an interest in neurobiology. Despite its broad 
thematic scope, many of the articles carry a pragmatic undertone, which 
acts as a binding element of the different parts of the volume. The four 
parts are balanced with a slight tilt towards the relationship of 
translation and multilingualism, and the title of part IV promises more 
diversity than the two thematically related articles hold.

Further strengths of the volume are the cohesive style of its 
contributions and the accessible analyses of a wealth of discourse data 
with the exception of Bührig and Meyer's article on ad-hoc interpreting of 
doctor-patient-communication. In this case more examples of doctor-patient 
discourse and a direct comparison with the utterances of the ad-hoc 
interpreter would have more vigorously illustrated their claim that the 
impersonal and general reference of the doctor is largely lost in the ad-
hoc translations.

In general the issue of mediated multilingual communication deserves 
special notice since the actual creators of the discourse produce their 
speech acts from a largely monolingual point of view. Multilingual 
competence in the relevant discourse languages is confined to the 
interpreter or translator who is, however, not the primary source of the 
speech act. Thus, from a perspective of multilingualism, the mediator 
forms a center of attention. While this role is apparent in the field of 
translation theory, a separate description of the mediator's function in 
multilingual communication seems necessary in order to establish a clear 
connection between mediation and multilingual communication for a broader 
multilingual-minded audience. This need for clarification is particularly 
evident in the situation of ad-hoc interpretation. As Bührig and Meyer 
imply, the lack of modal and passive constructions in the interpretations 
of the doctor's utterance is dependent on the individual language skills 
of the unprofessional interpreters and their relationship to the patient 
as relatives or nurses and is not a question of what is feasible in terms 
of translational equivalence. The latter is at the core of Bührig and 
House's contribution "Connectivity in translation", which is an impressive 
and detailed account of how a speech on business ethics delivered in 
American English looses its original expressiveness through the 
application of a cultural filter in the process of translation into 
German. Their clear demonstration of the deviance of original and 
translation evokes the reader's curiosity for alternative means of 
expression in the German version.

>From the diverse perspectives on multilingualism in the volume, "The 
neurobiology of code-switching" stands out as one of the first attempts 
that discuss multilingualism in a neurological framework. As the authors 
remark, the MRI technique allows for new, albeit limited, ways of 
investigating brain activity in language reception. Thus, "MRI answers 
questions regarding the localization of neuronal activations, but not 
questions concerning the temporal course of activations" (p. 184). In this 
respect it would be interesting to know by which methods the authors were 
able to distinguish MRI scans during or at the moment of code-switching 
from MRI scans of other brain activities.

In "Modal expressions in Japanese and German planning discourse" Kameyama 
arrives at the conclusion that an improper use of modal constructions 
(caused by interference from the speaker's L1, German) conveys an 
impression of impoliteness in a formal Japanese discourse situation. While 
convincing from an objective point of view, the transcript of the specific 
discourse situation in the study alludes to the fact that the listener's 
background knowledge about the speaker can also influence the perception 
of the speaker's degree of politeness. Thus, at the beginning of the 
transcript before the L2 Japanese speaker commences his report, the L1 
Japanese audience jokes about him and says that he can deliver his speech 
in German. This shows that the listeners are aware of the fact that the 
speaker's Japanese might not meet native standards. Having established a 
common ground of expectations for the following speech act, the L2 
Japanese speaker's improper way of expressing modality could be 
interpreted as a lack of language competence by the L1 Japanese listeners, 
and so they might not necessarily regard his speech as impolite.

Altogether "Multilingual Communication" is a thought provoking and 
stimulating volume that not only indicates the vastness of the field, but 
also offers an in-depth view on diverse aspects of multilingual 
communication. In its complexity it reaches out to a wide target audience 
from the fields of multilingualism, language contact, translation studies, 
pragmatics, and discourse analysis.

Typos
p. 28: "functionally bilingually"
p. 30: "counties" (countries)
p. 70: "written is spoken" (written and spoken)
p. 101: "discourse makers" (discourse markers)
p. 159: "language us" (language use)
p. 160: "targettted"
p. 165: "discrepacy"
p. 179: "Saarbrüken" (Saarbrücken)

REFERENCES

Biber, D. 1988. Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge: UP.

Biber, D. 1995. Cross-linguistic patterns of register and variation: 
diachronic similarities and differences. In D. Biber (ed.), Dimensions of 
register variation: A Cross-Linguistic Comparison, pp. 280-301, Cambridge: 
UP.

Coupland, N., Wiemann, J. M., and Giles, H.. 1991. Talk as problem and 
communication as miscommunication: an integrative analysis. In N. 
Coupland, H. Giles and J. M. Wiemann (eds.), Miscommunication and 
Problematic Talk, pp. 1-17, Newbury Park: Sage.

Halliday, M. A. K. 1979. Language as social semiotic: the social 
interpretation of language and meaning. London: Arnold.

House, J. 1977. A Model for Translation Quality Assessment. Tübingen: Narr.

House, J. 1997. Translation Quality Assessment. A Model Revisited. 
Tübingen: Narr. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Alexander Onysko is a PhD candidate at Innsbruck University, Austria. His 
research interest is language contact and multilingualism. The topic of 
his dissertation is: "Anglicisms in German: borrowing, lexical 
productivity, and code-switching in a written corpus of 'Der Spiegel'. He 
currently teaches German at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN.





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