28.4789, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Pousada (2017)

The LINGUIST List linguist at listserv.linguistlist.org
Tue Nov 14 16:58:46 UTC 2017


LINGUIST List: Vol-28-4789. Tue Nov 14 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.4789, Review: Applied Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Pousada (2017)

Moderators: linguist at linguistlist.org (Damir Cavar, Malgorzata E. Cavar)
Reviews: reviews at linguistlist.org (Helen Aristar-Dry, Robert Coté,
                                   Michael Czerniakowski)
Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
           http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/

Editor for this issue: Clare Harshey <clare at linguistlist.org>
================================================================


Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2017 11:58:42
From: Hannah King [hking09 at mail.bbk.ac.uk]
Subject: Being Bilingual in Borinquen

 
Discuss this message:
http://linguistlist.org/pubs/reviews/get-review.cfm?subid=36331157


Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-2054.html

EDITOR: Alicia  Pousada
TITLE: Being Bilingual in Borinquen
SUBTITLE: Student Voices from the University of Puerto Rico
PUBLISHER: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Hannah M King, Birkbeck, University of London, UK

REVIEWS EDITOR: Helen Aristar-Dry

SUMMARY

“Being Bilingual in Borinquen,” edited by Alicia Pousada, is a collection of
25 linguistic autobiographies written by graduate students at the University
of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras campus. The book seeks to highlight the
experiences of these Puerto Rican students as they have developed their high
level linguistic competences in multiple languages and cultures. Furthermore,
the volume endeavors to identify variables and characteristics within the
narratives that have contributed to the participants’ highly developed English
and Spanish skills, to aid  future language planning and policy. Aimed at
teachers and language professionals, the book is structured into five
chapters. The first chapter provides a basic introduction to the topic of
bilingualism as it relates to the linguistic situation on the island. The
second through fourth chapters showcase a collection of narratives grouped by
shared bilingual experiences: those born in Puerto Rico, Nuyoricans and early
childhood bilinguals, and immigrants to the island, respectively. Finally,
Chapter 5 poses the question, “What’s It All Mean?”

In Chapter 1, “Who’s Bilingual and Why?”, the author provides a brief
introduction to the language situation in Puerto Rico (otherwise known as
Borinquen). A lack of mastery of the English language is noted even though
being bilingual is, in theory, viewed as advantageous; a reality that may
relate to resistance towards imposed language rules and regulations. Pousada
next highlights some basic concepts in bilingualism research starting with a
look at various definitions of the term itself. She settles on the idea that
bilingualism is “dynamic and ever-changing,” particularly within the students’
narratives. A summary of different types of bilingualism follows, connecting
the categories with examples of how Puerto Ricans may fall into these various
definitions. It is noted that due to the requirement of studying English as a
subject in school, most Puerto Ricans are “sequential, late childhood
bilinguals” (p. 7); however there is a range of bilingual ‘types’ represented
in the autobiographies. Pousada gives an introductory nod to successful
language learning, citing Spolsky’s (1989) model as a way to highlight the
connections between social context, attitudes, and personal characteristics.
She links the ‘social context’ of the model with language policy and class in
Puerto Rico, cites jobs, travel, and English-media as sources of ‘motivation,’
and notes that ‘personal characteristics’ are extremely varied within the
provided narratives. 

Chapter 1 next touches on growing up and living as a multilingual, mentioning
that multilingual societies are common and often less focused on the goal of
speaking like a ‘native,’ while speakers in Puerto Rico and other societies
with a history of imposed language use can be reluctant to learn a language or
have negative attitudes towards a way of speaking. Societal versus individual
bilingualism is discussed to make the important distinction between bilingual
individuals as speakers that can utilize multiple language varieties and
situations of societal bilingualism in which the government or education
system may require or protect a language or languages. Pousada goes on to
discuss languages in contact in Puerto Rico, providing an abbreviated
discussion on borrowing of English words into the local Spanish,
code-switching as a part of Puerto Rican bilingual identity, and dynamic
translanguaging within the linguistic repertoires of these students.

The second chapter, “Made in Puerto Rico,” highlights the autobiographies of
10 students who have lived the majority of their lives in Puerto Rico, were
educated in Spanish-medium schools, and spoke Spanish at home as children.
Interestingly, although only half of the authors consider themselves to be
Spanish-dominant, they all spoke of the prominence of English media and
entertainment throughout their lives–whether that be TV shows, films, books,
or music. Pousada allows the stories to speak for themselves in Chapters 2-4,
withholding commentary until the final chapter.

Chapter 3, entitled “Nuyoricans and Other Early Childhood Bilinguals,” tells
the stories of 12 individuals who were either born in the USA (5 out of 10) or
had at least one English-speaking (therefore bilingual) parent. The majority
of these students travelled back and forth between the USA and Puerto Rico
(and sometimes additional countries) during their childhood and/or
adolescence. These bilinguals, like those from the previous chapter,
frequently brought up the prevalence of English media in their lives, and a
number of them had knowledge of a third, fourth, or even fifth language.

In the fourth chapter, “Immigrants to the Enchanted Island,” we discover the
histories of just three individuals, all three born in the USA, who moved to
Puerto Rico as adults. Two of these English-dominant students had monolingual
parents, learned Spanish in school, and traveled in Spanish-speaking
countries.

In Chapter 5, entitled “What’s It All Mean?”, Pousada discusses the fact that
although the linguistic situation in Puerto Rico has been studied by
educators, linguists, and social scientists, the key voices missing are those
of the people who have directly experienced bi- or multilingualism on the
island. The analysis begins with a list of the commonalities between the
narratives, including factors such as supportive adults, opportunities for
language acquisition, awareness of the benefits of bilingualism,
non-judgmental attitudes, personal relationships that gave a purpose to
language learning, flexibility and openness, and the inclination to take
social risks. The speakers also tend to agree that being bilingual is
advantageous. The main distinguishing features of the stories are then
identified as types and lengths of schooling, family structure, and
differences in community.

Pousada then turns to the topic of language policy in Puerto Rico and gives an
introduction and brief history of the language policies of the island, noting
that these policies rarely take into consideration the needs of speakers and
their diversity, but rather serve political agendas. Although Spanish operates
at the ‘de facto’ language of Puerto Rico, there have been numerous language
policies put into place over the years, from co-official status for Spanish
and English, to Spanish as the official language and back again. Connecting
the stories with language planning possibilities, Pousada claims that the
characteristics shared across narratives that helped the students become
‘successful’ are required throughout the island, arguing that an “ideal”
language policy would understand the benefits of bilingualism and provide
opportunities for acquisition of language varieties and cultural knowledge.
She posits that this will require opportunities for language and cultural
acquisition, openness, and relationships that make language learning
worthwhile. Furthermore, these goals will require parental and community
involvement to extend learning beyond the walls of the classroom. This section
also touches on the idea that the distinguishing qualities of the
autobiographies can help to pinpoint areas of need on the island. 

The work indicates that there is an opposing pull from globalization on one
hand and nationalism on the other in Puerto Rico, which has an effect on
language attitudes. Pousada suggests adopting the mindset of the Scandinavian
model of “parallel language use” which is accepting of language alternation.
However, she notes that this type of model in Puerto Rico would require
significant research, including consideration of rural areas vs. urban
settings. The work provides a “rough sketch of the possibilities for a more
nuanced language policy in Puerto Rico” (p. 154) and concludes that Puerto
Rico is a complex linguistic landscape that would benefit from a language
policy which considers the nuances of multilingual abilities and experiences.

EVALUATION

“Being Bilingual in Borinquen” achieves its overall goal of providing insight
into what it is like to be multilingual, specifically within the context of
Puerto Rico. The essays explore multilingualism from the perspective of
understudied speakers who have personally experienced the various languages
and cultures of Puerto Rico. Well written and user friendly, the collection
may be of interest to teachers, language policy makers, school administrators,
linguists, and students. The book briefly covers a wide range of important
concepts in bilingualism research, gives an important introduction to the
linguistic situation in Puerto Rico, and raises relevant concerns about
language policy on the island. Pousada succeeds in identifying variables
relevant to further language planning and policy on the island; however, the
majority of the volume focuses on the stories themselves, so there is limited
depth to the analytical discussion.

One of the strengths of the book is that it puts the individual voices of the
speakers front and center and lets their observations and experiences speak
for themselves. By amplifying these individuals’ experiences, this publication
addresses a push in the field to seek data and input from community members
themselves (e.g. Li Wei, 2014) and a surge in research taking an ‘emic’
perspective in the social sciences (e.g. Holliday, 1999; Todeva & Cenoz, 2009;
Canagarajah & Wurr, 2011). A further benefit for readers who are not familiar
with Puerto Rico’s language dynamics is the introduction to the topic of
language on the island and the policies and planning behind the use of Spanish
and English. By including this content alongside personal narratives, the book
urges readers to consider both the insider’s perspective on linguistic
experiences and the implications of top-down and ever-changing governmental
policies.

The main weakness of the text is that the analyses of the narratives remain
superficial throughout the work. For example, Pousada provides two lists in
the final chapter–one of factors that were present in all of the
autobiographies and one of the differences observed–but doesn’t take the
analysis much beyond the descriptive, leaving the reader to wonder about the
significance of these similarities and differences. A further example is that
there are a variety of briefly mentioned ‘themes’ identified in the
autobiographies (e.g. the role of the media and interactions with peers),
however the thematic analysis is again quite descriptive and these
observations remain largely unconnected to the research literature. The text
offers minimal solutions to problems within the field of multilingualism, with
one notable exception: citing conflicting language attitudes towards
bilingualism as a major problem in Puerto Rico, Pousada offers up an
interesting and intriguing solution, the Scandinavian model of “parallel
language use” (p. 152) in which there is nuanced alternation between
languages. Unfortunately, this idea is not thoroughly explored in light of the
autobiographies within the collection. 

Weaknesses aside, the book raises potentially interesting research questions,
such as the observation, “[i]t is remarkable how many times the authors [of
the autobiographies] mentioned a key English teacher who turned them around or
a job that made developing their language skills relevant and feasible” (p.
146). This question could be extremely relevant for language teaching and
Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research.

The longest section of the final chapter is reserved for a conversation about
language policy in Puerto Rico. Here the author writes, “[l]anguage policies
should ideally emerge from the expressed needs of the speakers; however, in
reality they often reflect the political agendas of the authorities in charge”
(p. 148). This is another intriguing point and is followed up by the claim
that, “an ideal language policy would help individuals understand the benefits
of bilingualism and biculturalism and transmit this knowledge to their
children” (p. 151). Pousada then gives some general requirements for
improvement of language policy: an understanding of the benefits of
bilingualism, a transmission of this knowledge, opportunities for language and
cultural learning, an open-minded attitude, the cultivation of both personal
and professional relationships which give meaning to language learning, and
involvement of both parents and the surrounding communities. Although these
elements made relevant by the writers of the autobiographies should be
discussed in terms of the development of future language policy, the work
could benefit from a practical discussion of steps needed to cultivate these
objectives. 

Overall, the collection of essays is well suited as a pedagogical tool in an
introductory linguistics or bilingualism/multilingualism class. It provides
the much needed insider’s perspective for teachers and policy makers whose
understanding of bilingualism, of lack thereof, shapes pedagogy. “Being
Bilingual in Borinquen” has the potential to increase general and academic
awareness of multilingual policies and practices in specific educational,
political, and social contexts, which could benefit societies worldwide.
Pousada raises interesting questions regarding personal circumstances and
language attitudes in terms of both language proficiency and language policy
and highlights the complexities underlying the conceptualization of
multilingualism.

REFERENCES

Canagarajah, A. Suresh & Adrian J. Wurr. 2011. Multilingual communication and
language acquisition: New research directions. The Reading Matrix. 11(1).

Holliday, Adrian. 1999. Small cultures. Applied Linguistics 20. 237–64.

Li, Wei. 2014. Researching multilingualism and superdiversity: Grassroots
actions and
responsibilities. Multilingua 33(5–6). 475–484.

Spolsky, Bernard. 1989. Conditions for second language learning: Introduction
to a general theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Todeva, Elka, & Jasone Cenoz. 2009. Multilingualism: Emic and etic
perspectives. The Multiple Realities of Multilingualism. Personal Narratives
and Researchers’ Perspectives. 1-32.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Hannah M. King is a PhD student at Birkbeck College, University of London
interested in the intersection of language, culture, and communication. Her
research interests include multilingualism, code-switching and translanguaging
practices, language contact settings, and cross-cultural communication. She is
currently investigating the communicative practices of a community of Spanish
speaking immigrants in London.





------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*****************    LINGUIST List Support    *****************
Please support the LL editors and operation with a donation at:
            http://funddrive.linguistlist.org/donate/
 


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-28-4789	
----------------------------------------------------------






More information about the LINGUIST mailing list