29.3265, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics: Rampton (2017)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-29-3265. Fri Aug 24 2018. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 29.3265, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics: Rampton (2017)

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Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2018 14:15:12
From: Maria Yakushkina [myakushk at purdue.edu]
Subject: Crossing

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/28/28-4210.html

AUTHOR: Ben  Rampton
TITLE: Crossing
SUBTITLE: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents
SERIES TITLE: Routledge Linguistics Classics
PUBLISHER: Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
YEAR: 2017

REVIEWER: Maria Yakushkina, Purdue University

“Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents” by Ben Rampton can be
called a central work in the area of sociolinguistics as it touches upon such
highly discussed topics as language crossing, code-switching, code-mixing,
second language acquisition, and language policy and interconnects them with
broader societal phenomena such as rituals, social movements, cultural
politics, and interethnic relations, among many. Despite the fact that it was
originally published in 1995, the issues discussed in the work do reflect the
sociolinguistic situation of present day society, and the approach proposed by
the author represents a relevant direction to follow.

SUMMARY

The study presented in the book is focused on the idea of language crossing
among adolescents of Panjabi, African-Caribbean and Anglo descent.  Language
crossing is defined by the author as “the use of language varieties associated
with social or ethnic groups that the speaker doesn’t normally ‘belong’ to”
(Rampton, 2018, p.28);  and the importance of this phenomenon in challenging,
re-evaluating and re-establishing the notion of ‘ethnic identity’. The
principal research questions outlined by the author include: “how do outgroup
uses of Panjabi, Indian English and Creole relate to the shifting and
contested relationship between race and class in late industrial Britain? How
far and in what ways can language crossing practices be construed as a form of
everyday cultural politics? What implications do they have for educational
discussions that are often oblivious to the cultural activities of the youth
that they target?” (p.28). The ethnographic study conducted in 1984 and 1987
in the south Midlands of England with adolescents of Panjabi,
African-Caribbean and Anglo origin employs content and interactional analysis
of the recorded conversations with respect to crossing into Creole, Panjabi
and stylized Asian English and focuses on the investigation of interactions
with adults and peers and performance art. The discussion of the linguistic
patterns performed by adolescents is gradually transferred into broader
societal dimensions and used to challenge and re-evaluate the areas of
language policies, language acquisition and ‘ethnic absolutism’, the idea that
represents the leitmotif of the volume.  

EVALUATION

The study overall follows the structure of a scientific piece with clearly
distinguishable components of theoretical background, methodology, results and
conclusions. Prior to narration the author provides transcription symbols and
conventions, including prosody, IPA transcriptions and conversational
features, which assists significantly in understanding of conversational data
extensively demonstrated throughout the volume. The introductory part that
broadly situates the study in the field of sociolinguistics as well as
provides details about the setting, participants and methodology of the study
is followed by the principal part - the results obtained in the course of the
experiment. This central segment of the book is organized into three broad
sections: adolescent interaction with adults, informal peer-peer interaction,
and interaction focused around performing art, where each linguistic variety
(Creole, Panjabi, and stylized Asian English) is addressed in separate
chapters. Such organization provides a well-rounded logical presentation of
empirical data (comparison within each context followed by a comparison across
contexts) which is accompanied and justified by a well-grounded choice of
theoretical basis. The conclusions section transfers the reader to a different
level of discussion where empirical data obtained in the study is connected
and positioned in the broader societal context. This section opens with such
issues as code-switching – code-crossing comparison as well as overall value
of code-crossing in sociolinguistics, which later develops into the discussion
of the broad area of educational discourses and philosophical concepts of
consciousness and ideology. In the conclusions chapter the author challenges
the established notions of ‘code-switching’ and ‘native speaker’, outlines the
problems in the area of second language education and offers his
well-justified approach to the stated issues, constructed around the notion of
code crossing. . Such organization of the study, as well as the use of
prefaces and appendices, facilitates better comprehension of the work, as well
as enables replication of the study in the future.

“Crossing” represents an exemplary sociolinguistic work and should be
carefully considered  by the scholars working in the field for the following
reasons. First of all, the study itself and the approach with the central role
attributed to the idea of code-crossing is well-justified and theoretically
grounded. The major framework, or rather – a set of theoretical ‘pillars’
(e.g. Bakhtin, Gumperz, Hewitt, Hall, Labov), is provided to define and
contextualize the work. The logic of the study and the choices of central
notions are well-justified by the previous studies conducted in the area. It
should be emphasized that the number of works cited and summarized by the
author does not only provide evidence  of the validity of his work but also
represent an extensive and prolific database that should be consulted by the
scholars working in this area. Moreover, the author provides clear and
thorough explanation of the concepts central to his work, which facilitates
better understanding of his perspective. However, in a number of cases the 
definition of the terms becomes over-detailed, which in fact leads the reader
away from the principal line of narration. 

Secondly, the empirical data collected for the study and results discussed in
the volume are presented in a clear and structured manner, and, what is more
important, with a wide variety of graphic representation of the data (e.g.
charts, graphs, comparison tables). The material is restated multiple times
and with the use of various means in order to achieve complete understanding
of the conversations and conclusions made on the basis of the data. While
graphic demonstrations of the data do facilitate the narration, in a number of
cases the discussion of the data is presented in an overly technical manner
which impedes the reader from fully concentrating on the subject. 

Another significant merit of this work is the ability of the author to connect
linguistic data to the global processes taking place in present day society.
The phenomena of code-switching, the issue of ethnic absolutism, the
‘stability’ vs fluidity or situational/discourse nature of identity, the area
of language education in general and bilingual education in particular are
thoroughly discussed and challenged in this work. The author addresses these
issues as thoroughly as his key concept of code-crossing skillfully
interconnects them and provides a new perspective on the stated global
problems. The author transforms the linguistic study into an interdisciplinary
work which expands the audience of the volume from sociolinguistics to
sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. 

Finally, special attention should be given to the preface of this edition of
“Crossing”. Despite the fact that the study was conducted in 1984 and 1987 and
the majority of references date back to the same period, the author accounts
for this issue in the preface. More specifically, the author focuses on the
current state of affairs in the area of sociolinguistics in general, and
language crossing in particular. He also provides summaries of subsequent
projects and discusses how the understanding of crossing, stylization and
interethnic relations has been affected by his later work as well as the
development of the sociolinguistic field in general. Such addition to the
volume not only provides updates for the reader but also underlines the
relevance and importance of the topic addressed in 1990s for the current
sociolinguistic field.

 “Crossing: Language and Ethnicity among Adolescents” by Ben Rampton
represents a staple work in sociolinguistics where the author, with a high
level of knowledge and efficiency, presents his approach to interethnic
communication and emphasizes the value of such phenomenon as language
crossing. For example, in discussing adolescent communication the author draws
attention to the salience and complex nature of interethnic communication in a
multicultural environment. While addressing global matters, “Crossing” cannot
be characterized as an introductory sociolinguistic text. The material
presupposes a solid background knowledge in the area of sociolinguistics as
well as fields of sociology, anthropology and cultural studies. While certain
sections represent a thoroughly explained overview of sociolinguistic matters
and related areas of identity and language education, other sections might
pose more problems for an inexperienced reader due to their technical nature.
However, the reader who is familiar with the basic concepts of the theory and
possesses background knowledge in sociolinguistics will find the book very
concise, factual and informative as well as enriched with very specific
aspects of interest to those deeply involved in the field. Therefore, being on
the one hand concentrated on a specific topic of language crossing among
adolescents but on the other - skillfully interconnected with the broad
societal phenomena of ethnic identity, language policies and ideologies that
are relevant and highly debatable in the sociolinguistic scholar community
nowadays and reflect the current sociolinguistic situation in the world, this
particular work by Rampton can serve as in-depth material for those who are
willing to undertake a more advanced level of sociolinguistic research.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Maria Yakushkina is currently a PhD candidate in Spanish Applied Linguistics
at Purdue University. Her research interests include sociolinguistics,heritage
language, language and identity, language and gender. Her main focus of
investigation is interconnection of language, transnationalism and the new
second generation.





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