23.3461, Diss: Socioling/Chinese, Mandarin: Qian: 'Multiple languages, multiple worlds...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-23-3461. Fri Aug 17 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.3461, Diss: Socioling/Chinese, Mandarin: Qian: 'Multiple languages, multiple worlds...'

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Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2012 14:01:00
From: Yamin Qian [mindyqian at gmail.com]
Subject: Multiple languages, multiple worlds: A case study of the language use of Chinese ELL adolescents in Canada

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Institution: University of Toronto 
Program: Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2012 

Author: Yamin Qian

Dissertation Title: Multiple languages, multiple worlds: A case study of the
language use of Chinese ELL adolescents in Canada 

Linguistic Field(s): Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): Chinese, Mandarin (cmn)


Dissertation Director(s):
Antoinette Gagne

Dissertation Abstract:

Research has shown that late-arriving ELL adolescents are deeply 
rooted in the sociocultural and educational system of their home 
country for a majority of their schooling time (Duff, 2001; Minichello, 
2001). In their transition to a new society in North America, this group 
encounters sociocultural and linguistic differences in their daily lives. 

Through a lens entitled Critical Multiple Social Spaces, which combines 
Multiple Worlds Model (Phelan et al., 1991), Third Space (Bhabha, 
1994) and a sociocultural perspective on language use (Fairclough, 
2001; Pennycook, 2010), this qualitative case study focuses on 10 
Chinese ELL adolescents who came to Canada after the age of 15, 
and examines their cross-trajectory experiences of English practice in 
their daily lives and their language identities. At the time of this study, 
they were at the stage of completing high school and applying for 
admission to higher education institutions.

Findings showed that this group's language use in daily life is full of 
conflicts, negotiation and consolidation, not only at school as a usual 
space of contested language practice, but also at home, with peers 
and in other spaces. At school, social division existed both in and out of 
class, yet such social division was not merely due to ELL learners' 
reluctance to integrate. In addition, participants positioned themselves 
differently in English Literature courses and core classes in accordance 
with their perceived proficiency. Home - generally regarded as a 
traditionally stable space of language practice - became another site of 
complex dynamics. Peer networks also emerged as embodying similar 
complications. In addition to racial and ethnic factors, age on arrival 
and length of residence played a significant role in social interaction, 
impacting both same-ethnic and cross-ethnic peer networks. 

Based on these findings, four categories are identified pertaining to 
participants' cross-trajectory language experiences, in which English 
spaces are positioned differently in relation to other spaces. Equally 
noteworthy are the dynamics between social spaces, social relations 
and language use, which shape - and are shaped by - symbolic 
power, investment and language identities. The implications of these 
findings on ELL adolescents' language use in a broader migration 
world are also discussed.
 






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