25.1262, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics: Haberland et al. (2013)

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Subject: 25.1262, Review: Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Sociolinguistics: Haberland et al. (2013)

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Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 13:27:41
From: Cecily Corbett [ccorbett at albany.edu]
Subject: Language Alternation, Language Choice and Language Encounter in International Tertiary Education

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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/24/24-3480.html

EDITOR: Hartmut  Haberland
EDITOR: Dorte  Lønsmann
EDITOR: Bent  Preisler
TITLE: Language Alternation, Language Choice and Language Encounter in International Tertiary Education
SERIES TITLE: Multilingual Education
PUBLISHER: Springer
YEAR: 2013

REVIEWER: Cecily Brainerd Corbett, State University of New York at Albany

SUMMARY 

This volume is part five of a nine-book series entitled ‘Multilingual
Education,’ edited by Andy Kirkpatrick and Bob Adamson and published by
Springer, and is comprised of both monographs and edited volumes of empirical
research on multilingual acquisition, language contact, and language use. The
series’ goal is to help start a discussion of issues involved in language
policy in government and education. While this series is aimed primarily at
researchers in multilingual education and those involved in language-teacher
education, chief stakeholders and policymakers in the field of language policy
should also find this series both interesting and utile.

Volume Five of the ‘Multilingual Education’ series, entitled “Language
Alternation, Language Choice and Language Encounter in International Tertiary
Education,” is edited by Harmut Haberland, Dorte Lønsmann, and Brent Preisler,
and has been composed with three objectives in mind: to address the
multilingual reality of the field of tertiary education in this “global age,”
to focus on not only English’s role as a lingua franca but also on the
interaction between English and local languages, and to bring together
empirical examples from separate corners of the world by showing cases from
countries in Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe. This eleven-chapter volume
is divided into four parts based on the research goals of the investigations.
The following are brief summaries of each chapter.

Part I -- The Local Language as a Resource in Social, Administrative and
Learning Interactions

Chapter 1: “Kitchen Talk -- Exploring Linguistic Practices in Liminal
Institutional Interactions in a Multilingual University Setting,” by Spencer
Hazel and Janus Mortensen

This chapter contains a study that examines the management of linguistic
diversity in social interactions by students attending an international
university in Denmark. Data for this study come from audio-visual recordings
of interactions that take place in an informal common space in the university
known as the ‘kitchen.’ The kitchen is a social area where around 100 students
from all over the world, but mostly Denmark and Europe, convene to eat, have
coffee, flirt, gossip, etc. Unlike a classroom or administrative setting,
where English is the established lingua franca, there is no official or formal
language policy dictating which language the students should use while in the
kitchen. In their analysis of the audio-visual recordings of kitchen
interactions, the authors determine that language alternation between English
and Danish occurs fluidly as different students join or exit the conversation.
This study reveals that language choice plays an interesting role in identity
work in this international setting. For instance, international students can
assert their identity as international either through the use of Danish or
English, but local students tend to use English as a means of positioning
themselves as international. This chapter provides interesting insight into
using both English and the local language as lingua francas for identity work.

Chapter 2: “Japanese and English as Lingua Francas: Language Choice for
International Students in Contemporary Japan,” by Keiko Ikeda and Don Bysouth

This chapter is an examination of the use of Japanese and English as lingua
francas among international students at a Japanese university by means of
participant observation, audio recordings, and participant interviews. As in
the first chapter, this chapter investigates the use of a local language as a
lingua franca in interactions between international students, and the identity
work performed by using a lingua franca. The authors find that the students
often use English as a lingua franca when interacting with other international
students as well as when interacting with local Japanese students on the
university’s campus. The reasoning the authors give for this finding is that
English is viewed as a “trouble-less” medium for communication amongst these
groups of students. However, Japanese was utilized by international students
among themselves, thus constructing a community of practice for the use of
Japanese as a lingua franca.

Chapter 3: “Plurilingual Resources in Lingua Franca Talk: An Interactionist
Perspective,” by Emilee Moore, Eulàlia Borràs, and Luci Nussbaum

This chapter analyzes conversational data taken from classrooms and service
encounters between local and international students at two universities in
Catalonia. This setting is inherently multilingual, as both Spanish and
Catalan are legally co-official and commonly used in tandem within the same
speech event.  This study describes not only how speakers from distinct
language backgrounds reach linguistic common ground, for instance, with a
lingua franca, but also how students borrow linguistic resources from other
languages (e.g. through code-switching) in their interactions in the lingua
franca. In their analysis of the results, the authors demonstrate how
code-switching is linked to participants’ presentation of the university’s
‘friendly’ face, or accommodating nature, which reaches a socio-institutional
goal. Apart from this social goal, the students analyzed demonstrated the
instrumental use of code-switching to accomplish tasks in classes nominally
taught in English.

Chapter 4: “Language Choice and Linguistic Variation in Classes Nominally
Taught in English,” by Hedda Söderlundh

Chapter 4 contains a study of the selection of language in an English-medium
classroom in Sweden through an analysis of participant observation,
recordings, and participant interviews. The author reveals that, while the
classes are advertized as being taught in English, a more diverse set of
linguistic resources are employed by participants. The participants in this
investigation tended to align their language choice with the linguistic
competence of their peers. As such, language selection differed between
interactions of the class as a whole and work done by smaller groups or pairs
of students.

Chapter 5: “Active Biliteracy? Students Taking Decisions About Using Languages
for Academic Purposes,” by Christa van der Walt

Unlike the other four chapters of the first part of this volume, this chapter
analyzes data taken from five semi-structured interviews to explore students’
biliteracy and academic writing practices. The starting point for this
analysis is the concept of biliteracy developed by Hornberger (2009), as an
example of multicultural or international education in which written
communication exists in more than one language. The hybridity of the academic
literacy of the students investigated in this study lead the author to the
conclusion that, despite a widespread belief that multilinguals should only
use one language at a time, these particular students make use of all
languages at their disposal in order to complete a task.

Part II -- Using English as a Lingua Franca in Teaching a Foreign Language

Chapter 6: “English as a Lingua Franca: A Case of Japanese Courses in
Australia,” by Duck-Young Lee and Naomi Ogi

In this chapter, the authors examine international students learning Japanese
in an English-speaking classroom in Australia by exploring the students’
perceptions of learning a foreign language through English. This analysis also
considers the use of English as a lingua franca in relation to the students’
identities as well as the balance between diversity and integration among the
group of international students. Data analyzed in this chapter come from
participant interviews. Previous studies (Ramburuth 2001; Ramsay et al. 1999;
Andrade 2006; Stoynoff 1997) have reported that international students
experience greater academic adjustment problems than domestic students, and
that proficiency in the host language plays a large role in limiting academic
achievement. However, some findings reported in this chapter show that this is
not always the case. For instance, participants from Chinese and Korean
backgrounds tended to feel that they had an advantage in this course compared
to native speakers of English, which was the lingua franca of the course.
Additionally, the Chinese and Korean students who reported feeling confident
in their English proficiency noted that they even felt more comfortable when
speaking English (compared to their native language) since they feel that they
can speak more straightforwardly in English. An implication of the findings
outlined in this chapter is the important role that the teacher plays in
designing a course that considers and includes varied cultural and linguistic
backgrounds in order to provide opportunities for students to experience
internationalization.

Chapter 7: “‘Teacher! Why Do You Speak English?’ A Discussion of Teacher Use
of English in a Danish Language Class,” by Mads Jakob Kirkbæk

This chapter contains an investigation similar to that of the previous
chapter, except the target language being taught to the international students
is Danish. Furthermore, this chapter examines the use of English as a means of
translation and topic development, and considers the English used by the
teacher. The author concludes that the teacher employs English in the
classroom when he feels like he cannot adequately express himself in Danish
due to the perceived Danish proficiency of his students.

Chapter 8: “The Use of English as a Lingua Franca in Teaching Chinese as a
Foreign Language: A Case Study of Native Chinese Teachers in Beijing,” by
Danping Wang

The final chapter in this part considers the use of English as a lingua franca
by native speakers of Chinese teaching Mandarin Chinese as a foreign language
to international students enrolled in Beijing universities. This case study
seeks to answer questions about the native Chinese teachers’ beliefs and
attitudes towards the use of English in teaching Chinese. The author concludes
that the teachers’ language attitudes are influenced markedly by their own
second language (L2) learning experience, L2 English proficiency, their own
national identity, and their English language identity. The implications of
this study suggest that theoretical support and guidelines should be provided
to instructors in order to develop a pedagogy that will meet the needs of
their multilingual international students learning Chinese.

Part III – Parallel Language Use: English and the Local Language

Chapter 9: “Stylistic and Pedagogical Consequences of University Teaching in
English in Europe,” by Jacob Thøgerson

The sole chapter that comprises the third part of this volume takes place in a
university-level English classroom in rapidly-internationalizing Denmark. The
author makes use of a corpus of undergraduate lectures given by the same
lecturer over a period of three weeks. In each week recorded in this corpus,
the lecturer gives the ‘same’ lecture to five different seminar classes, three
times in Danish and twice in English. The lectures are considered to be the
same since the curriculum and objectives of the course were congruent, with
the only difference from one recorded lecture to the other being the language
used. The author determines that the stylistic differences that exist between
the lectures in the lecturer’s native versus nonnative language may bring
about pedagogical consequences. The lectures given in Danish seemed to be more
informal and could be seen as a pedagogical attempt to bridge the gap between
technical discourse and everyday speech. The lectures given in English tended
to be more formal, and did not tend to bring the technical speech to a level
that was more accessible to the students. The author of this chapter is not
suggesting that instruction in English should be avoided entirely, but merely
directs attention to the fact that a change in the language of instruction can
also trigger a change in discourse register, and consequently, teaching style.

Part IV -- Language Policies and Language Ideologies in International
Education

Chapter 10: “Expanding Language Borders in a Bilingual Institution Aiming at
Trilingualism,” by Enric Llurda, Josep M. Cots, and Lurdes Armengol

This chapter brings the discussion back to the linguistic heterogeneity of
Catalonia, but this time adopts the language-policy angle, while also
addressing the attitudes of students towards multilingualism in its
discussion. The authors reveal that the international students seem to view
Catalan as an obstacle, and are surprised by its prevalent use in classrooms.
The international students are reluctant to add Catalan, the local lingua
franca, to their linguistic repertoire, and, in fact, wish that they were able
to exclusively use Spanish, as they note that they attended a university in
Spain specifically to hone their Spanish language skills. On the other hand,
the local students report that they feel isolated from the international
students due to the international students’ refusal to use Catalan. This
chapter proves that broadening language horizons is not such an easy
undertaking, and that resistance may arise at every level, from policy-making
to students.

Chapter 11: “Language Practices and Transformation of Language Ideologies:
Mainland Chinese Students in a Multilingual University in Hong Kong,” by
Michelle M. Y. Gu

The final chapter of this volume examines the influence of language attitudes
on the linguistic practices of Chinese students in Hong Kong and Mainland
China. The author reveals that the students’ language ideologies transform
over the course of their stay in a multilingual environment, most specifically
in the realm of language alternation and choice. This chapter highlights the
relationship between multilingualism and identity development, as well as the
impact that multilingualism has on the construction of the students’ social
networks.

EVALUATION

This volume successfully reaches the goals of describing the linguistic
ecology of the international university by incorporating empirical studies
from various parts of the world, focusing on the role of English as a lingua
franca, and incorporating the discussion of the sociolinguistic implications
of globalization on tertiary education. One of the emerging phenomena of
transnational mobility is the increased use of English as a lingua franca
(Hughes 2008), which has proven to have been utilized when participants are
not able to communicate in one another’s local language, meaning that the use
of English as a lingua franca always arises in a multilingual community of
practice (Kalocsai 2009). An analysis of this affirmation that centers on the
international university also studies the multilingual international student
community of practice, a population that seems to be ever growing in this
global age. This volume examines the role of English as a lingua franca from
the perspective of different loci, such as identity and its relation to the
local language. On its own, each chapter offers an interesting analysis of
language use and negotiation, and together, the volume presents a complete
depiction of the linguistic diversity of the international university. This
volume demonstrates that while English is a big player in the progression of
internationalization in education, it is in no way on its own. Local languages
are used in tandem with English in everything from teaching to learning to
socializing to administrating in the international university, and languages
are constantly being switched between, borrowed from, and blended. The
contributions to this volume demonstrate that, instead of adopting either the
ideology that English exists as the only true world language (Blommeart 2009,
de Swaan 2010), or that “world languages” must exists only in the plural
(Ammon 2010), both positions can be put forward.

This volume is geared more towards a research-based audience than perhaps a
different volume of the same series. That being said, I believe that this
volume would be quite accessible to researchers, educators, and students
alike. The contributions to the book are thoughtfully organized into parts,
which could make this volume a good choice as a text for perhaps a seminar or
other compartmentalized course. Any one of the chapters in this volume could
be read on its own as a discussion of language encounters in the international
university, but still, the chapters cohere nicely in the volume as a whole.
 
As this volume confirms, language encounters in the international university
are an enormous vein for research. As the world continues to grow smaller and
tertiary education becomes even more internationalized, this field of research
will only prove to be increasingly fertile, further developing the potential
for future analyses.

REFERENCES

Ammon, Ulrich. 2010. World languages: Trends and futures. The handbook of
language and globalization, ed. Nikolas Couplad, 101-122. Oxford:
Wiley-Blackwell.

Andrade, Maureen Snow. 2006. International students in international
education. Journal of Research in International Education 5(2): 131-154

Blommeart, Jan. 2009. The sociolinguistics of globalization. The new
sociolinguistics reader, ed. Nikolas Coupland and Adam Jaworski, 560-573.
Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

de Swaan, Abram. 2010. Language Systems. The handbook of language and
globalization, ed. Nikolas Couplad, 56-76. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Hornberger, Nancy. 2009. Multicultural education policy and practice: Ten
certanties(grounded in indigenous experiences). Language Teaching 42(2):
197-211.

Hughes, Rebecca. 2008. Internationalisation of higher education and language
policy: Questions of quality and equity. Higher Education Management and
Policy 20: 111-128.

Kalocsai, Karolina. 2009. Erasmus exchange students: A behind-the-scenes view
into an ELF community of practice. Apples – Journal of Applied Language
Studies 3(1): 25-49.
 
Ramburuth, Prem. 2001. Language diversity and the first-year experience:
Implications for academic achievement and language skills acquisition. Journal
of the First-Year Experience & Students in Transition 13(2): 75-93.

Ramsay, Sheryl, Michelle Barker, and Elizabeth Jones. 1999. Academic
adjustment and learning processes: A comparison of international and local
students in first-year university. Higher Education Research and Development
18(1): 129-143.

Stoynoff, Steve. 1997. Factors associated with international students’
academic achievement. Journal of Instructional Psychology 24: 56-68.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Cecily Brainerd Corbett is a lecturer of Spanish and a PhD student at the
University at Albany, State University of New York in the Hispanic and Italian
Studies Program. Her main areas of research interest include language contact,
intraspeaker variation, interactions between native and nonnative speakers,
and language and identity.








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