28.2869, Review: English; Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Linguistics Theories; Sociolinguistics: Solly, Pulcini, Campagna, Ochse (2016)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-28-2869. Fri Jun 30 2017. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 28.2869, Review: English; Applied Linguistics; Discourse Analysis; Linguistics Theories; Sociolinguistics: Solly, Pulcini, Campagna, Ochse (2016)

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Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2017 11:19:20
From: Laura Dubcovsky [lauradubcovsky at gmail.com]
Subject: Languaging in and across Communities: New Voices, New Identities

 
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Book announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/27/27-2544.html

EDITOR: Sandra  Campagna
EDITOR: Elana  Ochse
EDITOR: Virginia  Pulcini
EDITOR: Martin  Solly
TITLE: Languaging in and across Communities: New Voices, New Identities
SUBTITLE: Studies in Honour of Giuseppina Cortese
SERIES TITLE: Linguistic Insights - Band 218
PUBLISHER: Peter Lang AG
YEAR: 2016

REVIEWER: Laura Dubcovsky, University of California, Davis

Reviews Editor: Helen Aristar-Dry
 
SUMMARY
 
“Languaging in and across communities: New Voices, new identities,” edited by
Campagna,, Ochse, Pulcini and Solly is a collection of twenty chapters about
languaging, organized according to three main trends. Section 1: “Languaging
awareness,” relates a broad definition of languaging (Swain 2006) to
reflections about language, some of its components, and applications in second
language programs and within modern multimedia. The first chapter explores,
“Native/Non-native cooperation in English as a Lingua Franca'' (ELF). Gotti
describes accommodation and regulations as effective strategies that enable
interlocutors to clarify meaning, negotiate topics, rephrase, and
self-correct, through the languaging processes. Above all, the strategies
reveal the high degree of collaboration and commitment between native and
non-native students, who are more interested in reaching intelligible
communication than in linguistic correctness in the classroom.
 
Facchinetti describes a course about news and journalism in her chapter “Media
studies
and media discourse(s) in English: One term, many identities.” First she
traces a historical
continuum, from mono-modality to multi-modality, and from print to online
media in English.
Then she refines the general label of “media discourse” into specific
languaging distinctions.
While “language in the media” refers to specific text types (news reports,
commentaries, political
debates, etc.), “language of the media” relates to diachronic and synchronic
changes, such as the evolution of modality and reported speech in newspapers
along the years, and different
actualizations of the same headlines in diverse social media genres. Finally
“media
jargon” aims specialized practitioners of journalism and contains lexical
terms and phrases that typify specific speech communities. The author
concludes that beyond multiple layers and
complexities, the ultimate purpose of current media still lies in effective
languaging.
 
Pavesi continues examining the relationship between languaging and multimedia
in her
chapter, “From the screen to the learner-viewer: Exploring audiovisual
contexts of second
language acquisition.” She appreciates advantages of the new milieu, such as
holistic input,
accelerating development of listening comprehension, extended vocabulary, and
pragmatic
awareness of verbal variations and nonverbal communicative cues. The author
also points out
disadvantages, since audiovisuals are constrained by one-way directionality
and have limited
possibilities of providing negative evidence and explicit feedback. In spite
of the overall benefits
of learning through films and TV, Pavesi claims that explicit teaching,
modeling and practice
opportunities provided in the classroom, are still necessary, especially to
develop second
language writing skills, and academic features of abstraction, compactness,
and structural
organization.
 
The chapter “The treatment of lexical collocations in English collocations
dictionaries
and learners’ dictionaries: A languaging perspective,” traces the use and
frequency of these
expressions in different sources. Nuccorini explains that studying
collocations is
driven by the languaging potential of shaping knowledge and experiences. She
categorizes the
lexical terms in two oppositional sets: transparent/non transparent, and
restricted/ non- restricted. The author finds out that although collocations
receive different treatment, according to the specific dictionary’s focus,
they all share common definitions, situated in context, and
accompanied by robust explanations and examples of varied uses. Nuccorini
observes major
difficulties in teaching collocations, since they contain linguistic
associations that are not
governed by clear rules or are not always easy to articulate. However she
acknowledges that students will benefit from learning these lexical items,
which will enable them to raise
languaging awareness.
 
Bowles situates his chapter at a tourist office in the Italian region of
Chianti. “Learning
through languaging in ELF Service encounters” shows vivid interactions between
a desk
operator and some customers, pointing out the mediational role of languaging.
The author
unfolds skills of assimilation and accommodation throughout the exchange,
highlighting constant conceptual and linguistic adjustments. The interlocutors
needed either to incorporate new concepts into pre-existing knowledge
structures (assimilation), or adapt personal styles to the new situation
(accommodation). Above all participants had to overcome linguistic and
cultural misunderstandings and learn to negotiate meanings between conceptual
and cultural
representations. Bowles concludes that in order to gain a better ELF (English
as a Lingua
Franca) preparation, future teachers should reflect not only about language
but also raise their
cultural awareness and become more sensitive to the languaging of assimilation
and
accommodation.
 
The last chapter of the section is titled, “English as a medium of
instruction. A
‘resentment study’ of a micro EMI context.” Campagna examines languaging in
the light of
Italian programs that choose English as the vehicle to teach the content
areas. The author
highlights contradictions within and between national and international
policies that impact 
Italian Higher Education. She offers a brief overview of European programs
that use English as
the Medium of Instruction (EMI), situating them within current global
societies that demand new
identities, comprising linguistic and cultural diversity. Campagna analyzes
common features of
EMI programs, such as fear of losing the conceptual domain in the native
language, few
resources, and low English proficiency level among instructors. Consequently
most of these programs use English either in redundant manner - because the
same content is taught in the first language- or in limited ways, teaching
only a few disciplines of the curriculum. In closing the author claims that
further research should address (second) languaging as a means of instruction,
developing appropriate content and vocabulary for the disciplines, as well as
positive dispositions, openness and respect for other cultural groups.
 
Section 2: “Languaging identity” comprises ways in which identity is unfolded
through
the languaging of different text types and media. The first chapter is titled,
“How do they get
away with it? Identity construction, ‘The imposter’ and the psychology of
consumer detriment.”
Riley investigates the fraudulent ethos of tricksters and fraudsters through
discursive and cultural features. He analyzes frequent traits of scammers,
e.g. generalized greetings, cold readings, avatars and stereotypes, and also
personality characteristics of the victims, e.g.gullibility,
extreme trust and vulnerability, low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence.
Riley proves through the impostor’s example that the identity construct needs
to meet academic and ethical
standards, moving beyond the domain of commonsense beliefs only. The author
proposes instead an inclusive definition situated in the wider context of
globalization, in which languaging identity considers aspects of population
mobility, language varieties, truncated repertoires, and autobiographical
trajectories.
 
Vasta presents the chapter, “Identities in conflict: Making sense of voices
from inside the
war on terror.” The author examines linguistic features that shape the
identity of the self, the
otherness, orientalism and legitimization of authority (van Leeuwen 2007) in
war times. Among
languaging resources, Vasta explains euphemisms, frequently used to avoid
straightforward
denominations (e.g., “pacification centers”, instead of “concentration
camps”), and dysphemism that enables speakers and writers to beautify the ugly
and uglify the beautiful. She also deconstructs metaphorical constructions,
which typically frontload abstract actions, overlooking responsible agents of
the war (“an operation killed” ..., instead of individualizing the agents of
the killing). Finally she describes metonymic relationships that strengthen
the stark opposition of war identities. For example, while American people are
recognizable by their heroes, situated in high-context culture, and embedded
in positive values of order and organization; enemies are portrayed as shadowy
or faceless figures, situated in low-context cultures, and conveying negative
values of barbarism, disorder and chaos.
 
The following chapter, “Vico and Joyce: Landscaping/langscaping,” moves to the
literary
field. Marengo examines the strong connection between languaging and identity
established
by the two writers, driven by the ‘linguis ingenia, non ingeniis linguas
formari’ principle. Both
Vico and Joyce master the languaging process of shaping the material reality
through names,
places and time, as well as expressions, feelings and thoughts. Moreover they
reach deeper
levels, shaping the unconscious and the unknown through metalinguistic
reflections, wondering
not just about something else, but about language itself. Marengo concludes
that the fusion of
languaging ‘landscaping/langscaping’ leads to a  combination of  the
structural unity of the artwork and the writers’ internal forces,  shaping
their literary identity. 
 
Douthwaite continues the artistic trend, opening up to the languaging identity
in movies.
The chapter, “Self and society: Art and identity formation in Billy Eliot”
examines notions of
‘otherness’ and conflicting forces between social norms, community relations
and culture on the
one hand, and idiosyncrasies and individual values and goals on the other. The
author selects
verbal and visual features that support issues of homosexuality and social
inequalities, such as
the use of language varieties, different communicative competencies and
contrastive uses of
pronouns, as shown in the film. Douthwaite concludes that verbal and dance
languaging help realize the protagonist’s distinctive self, raise the barrier
toward social mobility, and overcome the symbolic opposition between the
social establishment and the working class.
 
Pulcini addresses current denominations of migrant people in the chapter,
“Naming ‘the
Other’: Terms for migrants across varieties of English.” In her analysis she
considers not only
the frequency, but also the meaning, attitudes and values of these references,
as used in English speaking and South Asian countries. She concludes that,
beyond socio-cultural and legal conditions, the migrant identity is also
influenced by linguistic decisions that highlight the
identity borderline between the access to and exclusion from identity. She
shows how some host countries avoid the use of offensive terms, such as
“illegal” and replace them by euphemisms (“non-status” and “unauthorized”) and
metaphors (“flood or invasion of immigrants”). On the contrary, others
countries prefer explicit and overt denominations, such as “illegal maritime
arrivals” or “detainees,” instead of “boat arrivals” and “clients,”
respectively. Moreover, while some references with negative constituents, may
be used instead positively (such as “expatriate” when they define migrants
with high qualifications living abroad), expressions that typically arouse
positive values and humanitarian sentiments, may be incorporated in a negative
sense, under intransigent policies’ conditions (such as “asylum seekers” and
“refugees”).
 
Esch closes the section situating languaging identity within the health
context. Her chapter titled, “Women doing things with words to women without
words” describes the language interaction between a health professional and
her client during a home visit. The author analyzes the encounter as an
observer first, and as a participant later, claiming that the linguistic
interpretation changes drastically. When the researcher is a mere witness
(outside perspective), she observes a simplified register, in which the health
professional uses baby and foreigner talk. In contrast, when the researcher
adopts an inside perspective, languaging identity becomes a more complex
phenomenon, and she  considers non-verbal responses, such as client’s silences
and communicative strategies. Therefore Esch proposes a situated languaging
definition, one that includes dynamic interactions, emotional impact, and
ethical issues, to help shape the identities of all the participants. 
 
Section 3: “Languaging Community,” explores different domains that highlight
the strong relationship between language and society. Duszak situates her
chapter “From academic
community ‘in transition’ to academic community ‘in combat’” in the Polish
context. First she
offers a brief retrospective of rhetorical uses and compares them to current
interdiscursive and
polyphonic features, both especially preferred with the onset of
post-communist transformations. The author shows how languaging helps shape
the academic community, through examples from an open letter to the Minister
of Science and Higher Education, and current policies that encourage a broad
use of English as the Lingua Franca. Embedded in socio-cultural context,
members of the Polish community struggle to find their identity between
national and international interests, fighting for and over the power of
corporate managements to seek a niche in the competitive academic market.
 
The following chapters address languaging in specific disciplines, such as
science,
history and law. Dossena’s chapter, “Discovering the environment. The
indebtedness of present-
day ecological culture to late modern English vocabulary,” traces the history
of environmental
terms used in current scientific journals. Although the author acknowledges
the work of
influential individuals (Muir, Munro, Thoreau), she focuses on words and
citations in the English
language that contribute to the development of landscape and environmentalism.
She
emphasizes terms of long-lasting impact throughout the centuries, such as
“anaesthetics” and
“antibiotics,” as well as local words of global effect, such as “boomerang”
and “basmati.” She also follows intriguing transformations of original
adjectives and nouns into modern verbs, such as”americanizing” and
“machinize,” and innovative and constant incorporation of new meanings, such
as “hypermetropia” and “greenhouse effect.” Dossena seeks to demonstrate how
the environmental community is being informed by the languaging process of
developing, adopting, and transforming colloquial meanings to specific
scientific uses.
 
In the following chapter Bondi explores the languaging process within the
history community. Her chapter, “Chrononyms in academic and popular history,”
explores the specific lengths of calendar times (20th century) and
conventional time partitions (the middle ages) that mark historical periods.
Above all chrononyms involve a cultural load that incorporates place, time,
personhood and values, with strong evocative power. For example, Gli anni di
piombo (“Years of lead”) triggers immediate associations to Italian waves of
terrorism around the 70s, while Age des lummiers (“The age of Enlightenment”)
evokes the French opposition between the light of reason and the previous dark
era. Interestingly, same-date- chrononyms can lead to varied events, such as
September 11, which may be remembered as the day of the defeat of Barcelona in
1714 among Catalans, the day of the coup d' état among Chileans in 1973, or
the attacks on New York since 2001. Beyond formal differences, Bondi finds
that academic sources typically present chrononyms that comprise temporal and
casual dimensions, emphasizing the search for interpretation of the events,
while popular sources situate chrononyms in a temporal sequence, linking
factual events (Martin 2003). 
 
Salvi examines the electronic communication between big electricity suppliers
in the UK and their customers in the chapter “Languaging in corporate
discourse.” Results show an increasing number of corporate terms (“customers,”
“business,” “company,”and  “tariff”) and phrases with shared values in economy
(“fair competition,” “service quality,”  “consumer,” and “environment
protection). Languaging in the business community also includes nominal
phrases (renewable sources, investing in low carbon power), adjectives (simple
and clear) and adverbs (fully and honestly) that encourage the creation of a
positive environment. Moreover corporate discourse offers pronominal contrasts
(we/you, our/your) that highlight belonging and affective engagement, as well
as appealing phrases, such as Generation Green and Smart Meters, building on
novelty and change. Salvi concludes that in current competitive markets,
successful businessmen know that a mere description of services and products
is no longer sufficient. They are aware of the power of languaging, which
helps shape the new business community, through the appropriate selection of
words and structures and consensual discourses.
 
In the chapter, “Reconciling tradition and innovation: Languaging in
professional communities of practice,” Solly expands the process of languaging
to the healthcare and law communities. He describes commonalities between the
two disciplines, given by traditional dress code (judges’ robes and nurses’
uniforms), workplaces (law courts and hospitals), and established corpus of
knowledge and beliefs; the latter enables rigid ways of engaging their
members, while excluding the ‘others.’ As the two communities of practice are
transitioning from conservative canons to innovative and technological
changes, new languaging strategies are required, such as the use of
telemedicine and Internet access. Above all the author emphasizes that a
stronger language preparation in the specific discipline, as well as
professional English courses, will contribute to shape membership, facilitate
access to highly qualified research and expand knowledge in current healthcare
and law communities.
 
The chapter titled “In transit between two wor(l)ds: NATO military discourse
at a turning point” examines strategies of ‘covering’ and ‘disinforming’ in
eleven military documents during the 1996-2013 period. Conoscenti examines how
languaging helps shape the military community, giving three complementary
examples. First, languaging helps understand the evolution of the doctrinal
discourse, from traditional acceptance of transferring information, to modern
practices of double-checking and cross-checking the information, as today it
is normal practice to seek more reliable and authentic sources. Second, the
languaging analysis also contributes to deconstruct the temporal dimensions
used in military narratives and manipulate them to achieve more effective
discourses. For example, instead of presenting a linear and unidirectional
timeline only, modern military documents appeal to a circular temporality that
enables flexible movements either to the past, looking for specific intense
emotions, or to the future, conveying growth and evolution. Third, languaging
may help overcome traditional oppositions between us and them, teaching how to
use a more inclusive and personalized pronoun (us) that wins the approval of
public opinion. 
 
The last two chapters move back to the concerns of educational communities.
Guido focuses on the specific instruction of modal verbs in English as lingua
franca (ELF). The chapter titled, “Modality tagging as evidence of ELF
communities’ languaging,” includes semantic and pragmatic interpretations of
the English modals and possible transfer between languages. While
English learners at different competency levels are more oriented to the
deontic modulation that
focuses on the offer of good and services, native speakers of English prefer
the epistemic modalization that emphasizes expression of opinions. Results
shows that the transfer of modal
verbs is easier when languages have common values, patterns, and functions,
e.g. illocutionary acts of assertiveness and hesitation among Italian and
Serbo-Croatan students learning English, or pragmatic traits of politeness 
among French students who are studying Italian as a second language. Guido
concludes that modal languaging, including emotional and intellectual
involvement as well as dynamic interactions, helps to build a stronger ELF
community.
 
The book closes with the chapter “Sign language: The state of the art in
Italian Universities fourteen years on.” Kellett Bidoli illuminates
accomplishments and challenges of sign languaging of the deaf community in
Italy. The author acknowledges the development of the language since 2001,
with the creation of vocational and professional courses in Italian sign
language and interpretation, as well as the approval of national (Italian Law
104 1992) and international resolutions, such as the United Nations
Conventions on Human Rights for people with disabilities (1998). However, the
state of art of the Italian deaf community is quite unstable, mostly because
the Italian Parliament has not recognized officially the status of Italian
sign   language yet, but also because of budget reductions during the Italian
University Reform. Kellett Bidoli explains how languaging processes can help
build this community of practice, by discussing major topics that situate
Italy in the international scene, such as the influential role of  American
Sign Language, the tripartite combination of English, spoken Italian and
Italian sign language in multimedia, intercultural practices and varied
genres.
 
EVALUATION
 
The book “Languaging in and across communities: New Voices, new identities”
addresses the languaging process in a broad sense (Swain 2006). It offers
refreshing readings,
drawing from a variety of disciplines - from politics to literature, and from
pedagogy to
community services–that will attract wide audience. Professional and lay
readers will be moved
by appealing examples of recent events, such as well-known scams (the Bernard
Madoff Ponzi
scheme), presidential speeches (Bush’s and Obama’s), NATO documents, and
migrants’
impact. The book is very well structured, weaving distinctive contents around
common concerns of languaging awareness, languaging identity and languaging
community in three sections. It also elaborates on current issues such as
higher demands of  technology, presence of “the other,” and instruction
through a Lingua Franca. Above all the longitudinal and transversal
flow of topics supports the editors’ perspective of  a new and fluid construct
of
Languaging.
 
The inclusive notion of languaging that empowers the book may also become a
disadvantage, especially when authors overextend the construct to other fields
of knowledge,
without further elaboration. A few omit to establish explicit connections
between their object of
study and the overarching languaging process, while others are trapped in
detailed analysis,
losing track of the agglutinating theme. Above all “Languaging in and across
communities: New
Voices, new identities” contributes to the working definition of languaging,
situating it in the
complex socio-cultural context of our global society, and searching for
practical applications in
specific disciplines, languages, and communities of practices.
 
REFERENCES
 
Martin, J. 2003. Making history: Grammar for interpretation. Re/reading the
past: Critical and
functional perspectives on time and value. Martin and Wodak (eds.). Amsterdam:
John
Benjamins. 19-57.
 
Swain, M. 2006. Languaging, agency and collaboration in advanced second
language
proficiency. Advanced language learning: The contribution of Halliday and
Vygotsky. H.
Byrnes. London: Continuum. 95-108.
 
Van Leeuwen, T. 2007. Legitimation in discourse and communication. Discourse &
Communication 1(1). 91-112.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Laura Dubcovsky was a lecturer and supervisor in the Teacher Education Program
from The School of Education at the University of California, Davis. She has a
Master’s in Education and a PhD in Spanish linguistics with special emphasis
on second language acquisition. Her areas of interest combine the fields of
language and bilingual education. She is dedicated to the preparation of
prospective bilingual Spanish/English teachers, especially on the use of
Spanish for educational purposes. She collaborates as a reviewer with the
Linguistic list serve and bilingual associations, as interpreter in
parent/teachers conferences and at the school district, and as translator for
outreach programs in museums and school sites, building home/school
connections. She has taught a course that addresses Communicative and Academic
Spanish needed in a bilingual classroom for more than ten years. She also
published the article, Functions of the verb decir (''to say'') in the
incipient academic Spanish writing of bilingual children. Functions of
Language, 15(2), 257-280 (2008) and the chapter, “Desde California. Acerca de
la narración en ámbitos bilingües” In ¿Cómo aprendemos y cómo enseñamos la
narración oral? (2015). Rosario, Homo Sapiens:127- 133.





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