- I m a sociolinguist who works on issues of language contact and vsroation with particular reference to minority languages.edit
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This book proposes a new methodological approach to documenting languages spoken in multilingual and socially and linguistically heterogeneous and dynamic contexts. Tracing the investigation of one unique linguistic space, the... more
This book proposes a new methodological approach to documenting languages spoken in multilingual and socially and linguistically heterogeneous and dynamic contexts. Tracing the investigation of one unique linguistic space, the English-lexified creole language called Takitaki in multilingual French Guiana, the book illustrates how interactional sociolinguistic, discourse analytical and quantitative sociolinguistic approaches can be fruitfully integrated with structural approaches to language in order to systematically resolve dicey but rarely theorised/discussed questions (what are the outlines of the community, who is a rightful speaker, what speech to document etc) that frequently crop up in projects of language documentation in multilingual contexts. The authors argue that comprehensively documenting complex linguistic phenomena requires taking into account the views of all local social actors (speakers, institutions, linguists, non-speakers etc), applying a range of complementary data collection and analysis methods and putting issues of ideology, variation, language contact and interaction centre stage.
Research Interests: Multiculturalism, Languages and Linguistics, Contact Linguistics, Ethnography, Multilingualism, and 9 moreLanguage Variation and Change, Linguistic Anthropology, Postcolonial Studies, Language and Ideology, Language Documentation, Pidgins & Creoles, Language Ideology, Language and Identity, and Pidgin and Creole Languages
Cet article vise à analyser des catégorisations de la majorité raciale dans une langue minoritaire, afin de saisir ces dynamiques de racialisation depuis la perspective de personnes minorisées. Il s’agit de catégories utilisées en Guyane... more
Cet article vise à analyser des catégorisations de la majorité raciale dans une langue minoritaire, afin de saisir ces dynamiques de racialisation depuis la perspective de personnes minorisées. Il s’agit de catégories utilisées en Guyane par des personnes businenge – des Marrons –, locuteurs des variétés de nenge. Nous étudions ainsi les désignations renvoyant à la blancheur, comme bakaa, weti et poyte, dans une perspective historique, à partir de dictionnaires anciens, puis
contemporaine, en nous appuyant sur des données collectées ethnographiquement. Puis nous analysons des interactions à l’hôpital de Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, en combinant la sociologie des rapports sociaux et des approches sociales du langage ancrées dans l’ethnographie. La distinction entre bakaa et weti permet de penser la race comme rapport de pouvoir, où disparaît l’évidence du marqueur biologique de couleur. Nommer la blancheur s’avère aussi un moyen de proposer une perspective critique de l’ordre social.
contemporaine, en nous appuyant sur des données collectées ethnographiquement. Puis nous analysons des interactions à l’hôpital de Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, en combinant la sociologie des rapports sociaux et des approches sociales du langage ancrées dans l’ethnographie. La distinction entre bakaa et weti permet de penser la race comme rapport de pouvoir, où disparaît l’évidence du marqueur biologique de couleur. Nommer la blancheur s’avère aussi un moyen de proposer une perspective critique de l’ordre social.
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On the French Guiana-Suriname border, a hybrid space, members of the same population groups engage in circular mobility but little is known about the practices of these transnational communities. We explore how traditional emic social... more
On the French Guiana-Suriname border, a hybrid space, members of the same population groups engage in circular mobility but little is known about the practices of these transnational communities. We explore how traditional emic social distinctions, modern states' language ideologies and emerging discourses in the urban context shape Maroon's practices and identities in the border zone. A survey of language repertoires and long-term ethnographic fieldwork, including recordings of situated multilingual interactions, allow us to explore people's alignment with national language ideologies and the nature of distinctive ideologies, identifications and practices that can be observed in the border zone. We show that the border zone constitutes a separate sociolinguistic area, in terms of both language use and ideologies. However, similarities do not preclude sharp differences at other levels because multiple identifications co-exist. The findings support a layered and dynamic perspective of identity and illustrate how contradictory perspectives simultaneously overlap on one or several scales.
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La Guyane est la seule région au monde où se côtoient des langues créoles à base française et des langues créoles à base anglaise. Parmi les créoles à base lexicale française présents en Guyane, on compte le créole guyanais, divers... more
La Guyane est la seule région au monde où se côtoient des langues créoles à base française et des langues créoles à base anglaise. Parmi les créoles à base lexicale française présents en Guyane, on compte le créole guyanais, divers créoles des petites Antilles (guadeloupéen, martiniquais, saint-lucien), et le créole haïtien. Parmi les créoles à base lexicale anglaise, on trouve l'aluku, le ndyuka et le pamaka (appelés aussi nenge), le saamaka (créole anglo-portugais), le sranan tongo (la langue véhiculaire du Surinam voisin) ainsi que le créole anglais du Guyana ou Guyanese Creole. Bien que les légères différences structurelles qui existent au sein des créoles d'une même base lexicale soient souvent brandies par les locuteurs pour marquer leur appartenance à un groupe (Aluku, Ndyuka, etc.), ou leur origine régionale (Martiniquais, Guyanais, etc.), l'intercompréhension en Guyane est presque totale au sein des locuteurs de créoles français, et au sein de ceux de créoles anglais (à l'exception peut-être du saamaka, dont la mixité anglo-portugaise limite l'intercompréhension avec les autres créoles anglais). Depuis une trentaine d'années, les études sur les langues créoles font reculer les préjugés qui les réduisent au rang de langues simples, sans grammaire, avec peu de vocabulaire, même si ces idées persistent encore, parfois même au sein des populations créolophones. Aujourd'hui, on considère que ces langues sont un formidable « laboratoire » d'analyse de la faculté humaine de langage (Hagège, 1987) et qu'elles ont encore beaucoup à nous apprendre en particulier sur l'évolution des langues.
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This chapter aims to take a fijirst step towards improving our understanding of Suriname’s contemporary linguistic context. It is based on the results of a recent sociolinguistic survey carried out among primary school children in... more
This chapter aims to take a fijirst step towards improving our understanding
of Suriname’s contemporary linguistic context. It is based on the results of
a recent sociolinguistic survey carried out among primary school children in
Suriname. Exploring children’s statements about their own and their families’
language practices, their language attitudes, their language learning desires
and self-assessment of their linguistic competence, we describe the contemporary
sociolinguistic situation of Suriname and identify pertinent issues for
further research.
of Suriname’s contemporary linguistic context. It is based on the results of
a recent sociolinguistic survey carried out among primary school children in
Suriname. Exploring children’s statements about their own and their families’
language practices, their language attitudes, their language learning desires
and self-assessment of their linguistic competence, we describe the contemporary
sociolinguistic situation of Suriname and identify pertinent issues for
further research.
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This introductory chapter aims at re-visiting the social and linguistic context of contemporary Suriname and shifting attention away from the purely historical and anthropological construction of Surinamese reality to look instead at... more
This introductory chapter aims at re-visiting the social and linguistic context of contemporary Suriname and shifting attention away from the purely historical and anthropological construction of Surinamese reality to look instead at language practices in Suriname through the lens of identity construction, mobility patterns, linguistic ideology and multilingualism. The three main themes we engage in this book, language, identity and mobility overlap in several aspects, though the link between language and social identity would likely seem the most obvious for most people.
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This paper reviews and critically assesses issues that pertain to the implementation of Creole languages in education. We review historical, social and political issues that have hindered the introduction of most of these contact... more
This paper reviews and critically assesses issues that pertain to the implementation of Creole languages in education. We review historical, social and political issues that have hindered the introduction of most of these contact languages in the educational domain as well as the factors that have spurred the integration of some of them into education. Based on the available literature, the paper also provides an overview of current projects around the world. We critically assess the main characteristics of past and current programs and projects that seek to implement Creoles in education and propose a tentative roadmap for setting up viable educational projects. Keywords: Creoles and education; educational projects
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This paper discusses the different methodologies for studying migration as used in Geography and Linguistics and considers the ways in which the different approaches could enhance each other. It is argued that Geography's approach to... more
This paper discusses the different methodologies for studying migration as used in Geography and Linguistics and considers the ways in which the different approaches could enhance each other. It is argued that Geography's approach to interviews is very behaviourist and does not focus sufficiently on interviewee's identity construction.
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Item does not contain fulltextThe Joint Summer Meeting of the SPCL and ACBLPEAmsterda
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This article investigates racial/ethnic categorizations designating the majority in a minority language and their uses and meanings in everyday interactions to grasp the dynamics of racialization from the perspective of minoritized... more
This article investigates racial/ethnic categorizations designating the majority in a minority language and their uses and meanings in everyday interactions to grasp the dynamics of racialization from the perspective of minoritized people. The investigation focuses on the varieties of the language called Businenge(e) Tongo locally or Eastern Maroon Creoles spoken by Maroon populations living in French Guiana and Suriname. We first examine the different terms used to refer to whiteness, such as bakaa, wetiman and poyte, from a historical perspective using historical documents before examining their uses in contemporary conversations. The analysis in the final part focuses on interactions at the hospital of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The paper combines two approaches: the sociology of social relations and social approaches to language rooted in ethnography. The distinction between the three terms allows considering race as indexing power relations. Naming whiteness is thus a way of providing a critical perspective on the social order.
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ABSTRACT En Guyane, si les langues vernaculaires en présence sont maintenant bien identifiées, la situation sociolinguistique guyanaise qu'il s'agisse de vernaculaires et/ou de véhiculaires, de langues officielles,... more
ABSTRACT En Guyane, si les langues vernaculaires en présence sont maintenant bien identifiées, la situation sociolinguistique guyanaise qu'il s'agisse de vernaculaires et/ou de véhiculaires, de langues officielles, régionales et/ou d'immigration - demeure peu connue, tant au niveau du DOM dans son ensemble que dans ses spécificités régionales ", en dehors de quelques travaux récents appelés des voeux des linguistes impliqués dans la description et la promotion de ces langues1. Trois projets de recherche complémentaires, prenant pour objet une description des pratiques et attitudes linguistiques en Guyane, bénéficient actuellement de financements de la DGLFLF. Le premier consiste en un diagnostic sociolinguistique général des langues en contact dans l'Ouest guyanais, le second étudie la construction des identités sociolangagières dans la communauté businenge, le troisième s'intéresse aux contacts de langues kali'na-français auprès de populations en âge d'être scolarisées.
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1. Acknowledgements 2. Creoles in education: A discussion of pertinent issues (by Migge, Bettina) 3. Raising critical language awareness in Hawai'i at Da Pidgin Coup (by Higgins, Christina) 4. Chabacano for everyone?: Chabacano... more
1. Acknowledgements 2. Creoles in education: A discussion of pertinent issues (by Migge, Bettina) 3. Raising critical language awareness in Hawai'i at Da Pidgin Coup (by Higgins, Christina) 4. Chabacano for everyone?: Chabacano language projects in Cavite City in comparison with other Chabacano communities (by Sippola, Eeva) 5. The Teaching of Creole in Guadeloupe (by Bolus, Mirna) 6. Integrating local languages and cultures into the education system of French Guiana: A discussion of current programs and initiatives (by Migge, Bettina) 7. Kriol in Caribbean Nicaragua schools (by Koskinen, Arja) 8. Swimming against the tide: Jamaican Creole in education (by Carpenter, Karen) 9. Introducing French Creole as a language of instruction in education in St. Lucia (by Simmons-McDonald, Hazel) 10. Bilingual education among the Karipuna and Galibi-Marwono: Prospects and Possibilities for language preservation (by Ferreira, Jo-Anne S.) 11. Language and education in Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao (by Dijkhoff, Marta) 12. Cape Verdean in education: A linguistic and human right (by Baptista, Marlyse) 13. Trilingual education: On the Islands of San Andres, Providence, and Santa Catalina (by Morren, Ronald C.) 14. Bibliography 15. Biographical sketches of contributors 16. Index
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Creoles often exits in contexts characterized by multilingualism: what are said to be members of a creole community tend to have varying degrees of exposure to the Creole and other languages present, different levels of competence in each... more
Creoles often exits in contexts characterized by multilingualism: what are said to be members of a creole community tend to have varying degrees of exposure to the Creole and other languages present, different levels of competence in each language and partially different attitudes towards them. Language use patterns are equally variable among community members and across social settings. As in most Africa settings, heterogeneity represents the norm rather than the exception. Viewed from this perspective, the notion of a language as a solid, self-contained and distinct system predominantly used for transmitting referential meaning which does not interact with other such entities with which it physically coexists appears like a fiction. However, despite mounting evidence, linguistic description and documentation tends to shy away from dealing with the consequences of this evidence. The aim of this paper is to chart new approaches to documenting languages that place linguistic heterogeneity and language variation and change at the centre rather than at the periphery. Based on a case study of language variation and linguistic practices relating to the Creoles of Suriname in French Guiana and Suriname, we emphasize two main aspects: a) people engage with (context-based) practices which together constitute a system of communication that is linguistically heterogeneous and may not be made up of what linguists call a language and b) depending on their social practices and ideologies, people's system of practices may involve a fair bit of variation even among members who perceive themselves as belonging to the same social entity/community. Based on evidence from our case study, we propose that empirically accountable language documentation must adopt a multi-methodological approach to language description, including a comprehensive analysis of the linguistic context, linguistic structure AND linguistic practice. Notions like language, 'good, rightful/representative' speaker, community and their relationship are not givens, but have to be critically examined within the context. Greater attention must be paid to community-as-value (Coupland 2009) to fully capture language and a language. Descriptions should be representative of the practices characterizing the speech community and be defined or deduced in a bottom up manner. Among other things, this crucially involves taking into account the practices of ALL language users regardless of how and when they learned and use the language as restricting research and documentation to (some) people who learned it as a language of primary socialization produces socially and linguistically unrepresentative grammars.
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Guyane. Les locuteurs des langues qu’on dit parfois marronnes sont les descendants des esclaves en fuite des plantations (ou Marrons) et à chaque langue correspond un groupe ethnique traditionnel (Aluku, Ndyuka, Pamaka, Saamaka). Les... more
Guyane. Les locuteurs des langues qu’on dit parfois marronnes sont les descendants des esclaves en fuite des plantations (ou Marrons) et à chaque langue correspond un groupe ethnique traditionnel (Aluku, Ndyuka, Pamaka, Saamaka). Les locuteurs des trois premiers groupes utilisent souvent le terme nenge ou nengee pour faire reference à leur langue et le terme nengre pour renvoyer au sranan tongo
The Creoles of Suriname and the Maroon Creoles in particular figure prominently in research on creole genesis, descriptive linguistic research and in formal linguistic approaches to creole grammar. The main reason for their prevalence in... more
The Creoles of Suriname and the Maroon Creoles in particular figure prominently in research on creole genesis, descriptive linguistic research and in formal linguistic approaches to creole grammar. The main reason for their prevalence in this kind of research is that they are widely asumed to be linguistically conservative meaning that they have been subject to little change. This is somewhat surprising for two reasons. First, diachronic research has shown that at least some areas of grammar have undergone change over time due to both contact-induced and internally-motivated change. Second, both Suriname and French Guiana, the countries where most Maroons live, are highly multilingual and in both countries interethnic contact including intermarriage and urbanization are clearly on the rise among all ethnic groups in the region. So are Maroons linguistic isolates in an otherwise multilingual region or are current linguistic descriptions simply abstracting away from heterogeneity due to discipline-internal analytical consideration? In this presentation, we will investigate this question by examing the current sociolinguistic situation of Maroons in the region using data coming from participant observation, interviews and survey of language practices among school children. Our investigation reveals that Maroons are far from monolingual. While language maintenance among Maroons appears to be relatively high compared with other ethnic groups, like members of other ethnic groups, most Maroon children declare speaking two or more languages on a regular basis. Besides their their Maroon variety, they also declare speaking the official language of the country as well as one or more Surinamese Creole varieties. Especially in Suriname, most children declare using Sranan Tongo but also other Maroon languages. With respect to written productions, most children declare being able to write in the official language of the country and to a much lower degree also in Sranan Tongo. Writing in Maroon languages is not very widespread and is not always positively evaluated. The situation is somewhat different with respect to Sranan Tongo-speakers. A great number of children declare using it as an L2 and often report not being allowed to speak it. Negative attitudes towards Sranan Tongo are still quite frequent throughout the population both in Suriname and French Guiana for different reasons. The final part of the presentation will focus on interactional data. We will show that monolingual practices are decreasing and that both code-switching and code-mixing practices are on the rise. Such practices are increasingly leading to perceptual changes: Urban children appear to be less able to distinguish between different Maroon varieties and particularly between Maroon varieties and Sranan Tongo. We will show that this is linked to social changes and identity issues.
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Creoles are traditionally assumed to lack stylistic depth. Researchers recognize a basilectal variety and/or a mesolect , which is generally assumed to result from contact between the basilect and a European language. While the historical... more
Creoles are traditionally assumed to lack stylistic depth. Researchers recognize a basilectal variety and/or a mesolect , which is generally assumed to result from contact between the basilect and a European language. While the historical foundation of this model has been much called into question, the sociolinguistic premises have received relatively little attention. This paper addresses this issue by exploring current sociolinguistic practices in the Eastern Maroon community based on data from participant observation, findings from a questionnaire-based language survey, and an analysis of natural recordings in French Guiana. The paper demonstrates that the Eastern Maroon Creole has distinct regional and stylistic varieties that play an important role in the identity politics of the community. Due to ongoing social change, they are undergoing social and linguistic changes, and new styles of speaking are emerging. Change is by no means unidirectional and is conditioned by a range of social forces.
Research Interests: Geography and Linguistics
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Linguistic Landscape research has demonstrated that detailed analysis of written signage provides, often simultaneously, important insights into various aspects of the sociolinguistic dynamics of a context, particularly those involving... more
Linguistic Landscape research has demonstrated that detailed analysis of written signage provides, often simultaneously, important insights into various aspects of the sociolinguistic dynamics of a context, particularly those involving minoritized languages. Comparatively little of that research has, however, focused on postcolonial contexts in which people make little use of literacy and in which locally widely used minoritized languages co-exist with an officially dominant ex-colonial language. This paper explores written signage involving minoritized languages in the town of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (French Guiana) and how it is shaped by local practices and social change. The paper argues that knowledge of the ethnographic context such as local practices of place belongingness, the place of writing, and processes of social change is indispensable when analyzing the Linguistic Landscape. When viewed from a holistic perspective, the Linguistic Landscape provides insights into local...
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International audienceReview / compte rendu d'ouvrag
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Research in sociolinguistics has to date predominantly dealt with (so-called) monolingual contexts and spatially fixed populations. However, with the growing focus on globalization, hybridity, identity construction and authenticity in the... more
Research in sociolinguistics has to date predominantly dealt with (so-called) monolingual contexts and spatially fixed populations. However, with the growing focus on globalization, hybridity, identity construction and authenticity in the humanities and social sciences, there is renewed interest in what bilingual and multilingual populations do with their linguistic resources in contexts characterized by processes of mobility. The aim of the paper is to give a critical overview of the research in linguistics that deals with language and mobility. I show that there are a variety of research strands that have partially different research foci and apply different approaches (of data collection and analysis). While there is some cross-fertilization between research strands, I argue that greater integration of both quantitative and qualitative approaches on the one hand and attention to complementary research in the social sciences on the other would much enhance our understanding of how...
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Research Interests: Linguistics and Grammar
This chapter explores language ideologies in the colonial context of Arabic in Egypt. After achieving independence in the second half of the twentieth century, Egypt, like all Arab countries, followed a policy of Arabization. In order to... more
This chapter explores language ideologies in the colonial context of Arabic in Egypt. After achieving independence in the second half of the twentieth century, Egypt, like all Arab countries, followed a policy of Arabization. In order to understand the implications of such policies for colonial linguistics, it is essential to explore the ideology of Egypt as one community, an ideology that was propagated negatively first by the colonizers and then by Egyptians. The nation-state as an imagined community, built on ideologies and perceptions that are emergent in discourse and dependent on it, is in the focus of the chapter, which describes the role of Standard Arabic vis-à-vis Egyptian local varieties in constructing ideas about Egyptians as an imagined community.
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Research employing early quantitative sociolinguistic methods was instrumental in shedding light on the makeup of linguistic varieties in creole communities and the linguistic aspects of variable patterns. However, it did not provide a... more
Research employing early quantitative sociolinguistic methods was instrumental in shedding light on the makeup of linguistic varieties in creole communities and the linguistic aspects of variable patterns. However, it did not provide a comprehensive analysis of the micro-social aspects of variation because it focused on macro-level relationships and inferred social meanings from statistical correlations of linguistic and macro-social categories. It was the greater use of qualitative methods, including ethnographic investigation of the social context and attention to language ideologies through discourse-based analysis of monolingual and multilingual variable practices across different types of social domains and interactional contexts that opened up more detailed insights into the linkages between language and micro-social practices. As in non-creole contexts, language and social ideologies and changes in both play a crucial role in motivating language variation and change, both its occurrence and directionality, but changes are rarely uni-directional and linguistic practices are seldom associated to just one social or interactional meaning. Variable linguistic practices and contact patterns are important indices of ideological processes, but an understanding of their indexical work requires close attention to both people’s practices and discourses.
The papers in this special issue explore variation in a range of Creoles and represent different approaches to researching variation. Two of the papers follow a typical quantitative sociolinguistic approach. They focus on one linguistic feature, or variable, and correlate its distribution with independent linguistic factors (Riccelli’s paper) and with linguistic and social factors (Cardoso and Costa’s paper) to uncover the constraints that govern the distribution of that variable. Evans’ paper differs from these studies in that it investigates variation in legal translations from English to Kwéyòl. It attempts to establish the degree of pragmatic and legal equivalence in the interpretations of on sight translations of an important English legal phrase, the pre-trial right to silence or police caution, and the social factors that condition this variation. The other two papers in the special issue follow a linguistic anthropological approach to variation in that they investigate types of variable linguistic practices, rather than single variables, and speaker’s discourses about them, in order to understand how speakers conceptualize these practices (Schneider) and how these conceptualisations feed into identity formation (Jourdan & Angeli).
The papers in this special issue explore variation in a range of Creoles and represent different approaches to researching variation. Two of the papers follow a typical quantitative sociolinguistic approach. They focus on one linguistic feature, or variable, and correlate its distribution with independent linguistic factors (Riccelli’s paper) and with linguistic and social factors (Cardoso and Costa’s paper) to uncover the constraints that govern the distribution of that variable. Evans’ paper differs from these studies in that it investigates variation in legal translations from English to Kwéyòl. It attempts to establish the degree of pragmatic and legal equivalence in the interpretations of on sight translations of an important English legal phrase, the pre-trial right to silence or police caution, and the social factors that condition this variation. The other two papers in the special issue follow a linguistic anthropological approach to variation in that they investigate types of variable linguistic practices, rather than single variables, and speaker’s discourses about them, in order to understand how speakers conceptualize these practices (Schneider) and how these conceptualisations feed into identity formation (Jourdan & Angeli).