My research mainly includes works in sociolinguistics regarding variation of linguistic norms and practices in the French-speaking area, language practices in education and work, language policies. These works aim at discovering the role language plays in issues of legitimacy, power and social inequalities.
For more information on my work and to have access to a copy of my papers, please go to http://www.uclouvain.be/philippe.hambye
Dans cet article, nous proposons d’examiner les donnees d’une enquete sociolinguistique ethnograp... more Dans cet article, nous proposons d’examiner les donnees d’une enquete sociolinguistique ethnographique en milieu scolaire sous l’angle des rapports entre langage et espace urbain. Bien que les questions qui entourent ces rapports ne soient pas au centre des recherches que nous avons menees sur ce terrain, elles se sont rapidement imposees a nous pour differentes raisons.
Discursive Approaches to Sociopolitical Polarization and Conflict, 2021
In this study, we will present an analysis of how polarization, and more specifically polarizing ... more In this study, we will present an analysis of how polarization, and more specifically polarizing representations of immigrant communities, are discursively constructed in the online discourse of Belgian French-speaking politicians. Our study is based on Facebook and Twitter messages from leading politicians from all major parties. They consist of two one-month samples, which were collected one month before and during the 2019 electoral campaign for the regional, national and European elections that took place on May 26th. We will show how a variety of linguistic devices, such as deixis and metaphors (Lakoff and Johnson 1980), contribute to creating an opposition between an in-group and an out-group and to presenting the out-group as a threat, thus producing polarizing representations of immigrant communities
Cet article interroge la facon dont une enquete ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contri... more Cet article interroge la facon dont une enquete ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contribuer au travail theorique a visee generalisante malgre la singularite assumee de ses donnees d’observation. Partant de la reflexion epistemologique de Passeron (2006) sur la singularite irreductible des faits sociaux qui envisage les sciences de l’homme et de la societe comme des « sciences historiques », l’auteur illustre la facon dont sa recherche ethnographique aupres d’adolescents en milieu scolaire permet de monter en generalite et peut etre mobilisee pour discuter de la pertinence d’un concept – celui de crossing (Rampton 2005) – regulierement utilise dans les travaux sur les « parlers jeunes ».
Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circ... more Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circulate nowadays in the field of education. Focusing on the cases of French-speaking Belgium and of the Franco-Ontarian community in Canada, we will show the existence of two discourses on multilingualism: one that insists on the positive value of multilingualism and that we consider as a consequence of social and economic changes brought by globalisation; and another that is much more a surrender of the purist conception of ...
The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories Some evidence from word-final consonant devo... more The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories Some evidence from word-final consonant devoicing in French spoken in Belgium Philippe Hambye Centre de recherches VALIBEL, UCL, Belgium Several authors have claimed that regional variation in language is no ...
Cet article interroge la façon dont une enquête ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contri... more Cet article interroge la façon dont une enquête ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contribuer au travail théorique à visée généralisante malgré la singularité assumée de ses données d’observation. Partant de la réflexion épistémologique de Passeron (2006) sur la singularité irréductible des faits sociaux qui envisage les sciences de l’homme et de la société comme des « sciences historiques », l’auteur illustre la façon dont sa recherche ethnographique auprès d’adolescents en milieu scolaire permet de monter en généralité et peut être mobilisée pour discuter de la pertinence d’un concept – celui de crossing (Rampton 2005) – régulièrement utilisé dans les travaux sur les « parlers jeunes ».
This article questions the specificity of the “contemporary urban vernaculars” (Rampton) usually ... more This article questions the specificity of the “contemporary urban vernaculars” (Rampton) usually called “youth languages”. Starting from a review of the different labels designating these language practices, it shows that many of them link them to the expression of ethnicity, hence the success of the category of “(multi)ethnolect”. After having criticized this recourse to ethnicity, the authors discuss the role of linguistic contact in contemporary urban vernaculars since their linguistic hybridity if one of their mostly noticed features. They argue for the necessity to take thoroughly into account the social context of these language contacts in a way to understand their outcomes. Henceforth, the authors examine the role played by factors in the shaping of heteroglossic urban vernaculars: social attitudes towards immigrant languages and identification processes on the one hand, and specific forms of verbal interactions within the speakers’ “street culture” on the other hand.
Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circ... more Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circulate nowadays in the field of education.
In this introduction to the special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies untitled Analysing language ... more In this introduction to the special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies untitled Analysing language as a way to understand social phenomena, we follow Coupland (2001) in his call for a more 'outward-looking sociolinguistics' and we reflect on the implications of the much ...
Dans cet article, nous proposons d’examiner les donnees d’une enquete sociolinguistique ethnograp... more Dans cet article, nous proposons d’examiner les donnees d’une enquete sociolinguistique ethnographique en milieu scolaire sous l’angle des rapports entre langage et espace urbain. Bien que les questions qui entourent ces rapports ne soient pas au centre des recherches que nous avons menees sur ce terrain, elles se sont rapidement imposees a nous pour differentes raisons.
Discursive Approaches to Sociopolitical Polarization and Conflict, 2021
In this study, we will present an analysis of how polarization, and more specifically polarizing ... more In this study, we will present an analysis of how polarization, and more specifically polarizing representations of immigrant communities, are discursively constructed in the online discourse of Belgian French-speaking politicians. Our study is based on Facebook and Twitter messages from leading politicians from all major parties. They consist of two one-month samples, which were collected one month before and during the 2019 electoral campaign for the regional, national and European elections that took place on May 26th. We will show how a variety of linguistic devices, such as deixis and metaphors (Lakoff and Johnson 1980), contribute to creating an opposition between an in-group and an out-group and to presenting the out-group as a threat, thus producing polarizing representations of immigrant communities
Cet article interroge la facon dont une enquete ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contri... more Cet article interroge la facon dont une enquete ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contribuer au travail theorique a visee generalisante malgre la singularite assumee de ses donnees d’observation. Partant de la reflexion epistemologique de Passeron (2006) sur la singularite irreductible des faits sociaux qui envisage les sciences de l’homme et de la societe comme des « sciences historiques », l’auteur illustre la facon dont sa recherche ethnographique aupres d’adolescents en milieu scolaire permet de monter en generalite et peut etre mobilisee pour discuter de la pertinence d’un concept – celui de crossing (Rampton 2005) – regulierement utilise dans les travaux sur les « parlers jeunes ».
Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circ... more Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circulate nowadays in the field of education. Focusing on the cases of French-speaking Belgium and of the Franco-Ontarian community in Canada, we will show the existence of two discourses on multilingualism: one that insists on the positive value of multilingualism and that we consider as a consequence of social and economic changes brought by globalisation; and another that is much more a surrender of the purist conception of ...
The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories Some evidence from word-final consonant devo... more The sociolinguistic relevance of regional categories Some evidence from word-final consonant devoicing in French spoken in Belgium Philippe Hambye Centre de recherches VALIBEL, UCL, Belgium Several authors have claimed that regional variation in language is no ...
Cet article interroge la façon dont une enquête ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contri... more Cet article interroge la façon dont une enquête ethnographique (en sociolinguistique) peut contribuer au travail théorique à visée généralisante malgré la singularité assumée de ses données d’observation. Partant de la réflexion épistémologique de Passeron (2006) sur la singularité irréductible des faits sociaux qui envisage les sciences de l’homme et de la société comme des « sciences historiques », l’auteur illustre la façon dont sa recherche ethnographique auprès d’adolescents en milieu scolaire permet de monter en généralité et peut être mobilisée pour discuter de la pertinence d’un concept – celui de crossing (Rampton 2005) – régulièrement utilisé dans les travaux sur les « parlers jeunes ».
This article questions the specificity of the “contemporary urban vernaculars” (Rampton) usually ... more This article questions the specificity of the “contemporary urban vernaculars” (Rampton) usually called “youth languages”. Starting from a review of the different labels designating these language practices, it shows that many of them link them to the expression of ethnicity, hence the success of the category of “(multi)ethnolect”. After having criticized this recourse to ethnicity, the authors discuss the role of linguistic contact in contemporary urban vernaculars since their linguistic hybridity if one of their mostly noticed features. They argue for the necessity to take thoroughly into account the social context of these language contacts in a way to understand their outcomes. Henceforth, the authors examine the role played by factors in the shaping of heteroglossic urban vernaculars: social attitudes towards immigrant languages and identification processes on the one hand, and specific forms of verbal interactions within the speakers’ “street culture” on the other hand.
Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circ... more Abstract In this article, we will examine some contrasted discourses on multilingualism that circulate nowadays in the field of education.
In this introduction to the special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies untitled Analysing language ... more In this introduction to the special issue of Sociolinguistic Studies untitled Analysing language as a way to understand social phenomena, we follow Coupland (2001) in his call for a more 'outward-looking sociolinguistics' and we reflect on the implications of the much ...
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