In the following book chapter, the authors explore the idea of metrolingualism, or to show how everyday

multilingualism operates in markets, cafés, streets, shops and other social city spaces.

Metrolingualism: Language in the City

By Alistair Pennycook & Emi Otsuji

Excerpts from Chapter One: Morning Markets & Metrolingual Multitasking

1 It’s a little after five o’clock in the morning. While much of the rest of the city is still asleep in the predawn
gloom, Sydney Produce Market is alight and buzzing. Among the movements of products and people, Muhibb
and Talib are busy.

Excerpt 1.1 (M: Muhibb, T: Talib, P: Passerby)

Arabic: italics; English: plain (translation in brackets)

M: Hey! Johnny fix up the stand! Here move these cherry tomatoes put them with them. Let them do it. Let them
do Hog’s Breath … If you wanna do anything … if my dad’s not doing it start here.

T: Ed da calaphak? Etnan? (How much did it cost you? Two?)

M: Sorry. Eh tnanan dollar! (Yeah two dollars) [Ten seconds pause] [phone conversation]

T: Joe … good morning, can you send me one ras one blues please. Thank you very much. See ya buddy! Coles is
on special. Dollar seventy and dollar sixty on u::mm on on what do you call it … two dollars.

P: Salamu alaykum mate (Peace be upon you, mate)

M: Wa alaykum assalam (Peace upon you too)

2 Such interactions capture much of what we wish to get at in this book: They are, first of all, an example of
what we have elsewhere (Pennycook & Otsuji, 2014a) called metrolingual multitasking, a term we use to
demonstrate the ways in which linguistic resources, everyday tasks and social space are intertwined. The
linguistic resources of this workspace are generally drawn from English and Lebanese Arabic, though the two
brothers utilize a considerable variety of styles and registers (modifying both their English and their Arabic
according to different customers and contexts). They employ a particular local variety of ‘market talk’: ‘one ras
one blues’ for raspberries and blueberries. They frequently mix English and Arabic (Sorry. Eh tnanan dollar!),
as do other people in the market (Salamu alaykum mate).

Pennycook, A., & Otsuji, E. (2015). Metrolingualism: Language in the city. London; New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
3 In order to shed more light on the arguments we are making here, let us look at a short interaction in a
restaurant in Tokyo. The conversation below is another example of what we have termed metrolingual
multitasking. We are using this phrase, as explained previously, in an attempt to grasp the ways in which
linguistic resources, everyday tasks and social space are intertwined.

4 The management philosophy of Petit Paris, according to the owner Nabil who was born in the small city of
Tipaza in Algeria, to a Moroccan mother and an Algerian father, is the ‘reproduction’ of a Paris bistro. The
customers are mainly Japanese, including students from the Institut Franco-Japonais de Tokyo (a nearby French
language school).

Excerpt 1.4 (Na: Nabil, C: Customer)

French: bold; Japanese: italics 2 ; Italian: bold italics; English: plain (translation in brackets)

Na: Oui chef. Je suis là ! (Yes Chef. I’m coming!)

Na: Are? (what?) Sorry sorry sorry sorry.

Na: Sorry Chefterrine. Sorry gomen nasai … to Hotate no carpaccio. (Sorry excuse me … and scallop
carpaccio)

C: a::: Sugoi ! (wo :::w great !)

Na: Voilà. Sumimasen . Voilà. Bon appétit! (Here it is. Excuse me. Here. Have a nice dinner!)

Na: Pain (bread) two people and two people onegaishimasu. (please) Encore une assiette. De pain. (One more
plate. Bread.)

5 Within a short period of time, Nabil moves around the restaurant floor, negotiating in French with the chef
about the dish, passing between tables and managing customers in English and Japanese (Sorry gomen nasai).
He serves food to customers (hotate no carpaccio: scallop carpaccio), the Japanese and Italian of the dish name,
request to another member of the floor staff (who also speaks French) in English and Japanese to attend to two
new customers.

6 Place, activity and language are intertwined and ordinary. As we defined the term then, metrolingualism
‘describes the ways in which people of different and mixed backgrounds use, play with and negotiate identities
through language’. Rather than assuming connections between language and culture, ethnicity, nationality or
geography, metrolingualism ‘seeks to explore how such relations are produced, resisted, defied or rearranged;
its focus is not on language systems but on languages as emergent from contexts of interaction.

Agree Argue
Yeah two dollars
 Ask Aha!
How much does it cost? Two? Hey! Johnny fix up the stand!

See ya buddy!

Practice: Solving Vocabulary in Context

Find the words listed below (bolded and underlined) in the excerpt from the chapter by Cook & Otsuji. Read
the whole sentence. Use strategies discussed in class to practice solving the words in context. Remember:
Authors use vocabulary for specific meanings in academic texts, so even if you think you know the general meaning of a
word or phrase, make sure that you understand its specific meaning in the article.

Word Pre-Reading (Prediction) Actual Meaning in Context

buzzing (para. 1) The sound of planes, or bees busy

when they are flying.

gloom (para. 1) Darkness. Darkness

capture (para. 2) Hold it for yourself Describe / summarize

intertwined (para. 2) To mix sth together Connected, mixed up

employ (para. 2) To hire somebody doing for Use

us and pay money after
finishing.

grasp (para. 3) Your knowledge understand

negotiating (para. 5) A big conversation Bargaining

play (para. 6) Spend time doing an Use, try

enjoyable activity

negotiate (para. 6) Make peace Define and decide

Practice: Locating Synonyms

Locating synonyms and antonyms can help you solve unknown words because you can find words that you do
used to express the same idea.

Look at para. 2 and para. 3 in the reading above. What synonyms do you see for the following words?

capture grasp

employ utilize, use

interaction conversation

Practice: Locating Different Word Forms

The most common types of word forms you will need to solve in readings are nouns, noun actors, verbs, and
adjectives. Being able to identify the word form using the sentence can help to solve the meaning more easily.

 A noun actor is a noun that specifically refers to a person or being, not an idea (eg. action is a noun
(idea/concept), but actor is a noun that specifically refers to a person.)

Look at paragraph from the reading below. The following words are used in different word forms. Identify the
different word forms.

Talib and Muhibb are users of both English and Lebanese Arabic, and the interactions between them
frequently contain both. Arabic is commonly used for numbers and quantities, but it may also have the use or
purpose of concealing their discussions from some customers. With other workers on their part of the floor
speaking a variety of languages in an interactive fashion, English and Arabic may be used separately or together
usefully, depending on the people with whom they are interacting.

NOUN NOUN ACTOR VERB ADJECTIVE ADVERB

Interaction interacting interactive

use user used usefully

Practice: Making Sense of Complex Academic Vocabulary

The following are two examples of complex academic vocabulary from the Cook & Otsuji chapter. As a reader,
you need to understand the overall meaning of the sentence. Read each example and choose which of the two
explanations, written in less technical language, is correct.

1. The linguistic resources of this workspace are generally drawn from English and Lebanese Arabic,
though the two brothers use a considerable variety of styles and registers (modifying both their English
and their Arabic according to different customers and contexts). They employ a particular local variety
of ‘market talk’: ‘one ras one blues’ for raspberries and blueberries. (para. 2)

a) The brothers use a variety of languages, including English and Lebanese Arabic. They have learned
how to speak the local languages in the market so that they can help different types of customers.

b) Although the brothers mainly mix two languages, they change how they use the languages in
different situations and add slang that people working in a market would normally use.
 2. Rather than assuming connections between language and culture, ethnicity, nationality or geography,
metrolingualism ‘seeks to explore how such relations are produced, resisted, defied or rearranged; its
focus is not on language systems but on languages as emergent from contexts of interaction. (para 6)

a) Instead of focusing on connections between language and culture, ethnicity, nationality, and
geography, metrolingualism looks at how people use different languages in different mixes and ways
in everyday situations.

b) Metrolingualism connects language to culture, ethnicity, nationality, and geography, and examines
how each of these elements affects the use of language.

Here is a different excerpt from the chapter about the restaurant in Tokyo. How can you summarize or explain
what the authors are trying to say?

The staff comprise two chefs (Jean: from France, who worked in Cuba, Lebanon, Italy and Greece as a
chef before moving to Tokyo 11 years ago; Pierre: from Réunion, who lived in Paris before coming to
Tokyo), a Japanese manager (Hata-san) from Tokyo and two floor staff (Nabil and Stéphane: born in
Côte d’Ivoire and grew up in Morocco and New York as a child).

The authors highlight the diverse cultural backgrounds of the staff at the Tokyo restaurant. They
introduce each person with different origins, enrich the restaurant’s environment, dishes and service.