Speakers & Abstracts

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Plenary Talk:

‘D is for danger, from which we ran’: Multimodal discourse analysis of migration-themed picture books

The last decades have seen an unprecedented increase in the publication of picture books focussing on migration, particularly in the aftermath of Syrian war in 2015 and diasporic movements afterwards (Warnqvist, 2018), to the extent that they have been considered an emergent genre (Vassiloudi, 2019). The representation of refugees’ and asylum seekers’ experiences are found in many of these narrations, on the shelves of bookshops, libraries, and schools. Many titles are endorsed by NGOs such as Amnesty International, which adds to their increasing popularity. In spite of this, a comprehensive view of how the discourse about migration is constructed in picture books is still missing.

This talk addresses the representations of migrants and migration in literary concise narratives, and the difficulties for gathering a comprehensive perspective on multimodal migration discourse as constructed in picture books. The affordances and challenges involved in this endeavour will be teased out in reference to ongoing research of a large corpus of migration-themed picture books (Corpus MIAMUL), which is being scrutinised through multimodal discourse analysis procedures in combination with corpus-assisted methods of analysis. The methodology builds on what Serafini (2022) has termed ‘systemic-functional multimodal discourse analysis’ (SF-MDA), a framework which combines Halliday’s (1978) approach to language as social semiotic and systemic functional grammar, Kress and Van Leeuwen’s (2006) social visual grammar, and Painter, Martin and Unsworth’s (2012) model of picture book analysis. The talk will start by situating picture books in relation to other types of bimodal (visual-verbal) texts, and describing the characteristics of the corpus compiled and the methodology applied to the analysis. Sixty-four picture books that met the corpus entry conditions were selected for inclusion in order to ensure that a wide diversity of representations of migrants and migration was present for the analysis. In the second part of the talk, some of the achievements of the project will be discussed, that can offer a snapshot of how migration and migrants’ experiences are represented in picture books and in which ways they contribute to a more comprehensive view of migration discourse.

References

Halliday, M. A. K. (1978). Language as social semiotic: the social interpretation of language and meaning. Edward Arnold.

Kress, G., & Van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading images: The grammar of visual design (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Painter, C., Martin, J., & Unsworth, L. (2012). Reading visual narratives: Image analysis of children’s picture books. Equinox.

Serafini, F. (2022). Beyond the visual: An Introduction to Researching Multimodal Phenomena. Teachers College Press.

Vassiloudi, V. (2019). International and local relief organizations and the promotion of children’s and young adult refugee narratives. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, 57 (2), pp. 35-49.

Warnqvist, Å. (2018). Family first in homes away from home: Depictions of refugee experiences and flight from war in picturebooks published in Sweden 2014–2018. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children's Literature, 56 (4), pp. 60-71.

Towards an understanding of the language ideologies informing newly graduated teachers in Moscow

This doctoral research aims at investigating the language ideologies that inform a group of ten English language teachers who have recently graduated from a university in Moscow, Russia, regarding the development of their professional voices. In its middle stage, the study focalizes how individuals holding a bachelor’s degree in Language Teaching negotiate their positions as beginner teachers of English. This ethnographically based enquiry is conducted in dialogue with scholarly works that view languages as repertoires, seeking to dislodge the longstanding tradition of regarding languages as solid entities. Within this framework, what is conventionally understood as “English” is then reconceptualized in view of the multi-layered character of interaction, which calls for decentering the idealized “native speaker” as an authoritative model in language education. I have colligated the theoretical apparatus of language ideologies and their semiotic processes (Kroskrity, 2000, 2004; Irvine and Gal, 2000) and the concept of entextualization (Bauman and Briggs, 1990, 2003; Silverstein and Urban, 1996) in the analysis of online and offline focus groups with the ten participants. I am nevertheless committed to letting the data generated point to further theoretical-analytical constructs. By means of a partial analysis of the existing data, I have been able to interpret that the participants’ discourses point to a fixed notion of language, grounded on the role of grammatical structures and on pre-established levels of proficiency. In addition, the “native speaker” has emerged as a reference for achievement. Over the course of this study and upon its completion I aspire to contribute to the area of language teacher education in Russia, towards deepening our understanding of the multiple social trajectories that reverberate in teacher education in this country. 

References

Bauman, R & Briggs, C. (1990). Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social life. Annual review of anthropology, 19, pp. 59-88.

Bauman, R. & Briggs, C. (2003). Voices of modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.​

Irvine, J. & Gal, S. (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In: Kroskrity, P. (Ed.) Regimes of language: ideologies, politics and identities, pp. 35-84. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. ​

Kroskrity, P. (2004). Language ideologies. In: Duranti, A. (Ed.) A companion to linguistic anthropology, pp. 496-517. Oxford: Blackwell.​

Kroskrity, P. (2000). Regimenting language: language ideological perspectives. In: Kroskrity, P. (Ed.) Regimes of language: ideologies, politics and identities, pp. 1-34. Santa Fe: School of American Research Press. ​

Silverstein, M. & Urban, G. (1996). The natural history of discourse. In: Silverstein, M. & Urban, G. (Eds.) Natural histories of discourse. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, pp. 1-17.​

Museum translation: a tool toward representing inclusivity

This research focuses on exploring the role of museum translation in the educational field. For centuries, museums have been playing a determining role in spreading knowledge from reduced publics to wider ones. In this context, the expression museum translation has been coined, which refers to an interlingual transference involving source and target texts in the domain of exhibitions (Liao, 2018:47).

In the past, museums were regarded as locations for niche knowledge addressing selected and specialised audiences; however, this perspective has been overcome since, in recent years, society has become aware of the position held by museums, which are rebranding their communication strategies in the name of accessibility and inclusivity (Turnbull, 2018:195).

As claimed by Manfredi (2021:60), museum translation plays a pivotal role in nowadays multilingual and multicultural society. Not only does this translation domain deserve to be acknowledged in multilingual countries, such as Wales or Catalonia, but it is also worthy of recognition in contexts like the Italian one. In the first case, these territories are characterised by a unique sociolinguistic environment, which requires a distinctive approach while proposing museum translation, whereas Italy is ‘traditionally’ considered to be a monolingual country. Despite this stereotyped image, reality differs from this representation. Indeed, there are many linguistic communities living in Italy, and they employ both their heritage languages and Italian in their daily life. Furthermore, tourism has been crucial in leading Italy toward a more open-minded approach concerning acceptance and tolerance. Due to the undeniable variety of audiences that live in the same area, museum translation may be significant in terms of bridging gaps between communities co-existing in the same society, but which do not interact with one another. Present-day research aims at building bridges in order to foster dialogue between different groups, while promoting mutual appreciation and respect.

References

Liao, M. H. (2018). Museums and creative industries: The contribution of Translation Studies. The Journal of Specialised Translation, (29), pp. 45-62.

Manfredi, M. (2021). Professional museum translators for promoting multilingualism and accessible texts: Translation practices in some Italian museums and a proposal. Journal of Translation Studies, 1(1), pp. 59-86.

Turnbull, J. A. (2018). Museum communication: the role of translation in disseminating culture. TOKEN, 7, pp. 193-217.

Murmurs of a split tongue: Approaching spectral linguistics through the languages and literatures of partitioned Cyprus

The languages of Cyprus contain linguistic remnants that can reveal histories of pre-partitional unity and post-colonial division. Examining these remnants allows me to demonstrate how language and socio-political identifications are interlinked within Cyprus following its partition between the Greek-speaking (GsC) and Turkish-speaking Cypriots (TsC) in 1974.

Remnants of pre-partitional unity of the two Cypriot communities are displayed in sociological/literary discourses as shared words that form a repressed, hybrid language variety Mehmet Yashin identifies as “Kypriaka” (Yashin 2018). This shared Cypriot lexicon emphasises the island’s cosmopolitan nature, while rejecting the monolinguistic colonial assertions of the island’s “Step-Mothertongues”, Turkish and Greek (Yashin 2000). Moreover, the remnants of post-colonial division appear as negative language attitudes towards the marginalised Cypriot dialects, because of the increased use of ‘Mainland’ Greek and Turkish varieties in social and literary contexts. Yashin’s oeuvre explicitly points out the post-partitional decline of Cypriot Turkish, alongside Turkish-Greek hybrid forms such as Karamanlica/Karamanlidiki, being referred to as ‘the language of the dead’.

After studying the absence/presence of syntactic elements due to intense linguistic contact and social markedness within Cypriot Turkish (Celikesmer, forthcoming), I consider the frameworks of “hauntology of language” (Joseph 2018) and Deumert’s “linguistic spectrality” (2022) to study these remnants. A focus on the motifs of absent-presence and ghostliness within Cypriot languages combines both arguments. By considering how colonially-oppressed varieties attain ghostly reputations within sociolinguistic/literary contexts, and how these can be used for identity-creation purposes (Deumert 2022; Joseph 2018), I maintain two strands of analysis. Firstly, I explore how TsC/GsC poets evoke the ghosts of pre-partition Cyprus through a hybridised language to create a postcolonial Cypriot identity. Secondly, I observe how ‘languages of the dead’ such as Karamanlidiki and the Cypriot dialects are used and perceived in post-1974 Cypriot literatures, representing the national and post-national identifications within the partitioned island.

References

Celikesmer, A. (forthcoming). “Yedin Annem?” (“Have You Eaten My Mother?”): On the Absence/Presence of the Interrogative Polarity Particle in Cypriot Turkish. Journal of Undergraduate Linguistics Association of Britain.

Deumert, A. (2022). The Sound of Absent-Presence: Towards Formulating a Sociolinguistics of the Spectre. Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, 45, 135–153. https://doi.org/10.1075/aral.21039.deu.

Gordon, A. F. (2008). Ghostly Matters: haunting and the Sociological Imagination. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Joseph, J. E. (2018). The Hauntology of Language and Identity. In: Y. Mendel (Ed.), Language, Politics and Society in the Middle East: Essays in Honour of Yasir Suleiman (p. 0). Edinburgh University Press. https://doi.org/10.3366/edinburgh/9781474421539.003.0002

Papadakis, Y. (2005). Echoes from the Dead Zone: across the Cyprus Divide. London: Bloomsbury.

Yashin (Yaşın), M. (2007). Sınırdışı Saatler [The Deported Hours] (2nd ed). Istanbul: Everest Publishing.

Yashin (Yaşın), Mehmet. (2014). Dokuz şiir Kitabı: Toplu şiirler (1975- 2013) [Nine Poetry Collections: Collected Poems (1975-2013)]. Yapı Kredi Yayınları.

Yashin (Yaşın), M. (2018). Edebi Mekanlar Diller, ve Kültürler Arasında Yazmak [Writing From a Mediterranean Island: Between Languages and Literary Space]. In: Kozmopoetika (3rd ed., pp. 11-42). Yitik Ülke Yayınları.

Technologies and paternal onvolvement in FLP abstracts

This presentation explores the complex interactions among technology, paternal involvement, and the emotional aspects of family language policy (FLP) in superdiverse settings (Blommaert & Rampton, 2012). By synthesising recent studies (Bose et al., 2023; Doyle, 2018; Mirvahedi & Hosseini, 2023; Romanowski, 2021; Yousef, 2022), it highlights the challenges fathers face in maintaining heritage languages and cultural identities in a globalised, technologically advanced context. Critiquing Spolsky’s framework of language management, ideology and practice (Spolsky, 2004, 2019), which may fall short in capturing the nuanced dynamics of language maintenance in the digital era, this review exposes significant gaps in how digital influences on family language dynamics are understood. Selleck (2023) points to inconsistencies in fathers’ support for bilingual development but overlooks the potential of technology to aid this engagement. I address such gaps by linking these inconsistencies to the emotional challenges fathers endure, driven by insufficient guidance on leveraging technology for language maintenance. Integrating insights from human-computer interaction (Matthews et al., 2022) and developmental psychology (Žulec et al., 2022), this presentation offers a comprehensive view of how fathers' emotional struggles and aspirations to support their children's language development intersect with technology. It emphasizes the need for fathers to better support mothers, enhancing collaborative efforts in managing linguistic and cultural diversity. This approach fills a gap in FLP literature and enriches our understanding of the evolving dynamics of language maintenance, directly supporting the symposium’s goals of deepening the discourse on linguacultural spaces in the digital age.

References

Blommaert, J. M. E., & Rampton, B. (2012). Language and superdiversity. Language and Superdiversity, 12, 1-36.

Bose, P., Gao, X., Starfield, S., Sun, S., & Ramdani, J. M. (2023). Conceptualisation of family and language practice in family language policy research on migrants: A systematic review. Language Policy, 22(3), 343-365. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09661-8.

Doyle, C. (2018). ‘She’s the big dog who knows’ – power and the father’s role in minority language transmission in four transnational families in Tallinn. Philologia Estonica Tallinnensis, 3(0), Article 0. https://doi.org/10.22601/PET.2018.03.01.

Mirvahedi, S. H., & Hosseini, M. (2023). Family language policy in retrospect: Narratives of success and failure in an Indian–Iranian transnational family. Language Policy, 22(2), 179-200. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-023-09649-4.

Challenges and opportunities in promoting linguistic and cultural pluralism:

The Case of Mapudungun, a Chilean native language.

In the current global context, there is a political and cultural shift towards linguistic and cultural pluralism. However, in Chile, this process is advancing slowly due to the lack of recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples [3]. This has resulted in cultural loss and linguistic weakening, mainly driven by a policy focused on Castilianisation [5], promoting monolingualism in Spanish [2].                                                        

Authors such as Kandler, Unger, and Steele highlight that this phenomenon is common in contexts of language contact, where speakers must choose which language they prefer or need [2]. Mapudungun, a significant mother tongue in Chile [6], is losing its status due to Castilianisation and lack of official support, affecting both social communication and spiritual connection to the Earth [3]. It faces internal challenges such as diglossia and linguistic acculturation [1].

At the international level, institutions such as UNESCO support the linguistic rights of indigenous peoples and promote linguistic and cultural diversity. Regulations such as the UNESCO Universal Declaration and the Indigenous Act of 1993 seek to protect and promote indigenous languages, fostering intercultural bilingual education and their dissemination in the media [3].

Despite the efforts made, there is still a lack of modernisation of indigenous languages that values their identity and usefulness. In this context, the need for the active participation of indigenous people in the development of public policies [3] and the promotion of their language and identity is emphasised, especially through intercultural language planning projects [1].

In this regard, language planning involves efforts led by political, economic, and social actors to change the structure, function, use, and learning of a language, with different levels of implementation [2]. Referring to the case of Mapudungun, these include initiatives such as the creation of a writing system and intercultural bilingual education programs [7]. In short, the process of modernisation of indigenous languages is essential for their revitalisation and survival, requiring greater prestige, utility, and written presence in various spheres, as well as more linguistic research [1].

References

[1] Castillo-Fadic, M. N., & Insúa, E. S. (2011). La lengua mapuche frente a una política indígena urbana: marco legal, acción pública y planificación idiomática en Chile. UniverSOS, 8, 157-168. La lengua mapuche frente a una política indígena urbana: marco legal, acción pública y planificación idiomática en Chile (UniverSOS, 8 (2011)) (researchgate.net).

[2] Lagos, C. (2013). La planificación lingüística de la lengua mapuche en Chile a través de la historia. Revista de Lingüística, 42(2), 47-66. La planificación Lingüística de la lengua mapuche en Chile a través de la historia (researchgate.net).

[3] Loncon Antileo, E. (2002). El Mapudungun y Derechos Lingüísticos del Pueblo Mapuche. México, Distrito Federal. El-Mapudungun-y-Derechos-Linguisticos-del-Pueblo-Mapuche.pdf.

[4] Loncon Antileo, E. (2023). Mapuzugun y Cultura Mapuche. GUIAS Mapuzugu y Cultura2023-1.pdf.

[5] Loncon Antileo, L. Nuestro Mapudungun como Derecho Lingüístico (Un análisis desde la perspectiva de los Derechos Humanos). https://www.barilochense.com/bariloche-social/pueblomapuche/el-mapudungun-como-derecho-lingistico-y-las-politicas-educativas-en-chile.

[6] Loncon, E. (2023). Azmapu, aportes de la filosofia mapuche para el cuidado del lof y la madre tierra. Ariel Chile. https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B0BQZ661LY/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title.

[7] The Clinic. (2021). Chile multilingüe ante la nueva Constitución: ¿Cómo se fomentarán las lenguas originarias como el mapudungun? https://www.theclinic.cl/2021/07/06/chile-multilingue-ante-la-nueva-constitucion-como-se-fomentaran-las-lenguas-originarias-como-el-mapudungun/

‘Cut-throat razor’ and ‘bread knife’ in the ‘blade culture’: search terms for corpus

construction beyond the ‘knife crime’ label

Qualitative research that investigated the 'knife crime' discourse in news publications is limited in its focus. For instance, studies that explored the phenomenon through content analysis focused only on examination of the 'knife crime' label (e.g., Williams, 2023). An insufficient number of search terms and the absence of alternative expressions for information retrieval comprise a broader issue in Corpus-Assisted Discourse Studies, resulting in the compilation of 'incomplete' corpora (Gabrielatos, 2007; Pirkola, 1999). This case study addresses this limitation by providing a novel methodology for identifying ‘knife crime’ articles in British media that might have been overlooked in earlier research. It can be adopted as a model for researchers who collect data from the database Lexis Nexis when a particular topic is lexicalised in different ways.

The methodology utilised keyword and concordance tools in AntConc (Anthony, 2023) to investigate three small-scale corpora, which were constructed using search queries indirectly referring to 'knife crime’. As a result, over 440 search terms, encompassing pointed and bladed weapons, social actors, processes, alternative expressions for 'knife crime', and other related concepts, were retrieved from corpora. Each term was tested in Lexis Nexis to assess its capability to locate relevant media reporting before inclusion in the query. However, the 5,000-character search restriction in Lexis Nexis poses a challenge for employing a single query established by means of the Boolean connectors 'OR' and 'AND', which exceeded 12,000 characters in this case. The approach for overcoming this limitation entailed a number of strategies: (1) deconstructing search terms and grouping them according to similar structural elements; (2) creating sub-queries using parentheses, and (3) incorporating the proximity connector 'w/n'. This resulted in a complex, 3,847-character query that expanded efficiency of search terms as proximity connectors helped recognise a variety of syntactic relationships between structural elements and account for all word forms.

References

Anthony, L. (2023). AntConc (Version 4.2.4) [Computer Software]. Tokyo, Japan: Waseda University. Available from https://www.laurenceanthony.net/software.

Gabrielatos, C. (2007). Selecting query terms to build a specialised corpus from a restricted access database. ICAME Journal, 31, 5-44. http://icame.uib.no/ij31/ij31-page5-44.pdf.

Pirkola, A. (1999). Studies on Linguistic Problems and Methods in Text Retrieval: The Egects of Anaphor and Ellipsis Resolution in Proximity Searching, and Translation and Query Structuring Methods in Cross-Language Retrieval.

Williams, E. (2023). Policing the Crisis in the 21st Century; the making of “knife crime youths” in Britain. Crime Law Soc Change https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-023-10089-8.

Exploring brand communication and linguistic strategies: a corpus-based study of the Italian wine brand Ceci 1938

In our daily lives, brands shape our experiences, influencing the choices we make and our perception of products and services (Aaker, 1995). This is why brands are not merely tangible objects but distinctive cultural expressions that function as the essence of a product or service's identity (Scholes, 2012). Everyday interactions with brands through social media, websites, apps or advertisements constitute a linguistic exchange that contributes to create a brand identity (Voorveld, 2010). Understanding a brand's language and storytelling is crucial because it is through language that a brand communicates its essence, values and promises to the world (Vânia, 2021). This talk aims to explore linguistic communication beyond brand construction, investigating the implications of every communication strategy that can be examined through the use of corpora. More specifically, the presentation will focus on an Italian wine brand, Ceci 1938. Wine has always had an important symbolism throughout history, religion and art (Peralta et al., 2022).  Within Italian culture, wine and food are strictly connected with the concepts of tradition, family, and conviviality. Through its communication, the brand Ceci 1938 has promoted its product worldwide, not only selling a bottle of wine but also selling a truly Italian experience just through a glass. The linguistic choices of Ceci 1938 will be discussed by exploring a corpus on Sketch Engine, highlighting the importance of corpora in studying brand communication. This analysis will discuss how the communication strategies of Ceci 1938 remark concepts such as territoriality and familiarity, as well as modernity and innovation. Moreover, by examining the translation choices of the brand from Italian into English through a parallel corpus, this presentation will further explore the challenges of maintaining the brand identity and values while communicating with a foreign audience.

References

Aaker D.A. (1995). Building strong brands. New York: The Free Press.

Peralta, N.B., Aulet S., Vidal-Casellas D. (2022). “Wine and monasteries: Benedictine monasteries in Europe”. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 25(6), 652-683, DOI: 10.1080/15378020.2021.2024785

Scholes J. (2012). “Coca-Cola brand and religion”. In: Clark, T. R. & Clanton, D. W. Jr. (Eds.) Understanding Religion and Popular Culture. Theories, Themes, Products and Practices. (pp. 139-156). London: Routledge.

Vânia, S. (2021). “Storytelling and retromarketing: strengthening brand communication”. Revista de Marketing Aplicado 25(2), 44-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17979/redm.2021.25.2.8752

Voorveld, H. A. M. (2010). Websites in brand communication: interactivity and cross-media effects. Amsterdam: Universiteit van Amsterdam.

Fostering social cohesion in a minority language through sports articles

Building upon Delap’s (2007) contention that Irish language media is ‘back in the ghetto’* (p. 3) and Ó Ceallaigh's (2022) ​catalogue of budgetary cut back or ‘neoliberal rationalisation’ (ibid. 94) Irish language media providers have undergone since 2008, this paper hypothesizes that these conditions, when combined with the affordance of online publishing may have contributed to the emergence of what I call the promotional text type in online sports articles. This hypothesis arises from a broader PhD project on Irish language sports articles, employing Systemic-Functional Linguistics and a corpus-driven approach. A description of a corpus of 32 texts was built up from through gradual approximation over various phases (Matthiessen and Teruya, 2023, p. 205) – from patterns of wordings and grammar up to patterns of meanings. It was found that nine of 32 corpus texts exhibited nearly identical semantic features across similar structures. The nine texts were analogous to the extent that the meanings, and, their structures could be accounted for in a Generic Structure Potential, (Hasan, 2015), for what I have called a promotional text. It is argued that this text type may be indicative of a strategy being used i) to engender social cohesion between actors in the Irish language social sphere in distinctly different but complementary ways, and ii) create and then naturalise links through a text between satellite communities of Irish language speakers. If these contentions are valid, then the elements of generic structure identified here constitute a heuristic starting point for future research on Irish language texts, and, offer insights as to how minority language online media service providers can identify themselves as social actors while strengthening links between language groups but still being inclusive by inviting readers to become participants in language related activities.

* (my translation)

References

Delap, B. (2007). Ar an taifead: fís, fuaim agus focal. Cois Life: Baile Átha Cliath.

Hasan, R. (2015). The nursery tale as a genre. In: Cloran, C., Butt, D.G. (Eds.) Ways of Saying: Ways of Meaning, Bloomsbury Academic Collections. Bloomsbury Academic, London, New Delhi, New York, Sydney, pp. 51-73.

Matthiessen, C. & Teruya, K. (2023). Systemic Functional Linguistics: A Complete Guide. London: Routledge.

Ó Ceallaigh, B. (2022). Austerity and Irish-language media. In: Ó Ceallaigh, B. (Ed.) Neoliberalism and Language Shift: Lessons from the Republic of Ireland Post-2008. De Gruyter Mouton, Berlin, Boston, pp. 79-94.

English as a lingua franca or not: the perception and discursive construction of a language

Virtually speaking, all languages are equal, but in practice some are more equal than others in terms of status, prestige and functions acquired (Calvet, 1987). In our growing multilingual linguacultural spaces (Graddol, 1997; 2006), English is an interesting case especially for its ambivalence in its perception and in its discursive construction: for some it is the hegemonic language which threatens multilingualism and diversity (Skutnabb-Kangas, 1981; Phillipson, 1992; 2009; Tsuda, 2007) whereas for others it poses no threat to diversity (House, 2003) and, moreover, as a lingua franca, it can be exploited by anyone for various purposes (Jenkins, 2000; 2003; 2007; McKenzie, 2013; Seidlhofer, 2011).

The study I present here is grounded in sociolinguistics and aims at showing some preliminary results of how the English language is currently seen and perceived in terms of discourse, prestige, attitudes, myths and stereotypes by a group of Italian students aged 17-19. I carried out my research at Liceo Galvani in Bologna from October 2023 to March 2024 and I collected my data via a questionnaire which sought to describe how Italian students “experienced” (De Saussure, 2017 [1916]) the English language. In relation to the present study, my hypothesis is that English is still perceived in relation to its colonial heritage (Pennycook, 1994; 1998) and also as a language still based on ideological constructions like the one of the native speaker (Bonfiglio, 2010) and native speakerism (Holliday, 2006). I therefore claim that it is not yet “experienced” by its speakers as a lingua franca to be owned and exploited when in need.

References

Bonfiglio, T. P., (2010). Mother tongues and nations: the invention of the Native speaker, New York; Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.

Calvet, L. J., (1987). La guerre des langues e les politiques linguistiques. Paris: Payot.

De Saussure, F. (2017 [1916]). Corso di linguistica generale. Roma: Laterza.

Graddol, D., (1997). The future of English?, London: The British Council.

Graddol, D., (2006). English next. Why global English may mean the end of “English as a Foreign Language”. London: British Council.

Holliday, A. (2006). “Native-speakerism”. ELT journal, 60(4), 385-387.

House, J. (2003). “English as a lingua franca: A threat to multilingualism?”. Journal of sociolinguistics, 7(4), 556-578.

Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language: new models, new norms, new goals. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Jenkins, J., (2003). World English. A resource book for students. Second edition, London/New York: Routledge.

Jenkins, J. (2007). English as a lingua franca: attitude and identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

McKenzie, I. (2013). English as a lingua franca: theorizing and teaching English. London: Taylor & Francis Group.

Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London/New York: Longman.

Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. London/New York: Routledge.

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism continued. New York; London: Routledge.

Seidlhofer, B. (2011). Understanding English as a lingua franca. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1981). Bilingualism or not: the education of minorities (tr. Lars Malmberg e David Crane). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Tsuda, Y. (2007). “The Hegemony of English and strategies for linguistic pluralism: Proposing the Ecology of Language Paradigm”. In: Molefi, K.A., Yoshitaka, M. & Jing, Y (Eds.) The global intercultural communication reader, pp. 187-198. London: Routledge.

What is at stake? The body as a communicative resource on the internationalised campus

This PhD project is centred around intercultural communication and will study how postgraduate students use multimodal communicative resources such as gesture, gaze and positioning to achieve effective communication in student seminars on internationalized campuses by recording seminars and making transcripts of the data using a method of analysis known as Multimodal Conversation Analysis (MCA). The field of conversation analysis is moving increasingly toward the incorporation of multimodal aspects of communication in its analysis, but very few studies have been conducted which examine student to student communication in HEIs (Mondada, 2018; Goodwin, 2018). In order to address this gap, the project aims to answer the research question: How do students use their bodies to communicate in university seminars? It has also been suggested that students are being prepared to be ‘global citizens’ in an increasingly globalised economy, but recent research has also shown a lack of engagement between home students and international students (Schartner, 2015). This project therefore also aims to uncover the linguistic means by which macro processes such as internationalisation are enacted in student communication by answering the sub-question How is the process of internationalisation reflected in the use of these features by students? The project is currently in its early stages with the researching having completed a literature review and now seeking ethics approval for a finalised research design.

References

Goodwin, C. (2018). Why Multimodality? Why Co-Operative Action? (transcribed by J. Philipsen). Social Interaction. Video-Based Studies of Human Sociality, 1(2). https://doi.org/10.7146/si.v1i2.110039.

Mondada, L. (2018). Multiple Temporalities of Language and Body in Interaction: Challenges for Transcribing Multimodality. Research on Language and Social Interaction, 51(1), 85-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/08351813.2018.1413878.

Schartner, A. (2015). ‘You cannot talk with all of the strangers in a pub’: a longitudinal case study of international postgraduate students’ social ties at a British university. Higher Education, 69(2), 225-241. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-014-9771-8.