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Translanguaging as a Multilingual Practice

The Negotiation of Meaning in Bilingual Adolescents’ Conversations in Haparanda and Helsinki
  • Jaana Kolu
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Jugendsprachen/Youth Languages
This chapter is in the book Jugendsprachen/Youth Languages

Abstract

The main focus of this study is an exploration of informal conversations among bilingual adolescents at three junior high schools in Haparanda, a Swedish town on the country’s northeastern border with Finland. Besides this, a brief comparison is made with interaction among bilingual adolescents at a Swedish-speaking junior high school in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The aim of the study is to increase our knowledge of bilingual adolescents’ interaction practices and particularly adolescents’ use of their language repertoires, i. e. translanguaging, in the negotiation of meaning. The theoretical framework is found in the field of translanguaging, which aims to describe bilingual language use and interactional practices rather than focusing on the languages themselves. In translanguaging research on interaction has the multilingual speaker as the norm, not the monolingual individual. The analysis of the collected conversation data (2014-2015) is qualitative. The analysis of the bilingual adolescents’ conversations in Haparanda reveals patterns in their translanguaging practices in negotiating meaning. The interlocutors fluidly and flexibly make use of their language resources in their interaction, which means that not only Standard Swedish and Finnish are used in the negotiation processes, but also Meänkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), local dialects, youth slang, and English. They translanguage in order to make sense beyond the resources of any one particular single language. Examined from the viewpoint of translanguaging, similar patterns could be found in Haparanda and Helsinki.

Abstract

The main focus of this study is an exploration of informal conversations among bilingual adolescents at three junior high schools in Haparanda, a Swedish town on the country’s northeastern border with Finland. Besides this, a brief comparison is made with interaction among bilingual adolescents at a Swedish-speaking junior high school in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The aim of the study is to increase our knowledge of bilingual adolescents’ interaction practices and particularly adolescents’ use of their language repertoires, i. e. translanguaging, in the negotiation of meaning. The theoretical framework is found in the field of translanguaging, which aims to describe bilingual language use and interactional practices rather than focusing on the languages themselves. In translanguaging research on interaction has the multilingual speaker as the norm, not the monolingual individual. The analysis of the collected conversation data (2014-2015) is qualitative. The analysis of the bilingual adolescents’ conversations in Haparanda reveals patterns in their translanguaging practices in negotiating meaning. The interlocutors fluidly and flexibly make use of their language resources in their interaction, which means that not only Standard Swedish and Finnish are used in the negotiation processes, but also Meänkieli (Tornedalen Finnish), local dialects, youth slang, and English. They translanguage in order to make sense beyond the resources of any one particular single language. Examined from the viewpoint of translanguaging, similar patterns could be found in Haparanda and Helsinki.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Band 1. Vorwort V
  3. Inhalt IX
  4. Theoretische und Methodische Perspektiven
  5. Youth Languages 3
  6. “Doing Youth” – Zur Erweiterung einer Theorie der Jugendspracheforschung 25
  7. Undoing Youth – Dialect Levelling and Restandardisation in Urban Vernaculars in Austria 49
  8. Fragestellungen zur Interaktion von Sprachwandel und Sprachvarietäten 67
  9. Jugendsprache(N) Als Soziokonstrukt und Segment Sprachwissenschaftlichen Wissens 85
  10. Jugendsprachliche Merkmale als Ausdruck Glokaler Jugendsprachlicher Tendenzen 97
  11. „Selfiqueen“ – Sprache-Bild-Texte auf Jugendlicher Bekleidung: Multimodalität und Identitätsbildung von Jugendlichen 123
  12. Stancetaking- und Positionierungsaktivitäten im Öffentlichen Metasprachdiskurs über Jugendliche Sprechweisen 147
  13. Towards a Definition of Hobby Language 189
  14. Sprachhandeln – Kommunikative und Kontrastive Spezifika
  15. „Höflichkeit? Respekt!“ Jugendtypische Umgangsformen mit sprachlicher Höflichkeit 211
  16. „Du Sollst deiner Mutter Wegsterben“ – Fluch oder Witz? 231
  17. Peer-Kommunikation in der Schule: Empirische und methodische Zugänge 247
  18. Jugendkommunikation in Schulischen Lehr-/Lernkontexten: Haupt- und Nebenkommunikation im Vergleich 269
  19. Reflexionen des Letzten Partyabends als Symbolfelder Kommunikativer Gattungen Junger Männer in der Postadoleszenz 303
  20. Geil oder doch Porno? 325
  21. Ausdrucksmittel von Geschlechtsspezifischen Stereotypen in der Jugendkommunikation 343
  22. Lexical innovation in the Language of Teenagers 363
  23. A Contrastive Study of Placeholders in the Speech of British and Spanish Teenagers 391
  24. Jugendsprachliche Wörterbücher im Interlingualen Vergleich 419
  25. Fremdwörter in Der Jugendsprache vor 20 Jahren und Heute 443
  26. Register Band 1/Index Volume 1 455
  27. Band 2. Regionale, Urbane Und Multilinguale Kontexte
  28. Youth Language(s) in Austria – State of Research and First Findings 463
  29. „Und er so: Geh ma Kino!“ – Phänomene Syntaktischer Kompaktheit in Ruraler und Urbaner Jugendkommunikation Österreichs 489
  30. “We Speak Görlienglisch”: The Role of English in Multilingual/-Ethnic German Youth Speech Communities 519
  31. A Sociolinguistic Perspective on the Code-Switching practices of Franco-Manitoban Youth 543
  32. Walikan: A Youth Linguistic Practice in East Java, Indonesia 559
  33. Translanguaging as a Multilingual Practice 575
  34. Patterns of Arabic-English Code-Switching in Youth Communication in Cairo 599
  35. The Linguistic Diversity of Istria in Example of Youth Language 623
  36. Alter Und Dialektgebrauch: Zu (Jugend-)Altersspezifischen Markern Im Mundartlichen Bereich 647
  37. On Hungarian Slang. Changing Functions and Attitudes 681
  38. Global Tendencies in the Colloquial Language of Kashubian Youth 707
  39. Mediale und Computervermittelte Kommunikation
  40. Digitale Interpunktion: Stilistische Ressourcen Und Soziolinguistischer Wandel in der Informellen Digitalen Schriftlichkeit von Jugendlichen 721
  41. Funktionen von Emojis und Altersabhängigkeit ihres Gebrauchs in der Whatsapp-Kommunikation 749
  42. Emojis in the Digital Writings of Young Danes 773
  43. African Youth Language Practices and Social Media 807
  44. Digitale Schreibregister von Jugendlichen Analysieren 829
  45. Dialekt Als Norm? 859
  46. “I Don’t have Time for Tits” 891
  47. Jugendsprache und Facebook 915
  48. Jugendsprachen in der Werbung 929
  49. Jugendsprachliche Kommunikation durch Zeitungsanzeigen 945
  50. Register Band 1 and 2/Index Volume 1 and 2 959
  51. Autorenverzeichnis/Author Index 971
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