Talking about sociolinguistic injustice: critical ethnographies towards speaker conscientization
-
Gabriela Prego-Vázquez
,
Clara Molina
and
Maite Puigdevall
Abstract
This paper explores how researchers and co-participants in a joint Participatory Action Research (PAR) project in Galicia and Madrid discursively negotiate the conditions of possibility to co-construct spaces in which to talk about forms of sociolinguistic injustice. The aim of our multisite project is to create spaces for sociolinguistic research and intervention in which to identify the “sociodiscursive” elements used to manage the conditions of possibility that make it possible to address linguistic injustice. In our project we work with two related but not identical theoretical frameworks, Critical Language Awareness (CLA) and Freire’s pedagogical model of conscientization (or sensitization through discussion, reflection and action). Our findings reveal the presence of two types of conditions of possibility: “epistemic conditions of possibility”, derived from the participatory methodological framework itself, and “dialogic conditions of possibility”, that emerge in the participation framework of situated communicative activities. The data show how, in empathetic situations in which affect is verbalized, co-participants can reach what we call “eureka moments” when the naturalization of inequality is problematized. The newly-gained awareness of participants who reach these moments of revelation is evidenced in explicit manifestations in which people verbalize how they suddenly understand the why of past situations or realize that something may be beginning to change. In this paper we present the activities used in controlled environments to promote this shift, since awareness raising is something that cannot be carried out by the speakers themselves, at least not alone, and we discuss their effectiveness.
Resumen
Este artículo explora cómo los investigadores y coparticipantes de un proyecto conjunto de investigación-acción participativa en Galicia y Madrid negocian discursivamente las condiciones de posibilidad para co-construir espacios en los que hablar sobre formas de injusticia sociolingüística. El objetivo de nuestro proyecto multisituado es crear espacios de investigación e intervención sociolingüística en los que identificar los elementos “sociodiscursivos” con que se gestionan las condiciones de posibilidad que permiten abordar las injusticias lingüísticas. En nuestro proyecto trabajamos con dos marcos teóricos relacionados pero no idénticos, la conciencia lingüística crítica y el modelo pedagógico de Freire de concientización (o sensibilización a través de la discusión, la reflexión y la acción). Nuestros resultados revelan la presencia de dos tipos de condiciones de posibilidad: “condiciones epistémicas de posibilidad”, derivadas del propio marco metodológico participativo, y “condiciones dialógicas de posibilidad”, que emergen en los marcos de participación de actividades comunicativas situadas. Los datos muestran cómo, partiendo de situaciones empáticas en las que se verbaliza el afecto, los co-participantes pueden alcanzar lo que denominamos “momentos eureka” en que se problematiza la naturalización de la desigualdad. La toma de conciencia de los participantes que alcanzan estos momentos de revelación se evidencia en manifestaciones explícitas en las que las personas verbalizan cómo de repente comprenden el porqué de situaciones pasadas o se dan cuenta de que algo puede estar empezando a cambiar. En este artículo presentamos las actividades llevadas a cabo en entornos controlados para promover dicho cambio, ya que la sensibilización no es algo que puedan llevar a cabo los hablantes por su cuenta, al menos no individualmente, y debatimos su eficacia.
Funding source: Spaces of sociolinguistic transformation in the Galicia educational context (PID2019-105676RB-C44/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); Towards a new linguistic citizenship (PID2019-105676RB-C41/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); Sociolinguistic transformation processes in the Basque context (PID2019-105676RB-C42/AEI/10.13039/501100011033); New speakers as agents of sociolinguistic transformation in Catalonia (PID2019-105676RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033).
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Research funding: The Equiling research project (PID2019-105676RB-C4) and the subprojects Equiling-Galicia (PID2019-105676RB C44/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) Equiling-Mad (PID2019-105676RB-C41/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and Equiling-Cat (PID2019-105676RB-C43/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) were funded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Negotiating sociolinguistic justice: turning spaces of inequality into spaces of conscientization
- Talking about sociolinguistic injustice: critical ethnographies towards speaker conscientization
- Spaces of conscientization as a bridge between inequality and contestation
- Voicing experiences of language surveillance to challenge social inequality
- Agency as doing-together: learning from fieldwork experiences
- Varia
- Relevance and effectiveness in translation planning into minoritized languages: an evaluation of translation subsidies in the Galician publishing industry
- Ainu language use and display in the National Ainu Museum
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Negotiating sociolinguistic justice: turning spaces of inequality into spaces of conscientization
- Talking about sociolinguistic injustice: critical ethnographies towards speaker conscientization
- Spaces of conscientization as a bridge between inequality and contestation
- Voicing experiences of language surveillance to challenge social inequality
- Agency as doing-together: learning from fieldwork experiences
- Varia
- Relevance and effectiveness in translation planning into minoritized languages: an evaluation of translation subsidies in the Galician publishing industry
- Ainu language use and display in the National Ainu Museum
