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Social class and the inequality of English speakers in a globalized world

  • Ron Darvin

    Ron Darvin is a Vanier and Public Scholar at the Department of Language and Literacy Education of the University of British Columbia. He has received the 2017 Emerging Scholar Award of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Language and Social Processes SIG, and is a co-recipient of the 2016 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research.

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Published/Copyright: September 12, 2017
Journal of English as a Lingua Franca
From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 6 Issue 2

Abstract

Responding to observations in ELF research that Anglophone-centric attitudes towards English are eroding among speakers of a younger generation, this paper demonstrates that attitudes towards English can in fact vary among youth of different social class backgrounds. Drawing on a case study of immigrant Filipino adolescents in Vancouver, this paper examines how class differences of these youth impinge on their lived experiences and the material conditions of their migration, shaping how they negotiate their linguistic capital, particularly their use of English. Data illustrate how such conditions shape their dispositions, their sense of agency, and feelings of linguistic confidence and insecurity. Using Darvin and Norton’s (2015. Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35. 36–56) model of investment as a lens to investigate the interplay of identity, capital, and ideology in communicative contexts, this paper asserts how contrasting language attitudes are constructed by asymmetrical relations of power between speakers. In the spirit of accommodation and adaptation that characterizes ELF communication, this paper calls for a critical pedagogy that enables speakers to reflect on how they position themselves and others in these contexts, and assert their place as legitimate speakers of English.

Buod

Ayon sa ilang pananaliksik sa larangan ng ELF, humihina na ang pananaw sa mga nakababatang henerasyon na ang wikang Ingles ay tanging pagmamay-ari ng mga katutubong tagapagsalita nito. Nais ipakita ng pag-aaral na ito na nagkakaiba-iba ang pananaw tungkol sa wikang Ingles ng mga kabataan ayon sa kanilang antas sa lipunan. Batay sa pag-aaral ng mga imigranteng kabataan sa Vancouver, sinusuri ng papel na ito kung paano naaapektuhan ang kanilang kabuhayan ng kanilang antas sa lipunan at ng kondisyong materyal ng kanilang pagiibang bayan at kung paano nito hinihubog ang pagkalakal ng kanilang linguwistikang kapital lalo na ang paggamit ng wikang Ingles. Inilalarawan ng mga datos ang impluwensiya ng mga kondisyong ito sa kanilang disposisyon, ang pagkilala sa kanilang sarili bilang tagapagsalita, at ang kumpiyansa sa pagsasalita o kawalan nito. Gamit ang modelo ng pamumuhunan nila Darvin and Norton (2015) bilang lente upang siyasatin ang pagtatagpo ng pagkakilanlan, kapital at ideoholiya sa pagkikipagtalastasan, isinusulong ng gawaing ito na ang pagkakaiba ng kanilang pananaw sa wika ay bunga ng hindi pantay na kapangyarihang nakaluklok sa bawat taong gumagamit nito. Upang maisakatuparan ang mga layunin ng ELF ng pagbibigayan at pag-aangkop, iminumungkahi ng gawaing ito na ipalaganap ang kritikal na pagtuturo upang mapag-isipan nila kung paano ipoposisyon ang kanilang sarili at ang mga kausap nila bilang lehitimong tagapagsalita ng wikang Ingles.

Keywords: social class; investment; linguistic capital; language attitude; critical pedagogy
Mga prinsipal na tema: antas sa lipunan; pamumuhunan; linguwistikang kapital; pananaw sa wika; kritikal na pagtuturo

About the author

Ron Darvin

Ron Darvin is a Vanier and Public Scholar at the Department of Language and Literacy Education of the University of British Columbia. He has received the 2017 Emerging Scholar Award of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Language and Social Processes SIG, and is a co-recipient of the 2016 TESOL Award for Distinguished Research.

Acknowledgments

The author would like to acknowledge the generous support of the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships and The International Research Foundation for English Language Education, and thank Barbara Seidlhofer, Bonny Norton, and two anonymous reviewers for providing feedback on an earlier draft of this article.

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Published Online: 2017-9-12
Published in Print: 2017-9-26

© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Articles
  3. Diversity of users, settings, and practices: how are features selected into ELF practice?
  4. Japanese university students’ attitudes towards their English and the possibility of ELF awareness
  5. L1 English speaker participation in ELF interaction: a single case analysis of dyadic institutional talk
  6. Social class and the inequality of English speakers in a globalized world
  7. Interactional management of face-threatening acts in casual ELF conversation: an analysis of third-party complaint sequences
  8. Standard language models, variable lingua franca goals: How can ELF-aware teacher education square the circle?
  9. “Co-certification”: a close encounter with ELF for an international examining board
  10. Book Reviews
  11. Gerarty, Barbara Jean E. Conacher: Intercultural contact, language learning and migration
  12. Chen, Yuan-shan Der-Hwa Victoria Rau Gerald Rau: Email discourse among Chinese using English as a Lingua Franca
  13. Holmes, Prue Fred Dervin: The cultural and intercultural dimensions of English as a Lingua Franca
  14. Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle: Linguanomics. What is the market value of multilingualism?
https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2017-0014
Keywords for this article
social class; investment; linguistic capital; language attitude; critical pedagogy

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Articles
  3. Diversity of users, settings, and practices: how are features selected into ELF practice?
  4. Japanese university students’ attitudes towards their English and the possibility of ELF awareness
  5. L1 English speaker participation in ELF interaction: a single case analysis of dyadic institutional talk
  6. Social class and the inequality of English speakers in a globalized world
  7. Interactional management of face-threatening acts in casual ELF conversation: an analysis of third-party complaint sequences
  8. Standard language models, variable lingua franca goals: How can ELF-aware teacher education square the circle?
  9. “Co-certification”: a close encounter with ELF for an international examining board
  10. Book Reviews
  11. Gerarty, Barbara Jean E. Conacher: Intercultural contact, language learning and migration
  12. Chen, Yuan-shan Der-Hwa Victoria Rau Gerald Rau: Email discourse among Chinese using English as a Lingua Franca
  13. Holmes, Prue Fred Dervin: The cultural and intercultural dimensions of English as a Lingua Franca
  14. Hogan-Brun, Gabrielle: Linguanomics. What is the market value of multilingualism?
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