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Chronotopic translanguaging and the mobile languaging subject: insights from an Algerian academic sojourner in the UK

  • Hadjer Taibi

    Hadjer Taibi is a doctoral researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University. She researches sociolinguistics of globalisation, post-humanism, and translanguaging.

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    and Khawla Badwan

    Khawla Badwan is senior lecturer in TESOL and Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University. She researches language in place, language and social justice, sociolinguistics of mobility and language policy.

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Published/Copyright: November 25, 2021

Abstract

This study discusses the impact of spatial, temporal and virtual mobility on how mobile individuals talk about language in their world, and how they use language offline and online to communicate over time and across space. We introduce the notion of chronotopic translanguaging to highlight the significance of merging time and place in sociolinguistics. Doing so, we present a rather stretched understanding of time to include references to real time, online compressed time, linguistic ideologies and practices carried over time and challenged in recent times, as well as understanding time as an ecological factor. We interviewed Ekram, an Algerian academic sojourner, and observed her Facebook profile before and after coming to the UK. Our findings suggest that the networked lives of the participant beget fluid translanguaging practices that are constantly (re)negotiated depending to the ecology of interaction. Through entering and existing multiple time-space frames, Ekram found herself reunited with communicative repertoires she has not used for years. She also developed new relationships with other repertoires. This study concludes by emphasising the usefulness of chronotopic translanguaging as a conceptual tool that permits, and accounts for, the time-place influence on how mobile individuals deploy their communicative repertoires.


Corresponding author: Khawla Badwan, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK, E-mail:

About the authors

Hadjer Taibi

Hadjer Taibi is a doctoral researcher at Manchester Metropolitan University. She researches sociolinguistics of globalisation, post-humanism, and translanguaging.

Khawla Badwan

Khawla Badwan is senior lecturer in TESOL and Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University. She researches language in place, language and social justice, sociolinguistics of mobility and language policy.

Appendix

Translations of the posts

Figure 1: Praise to Allah. Finally and after great efforts and support from my family and teachers and friends, and with the grace of Allah firstly and lastly my dream came true to study abroad and I obtained the scholarship I always dreamed of so now I can only thank everyone who was the reason for my success from near or far, each in their name (here the feminists hahaha) and thanks to Allah first and last.

Figure 2: Thanks to Allah, praise be to Allah I won today at the culture night Kahoot which was about Amazigh culture and history, at the University of Manchester. Damn I’m cool just so you’d know, I did not plan to go to the event, I even forgot it was tonight if it wasn’t for my friends who reminded me, and I did not even have a connection in my phone (I thank [name omitted] for sharing). I guess what I am trying to say is when Allah plans something for you, you will have it no matter what, so have faith and 1 2 3 viva Algeria.

Figure 3: We are here.

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Received: 2021-10-13
Accepted: 2021-11-05
Published Online: 2021-11-25
Published in Print: 2022-05-25

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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