Volume 2021, Issue 269 - Special Issue: Changing Faces of Transnational Communities in Britain; Issue Editors: Xiao Lan Curdt-Christiansen, Zhu Hua and Li Wei

In this editorial introduction, we outline the key conceptualisations and overarching questions of this collection of studies on the changing faces of the transnational communities in Britain. Using the nexus of migration and language as our critical lens, we examine the internal diversities within the transnational communities in Britain, evident in the emergence of groups differing on migration trajectories, social and educational backgrounds, linguistic repertories and status assigned to community languages. We also explore how language shapes, and is shaped by, these internal diversities and wider socio-cultural-political dynamics and pay particular attention to the multilingual and translanguaging practices in these communities. We demonstrate how these communities function as sites for contestation of language and identity that can be conflictual as well as a source of othering. The introduction concludes with an outline of the contributions made by the studies in this special issue, highlighting the key claims put forward by the contributors.

The Somali community in Britain has been portrayed as largely homogenous and rather problematic, unwilling to integrate into mainstream British society, a perception that is reinforced by the media and government policies. The government policies tend to ignore the internal diversity and change that the community is experiencing. Drawing on data from a family language policy project, this paper aims to explore intergenerational changes in language preference and use and associated issues of identity within the Somali community in Britain. We look at how the changes in language preference and practice manifest themselves through reported language use and language policies at home, how the changes are affecting the British Somali youths in particular, and how ideas of Somaliness and Britishness are negotiated on an individual level, as well as on a community-wide level through Somali-led organisations. And we highlight the work that the community is doing to tackle issues of intergenerational language shift and Somali identity building. The study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the struggles of the Somali community in Britain in dealing with diversity and change, an understanding that is crucial to the development of appropriate policies regarding the community.

In this study we explore the ongoing social changes and internal differences within the Chinese communities in Britain with regard to language practices, ethnic and cultural affiliations, and intra-community communications. Drawing on the notions of “pride” and “profit”, we report on how migratory experiences influence the linguistic practices of the Chinese communities. We argue that “pride” and “profit”, as manifested in language practices, are rooted in “prejudice”, a consequence of linguistic hierarchies related to broader socio-historical and socio-political systems. Data sources include ethnographic interviews with 15 stakeholders from three community pillars. The data analysis shows three major differences and changes within the communities: the multi-layered make-up of the Chinese communities whose members come from different countries and regions; the replacement of Cantonese with Putonghua as the communities’ lingua franca; and the increasing visibility of the Chinese communities in mainstream society. The findings suggest that social changes and language practices are associated with the social meanings of belonging, affiliation and reality, involving a form of symbolic struggle filled with “prejudice”. The study emphasises that “pride” and “profit” can make visible and explicit the sources of social inequality that tend to be concealed by neoliberal ideologies and discourses.

This article examines the tension between multilingual reality of migrant life and monoglot standard ideology in Polish grassroots organisations in the UK. Drawing on linguistic ethnographic fieldwork from 2017 to 2019, we show that while flexible multilingual practices characterise the community’s multilingual reality, a preference for monolingual standard Polish exists in community activities and online profiles. We argue that, through common orientation to the denotational code and national identity, the organisations give preference to language rather than the speech community of the immediate surroundings and attempt to create a representation of a timeless unified Polish community in line with the static framework of the European nation-state that promotes linguistic, cultural and racial purity. While advocating sedentary, permanent and classed images of migration and integration into British society, the organisations marginalise uses of other language varieties and erase observed historical, class and regional differences within the community.

An estimated 65,000 Greek citizens migrated to the UK in 2010–2016, many of whom with the prospects of long-term settlement and with a view to provide better socioeconomic and educational opportunities to their children. Their arrival was felt across many sections of life both within and beyond the country’s pre-existing Greek-speaking communities. In this article, I present findings on how the arrival of Greek pupils, parents and qualified teachers diversified Greek complementary schools, which were previously run primarily by and for the Greek Cypriot community, and on the critical role language played in the process. Drawing on data from a set of semi-structured interviews with teachers and placing my investigation against the historical backdrop of migration from Greece and Cyprus to the UK, I show how teachers portrayed post-2010 migration as a much needed, albeit not always welcome, boost in ethnocultural vitality; how it helped to perpetuate the hierarchisation of standardised and non-standardised varieties of Greek and the stigmatisation of the multilingual and multidialectal repertoires of people with a Greek Cypriot background; and, how it put a strain on the ties that have historically brought the Greek and Greek Cypriot communities together in the context of the UK diaspora.

This article uses the “communicative repertoire” conceptual framework to investigate the evolving linguistic practices in the Sri Lankan Tamil (SLT) diaspora, looking specifically at how changing mobility patterns have had an influence on heritage language use. Drawing on fieldwork undertaken with 42 participants of diverse migration trajectories in London, the study finds that onward migration has important implications for Tamil language maintenance and use in the UK, and for the introduction of European languages into the community. It argues that Tamil practices can only be fully understood if we consider them within the context of participants' communicative repertoires. Further, the definition of Tamil needs to be expanded to include different varieties, registers and styles that have been shaped by onward migration. As the trend of multiple migrations is becoming increasingly common in globalization processes, studying the recent change in SLT migratory patterns is also crucial to gaining insight into the diversities and transnational links that exist within and across diaspora communities respectively.

This paper reports on a study of the language ideologies and practices of the post-2008 crisis Italian migrants in London. It explores how the traditional idea of a national migrant community is challenged by these practices. While the Italian post-2008 crisis migration continues a long tradition and has captured the attention of the media, it is understudied from a sociolinguistic point of view. Using a qualitative research approach, two sets of data were collected: recordings of social interactions in spontaneously organised gatherings, and interviews with 15 post-crisis migrants. The data show the multilingual practices of post-2008 migrants and their attitudes towards these practices. Participants recognise translanguaging as the main practice defining the community language. This seems to contrast with the disavowal of their national migrant community. They refuse to engage with traditional community sociocultural practices, challenge their membership of the Italian community in London and, in some cases, even deny the existence of the community by highlighting the internal diversity that characterises this group. Nevertheless, although the participants refuse to be seen as members of a national community, they describe their engagement with translanguaging as a community practice that determines their belonging to a migratory group. The paper argues that, through the practice of translanguaging, migrants negotiate and shape their migratory identities, and reflect on the concept of the community and its dynamics.

The number of Lebanese immigrants in the UK has dramatically increased in recent years, motivated by socio-political and economic pressures and in pursuit of academic excellence. This is one of the first studies to explore the attitudes of Lebanese parents and British-Lebanese children towards Arabic (Lebanese Arabic [LA] and Modern Standard Arabic [MSA]) in the UK. The data were collected from semi-structured interviews with 24 parents and 15 children, participant observation and field notes. Results indicate that Lebanese parents and children believe that HL maintenance can foster a sense of Lebaneseness, and help children access the highly valued socio-cultural significance of LA. MSA is regarded in high esteem, but Muslim children appreciate MSA more for its “pride” value than for instrumental “profit” purposes. This illustrates that the notions of “pride” and “profit” are not clear-cut in a linguistic market where multilingualism is undervalued and European foreign languages outweigh Arabic varieties, even MSA despite its global significance. For HL speakers, the “pride” value of the HL in family, culture and religion may outweigh both profit incentives and hegemonic language ideologies.

In the context of multilingualism, there is still a dearth of research on the language practices of individuals and the social factors that explain their linguistic behaviour, particularly in the Singapore context. This article discusses the dynamics underlying a particular feature of vernacular Singapore speech – language mixing – and how such mixing practices form part of the social identity of the interactions between speakers in their respective social networks. The approach to this current study was adapted from Milroy’s research on social networks (Milroy, Lesley. 1989 [1980]. Language and social networks , 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell.) in order to provide access to subjects’ most natural use of languages – that is, their “vernacular” in the Labovian sense. This study investigates various aspects of the multilingual language practices of students in Singapore and reports on the social motivations and the social contexts of language mixing in the personal lives of these speakers in the context of other languages and language varieties.

This study generally looks at indigenization in languages historically introduced and promoted by colonial regimes. The case study that it presents involves Namibia, a Subsaharan African country formerly administered by South Africa, where Afrikaans was the dominant official language before being replaced by English upon independence. Afrikaans in Namibia still functions as an informal urban lingua franca while being spoken as a native language by substantial White and Coloured minorities. To what extent does the downranking of Afrikaans in Namibia co-occur with divergence from standard models historically located in South Africa? To answer this question, the study identifies variation patterns in Namibian Afrikaans phonetic data elicited from ethnically diverse young urban informants and links these patterns with perceptions and language ideologies. The phonetic data reveal divergence between Whites and Non-Whites and some convergence among Black L2 Afrikaans-speakers with Coloured varieties, while suggesting that a distinctive Black variety is emerging. The observed trends generally reflect perceived ethnoracial distinctions and segregation. They must be read against the background of shifting inter-group power relations and sociolinguistic prestige norms in independent Namibia, as well as of emergent ethnically inclusive Black urban identities.