Making meaning of multilingualism at work: from competence to conviviality

in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2022)

The present study contributes to recent renewed interest in the social construction of folk linguistic knowledge and directs its focus to a multilingual workplace. The article reports on an in-depth ... [more ▼]

The present study contributes to recent renewed interest in the social construction of folk linguistic knowledge and directs its focus to a multilingual workplace. The article reports on an in-depth sociolinguistic investigation in a European institution in Luxembourg. Data were collected in 2020-2021 with trainees and permanent staff in a terminology and communication unit. The data collection triangulated qualitative techniques of longitudinal interviewing, reflective drawing, writing reflection, and observation. Analysis of participants’ stances uncovered a varying understanding of what multilingualism means in the workplace, how it changes and to what effect. During reflective participation, the trainees heightened their socio-pragmatic awareness of diversity in the meaning-making process. Moreover, they ceased to construct their personal multilingualism as proof of professional competence and started to see it as the basis of their own well-being, personal self-realisation and growth. As such, they re-coupled the social and linguistic aspect of their language use and aligned their stances with the permanent staff. This study aims to inspire more innovative approaches with a potential direct effect in multilingual workplaces, especially in those welcoming workers from monolingual or otherwise homogenous social environments. [less ▲]

The hierarchy of minority languages in New Zealand

in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2015)

This article makes a case for the existence of a minority language hierarchy in New Zealand. Based on an analysis of language ideologies expressed in recent policy documents and interviews with ... [more ▼]

This article makes a case for the existence of a minority language hierarchy in New Zealand. Based on an analysis of language ideologies expressed in recent policy documents and interviews with policymakers and representatives of minority language communities, it presents the arguments forwarded in support of the promotion of different types of minority languages in New Zealand, as well as the reactions of representatives of other minority language communities to these arguments. The research suggests that the arguments in favour of minority language promotion are most widely accepted for the Māori language, followed by New Zealand Sign Language, then Pacific languages, and finally community languages. While representatives of groups at the lower levels of the hierarchy often accept arguments advanced in relation to languages nearer the top, this is not the case in the other direction. Recognition of connections between the language communities is scarce, with the group representatives tending to present themselves as operating in isolation from one another, rather than working towards common interests. [less ▲]

Promoting a minority language to majority language speakers: television advertising about the Maori language targeting non-Maori New Zealanders

in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (2010), 31(6), 515-529

It has been claimed that the success of minority language policy initiatives may only be achievable if at least some degree of ‘tolerability’ of these initiatives is secured among majority language ... [more ▼]

It has been claimed that the success of minority language policy initiatives may only be achievable if at least some degree of ‘tolerability’ of these initiatives is secured among majority language speakers (May 2000). There has, however, been little consideration in the language planning literature of what practical approaches might be used to influence the attitudes of majority language speakers towards minority languages, that is to ‘plan for tolerability’. This article considers the approach taken in two recent television advertisements that address the attitudes and behaviours of non-Māori New Zealanders towards the Māori language. It begins by examining the discursive approach taken in these advertisements, the attitudinal messages they convey about the Māori language, and the behaviours they propose for non-Māori New Zealanders. The article then discusses the responses of eighty non-Māori viewers of the advertisements, considering the extent to which they perceived the intended messages of the advertisements, and how their responses were influenced by their existing attitudes towards the Māori language. On this basis, the article assesses the potential effectiveness of using language promotion materials as a means of planning for the tolerability of the Māori language among non-Māori New Zealanders. [less ▲]