A case study of a Brazilian newcomer in a Luxembourgish school: understanding the role of Legitimate Peripheral Participation in identity development

in Sociolinguistic Studies (2014), 8(2), 293-313

The aim of this paper is to better comprehend the learning processes contributing to the identity development of a 7-year-old Portuguese-speaking newcomer in a multilingual primary school. Portuguese ... [more ▼]

The aim of this paper is to better comprehend the learning processes contributing to the identity development of a 7-year-old Portuguese-speaking newcomer in a multilingual primary school. Portuguese-speaking students constitute one of the ethnic and linguistic communities most affected by academic failure in Luxembourg. Furthermore, Newly Arrived Migrant Students (NAMS), as defined by the European Commission (2013), constitute a special-needs, understudied and ever-growing group in European schools today. Drawing on the Community of Practice framework applied to educational contexts (Morton, 2012), this research is a sociolinguistic ethnography focusing on educational resources. With an innovative application of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) and educational resources (linguistic, curricular, cultural), this paper contributes to current research on NAMS in multilingual schools. The results drawn to our attention not only the importance of the roles of both the teacher and classmates on the newcomer’s identity development and learning, but also the predisposition of the newcomer to participate and evolve in the new community of learners. [less ▲]

A sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia

in Sociolinguistic Studies (2009), 3(3), 329-355

This paper outlines the sociolinguistic situation in the smallest country of mainland Africa, The Gambia. Very little has been published about the languages and sociolinguistic situation in The Gambia and ... [more ▼]

This paper outlines the sociolinguistic situation in the smallest country of mainland Africa, The Gambia. Very little has been published about the languages and sociolinguistic situation in The Gambia and it was upon discovering this dearth of reliable published sources that led the authors to pool knowledge garnered during independent doctoral research. In this paper we have coupled language shift with a detailed description of the dynamic sociolinguistic profile of The Gambia and trust that it contributes to an understanding of changing ecologies of language in West Africa. Following a portrayal of the indigenous and exogenous languages of The Gambia, with attention to hybrid, overlapping and shifting ethnolinguistic identities, the role of language in several social institutions in a changing society is identified and discussed. The paper culminates in a discussion of linguistic and cultural diversity and appeals for more research in this sociolinguistically unexposed country. [less ▲]