Diversity, superdiversity, and beyond

Adrian BlackledgeMOSAIC Centre for Research on Multilingualism

University of Birmingham

ESRC Seminar Series: Diverse Teachers for Diverse Learners – Research and Perspectives: Bilingualism and Teacher Diversity in Schooling

Superdiversity

Many parts of the world are now characterised by ‘superdiversity’, arising from the differential convergence of factors surrounding patterns of immigration over more than twenty years.

“Fresh and novel ways of understanding and responding to such complex interplays must be fashioned if we are to move beyond the frameworks derived from an earlier, significantly different, social formation”

(Vertovec 2010: 90)

Multilingualism

• Flexible bilingualism (Creese and Blackledge, 2010)• Translanguaging (García, 2009)• Heteroglossia (Bakhtin, 1981; Bailey, 2007)• Truncated multilingualism (Blommaert 2010)• Polylingualism (Jørgensen 2010)• Plurilingualism (Canagarajah, 2009)• Codemeshing (Canagarajah, 2005)• Heterolingualism (Pratt 2010)• Metrolingualism (Pennycook 2010)

Heteroglossia

• language use points to, or ‘indexes’ a certain point of view, ideology, social class, profession, or other social position

• is not about different ‘languages’, but is rather about the social tensions inherent in language

• our speech is filled with the voices of others, as we evaluate, refute, celebrate, and affirm both those voices and the political/ideological positions represented by them

Language and identities

Through repetition, features of discursive behaviour are widely recognised, and acquire values that come to be seen as enduring ‘social facts’ about signs. In such ways identities are produced and reproduced; and in such ways emblematic features of belonging become naturalised (Agha 2007)

Developing pedagogies which reflect practice

What we need is a paradigm shift in language teaching. Pedagogy should

be refashioned to accommodate the modes of communication and

acquisition seen outside the classroom. . . (Canagarajah, 2009:210)

we should put at the centre people as actors who signify differently by

performing different language practices (García 2010:532)

In the twenty-first century we are aware of the linguistic complexity of the

world, in which monolingual schooling seems utterly inappropriate.

Language differences are a resource, and bilingual education in all its

complexity and forms seems to be the only way to educate as the world

moves forward (García, 2009:16)

AHRC/Humanities in the European Research Area(HERA-JRP-CD-FP-051)

Investigating discourses of inheritance and identity in four multilingual European settings

Investigating discourses of inheritance and identity in four multilingual European settings

Copenhagen: Multilingual secondary school

Stockholm: Bilingual Swedish-Spanish school

Bilingual Swedish-Finnish school

Tilburg/Eindhoven: Chinese complementary schools

Birmingham: Panjabi complementary school

Birmingham

Field notes of classroom observation

Audio-recording of students, teachers, teaching assistants

Video-recording of students, teachers, teaching assistants

Interviews with students, teachers, teaching assistants, administrators

Photographs

Documents

Events

Audio-recording of students and teaching assistants in family settings

Simran I’ve never had lower than eighty percent in any test

Komal wait until you get to A Levels I got a U in my Latin test

Simran oh my god

Pavandeep you got a U in what?

Komal I didn’t know any of it and I told her she was like you are gonna have to take it anyway I was like that’s fine, me and someone else

Gurpal you get eighty percent in all these tests don’t you, I bet you can’t play Modern Warfare Two man

Pavandeep huh?

Gurpal bet you she doesn’t know how to play Modern Warfare Two

Pavandeep obviously she doesn’t

Simran [shouts:] just cos, just cos you do

Komal oh oh and that’s the more important of the two isn’t it?

Simran [shouts:] yeah just cos you do good in tests

Komal it doesn’t matter if you can’t get eighty percent in tests as long as you can play Modern Warfare Two

Gurpal being too educated is not good ok

Simran [shouts:] no it helps no it helps

Gurpal listen Des Pardes [Panjabi print newspaper], go to the back page, people are over thirty years old and they can’t get married man

Simran [shouts:] just cos you’re

Pavandeep [laughs]

Simran [shouts:] just cos you’re

Komal just cos you’re not married yet sir

Simran yeah

Pavandeep and

Gurpal I’m twenty three right

Komal [mimicking Gurpal:] twenty three

Komal: sir how (.) you never actually told me properly sir how do you say it?

Gurpal: say what?

Komal: I never actually did any work

Gurpal: why?

Komal: we never actually did any work

Gurpal: mair koi kam nahin kita <I didn’t do any work>

Komal: mair <I>

Sahib: what’s never?

Gurpal: never?

Komal: [sings:] never say never

Sahib: I know it’s numquam

Komal: yeah umquam is ever numquam is never never ever (1) [to Gurpal:] Latin

Sahib: I don’t know how to say never though

Prabhjot: kabhi nahin <never>

Komal: it’s not Hindi

Prabhjot: Hindi Hindi word but I just use it as Panjabi as well

Komal: my mum does that as well

Prabhjot: a dramatic word to say

Komal: [dramatically:] kabhi nahin kabhi nahin nahin <never never no>

Sahib: Star Plus

Komal: yeah

Sahib: Star Plus

Komal: [in a stylised Indian accent:] Star Plus you know

Prabhjot: what you watchin’? [trailer for the film West is West is playing in the background]

Shivani: West is West

Prabhjot: we should watch that

Shivani: West is West? I’m not (.) yeah

Prabhjot: but you have to watch East is East first

Shivani: I haven’t seen East is East

Sushil: my mum and dad have

Prabhjot: it was on the other day [coughs] It was on More4

Shivani: well I’m sorry if my Sky dish has

Prabhjot: well only today it went off

Shivani: [laughs:] well what’s East is East about?

Sushil: him when he’s little

Prabhjot: it’s about Sajid when he was a kid

Shivani: who’s Sajid?

Prabhjot: Sajid’s a boy

Shivani: ha my supervisor’s name’s Sajid ha sorry

Prabhjot: no and it’s about how erm the dad’s like a control freak and he wants em to be more Asian but they’re not they’re like typical

Shivani: Westerners?

Prabhjot: typical Angrezi <English people>

Shivani: typical Angrezi

Sushil: [shouts:] Sajid’s getting married

Prabhjot: oh that’s why they’re in Pakistan? [coughs:] I thought cos he’s [the father] getting married

Shivani: is this basically a follow up from East is East?

Prabhjot: yeah

Shivani: ah crap I need to

Prabhjot: it’s like in twenty how many years time? I think after ten years

Shivani: when was East is East made?

Prabhjot: 1999 or 2000 (3) the dad looks really old now (.) Om Puri

Shivani: [laughs]

Prabhjot: no in the old one they had he’s old obviously old cos made in 1960 something supposedly so the old Bollywood songs, should hear mom sing along to em (5) He’s like a dirty git though this is like a dirty film

Shivani: I think that’s probably why I didn’t watch it before , cos my mum and dad were like she can’t watch it

Prabhjot: yeah but my parents have let us watch it’s not super dirty they’ve like

Shivani: I wasn’t into all this though

Prabhjot: now you are?

Shivani: it looks funny

Prabhjot: you were more like a gori <white girl> back in the day though

Shivani: huh?

Prabhjot: you you were more like a gori back in the day

Shivani: still am to be honest

Sushil: shall I show you the trailer?

Prabhjot: it’s only now

Shivani: it’s only when I hang around with you lot I don’t

Sushil: look East is East this is the trailer

Shivani: when I’m in uni the other side comes out

Prabhjot: she’s like a typical gori

Shivani: and when I’m at work it’s just mixture

Gopinder: Selena Gomez got punched, like, she was coming out of (xxx)

Prabhjot: they aren’t a good influence on kids

Pavandeep: why? why?

Komal: cos they were jealous it was like a massive Justin Bieber party (.)I’m sorry, but they are such a cute couple, their babies are going to be so fit

Gopinder: yeah, and they got in the car and she like broke down crying in his arms

Prabhjot: all gunday <dirty> Hannah Montana, I would never let my kid watch that

Gopinder: why?

Prabhjot: have you seen how rude that girl is? [Sahib laughs] what was she doing at that awards ceremony?

Komal: in front of the queen, in front of the Queen she was wearing hot pants and pole dancing, sorry but no, you don’t do that in front of the Queen

Gopinder: yeah, Demi Lovato was like self-harming and erm

Prabhjot: and she takes drugs, that woman does

Guvraj: Demi Lovato had to go to rehab

Prabhjot: there you go

Komal: I don’t like Demi Lovato [stylised African American accent:] she ugly

Gopinder: they’re all pretty

Komal: I don’t think Demi’s pretty

Sahib: Disney Channel’s racist as well, only goray <white people> on there, and a few kaalay <black people>

Gopinder: have you seen ‘How to be Indie’?

Sahib: yeah they act goray <like white people> as well. Actually there’s an episode when they made jalebi <sweet snack> at home, the mum’s funny, and the baba <grandfather>, he’s got this remedy or something

Prabhjot: and they take, and they take the mick out of us Indians there

Sahib: in America

Komal: Americans

Gopinder: it’s not very Indian at all, they don’t do anything Indian, it’s just her name is Indie

Sahib: no, the mum’s Indian, when like, when she has to do that dance

Guvraj: it’s not actually Indian

Gurpal: you went to the kitabghar <library> as well

Komal: did you?

Sahib: I didn’t go

Gurpal: whatever, man

Sahib: I didn’t, I swear I didn’t

Komal: I went, I went three times

Sahib: [shouts:] I went to the gurdwara <Sikh temple> three days in a row

Komal: did you have an Akhand Paath? <48- hour continuous prayer>

Sahib: and then I got constipation (xxx) days

Komal: [loud, mock-offence] dude, dude

Sahib: [laughs]

Komal: I don’t want to know about this

Sahib: the rotiyaan <chapattis> are hard as rock, I’m not even joking

Komal: did you not make them?

Gurpal: listen

Sahib: no, at the gurdwara

Gurpal: don’t bad mouth the roti in the gurdwara, those rotiyaan are for people who don’t get roti

Sahib: yeah, seva <selfless service>

Sahib: no, cos they’re usually, they’re usually dank, they’re usually dank, they’re usually dank

Komal: I love the gurdwara food, to be fair

Gurpal: there you go

Sahib: no I do like it, it was just that weekend I think, it was cos my thyee <father’s older brother’s wife> was cooking

Gurpal: ok what’s a mustachio?

Komal: a moustache

Gurpal: moonsh <moustache>

Gopinder: mooch mooch is a

Komal: oh moonsh <moustache>

Gurpal [laughs]

Komal: moonsh moustache a mustachio what’s a mustachio?

Gurpal: [to Gopinder:] not a pistachio

Gopinder: I didn’t say mus

Gurpal: mustachio

Komal: mustach

Gurpal: [laughs:] mustachio

Gopinder: what is it?

Komal: what language

Gopinder: can you explain in English? no that’s moochaa <moustache>

Gurpal: mustachio

Gopinder: is that what Indian people say? No-one says mustachio

Gurpal: mustachio

Komal: [laughs:] right

Gurpal: you’ve learnt a new word we’ll start using mustachio from now on

Gopinder: I said it do you say moochaa <moustache> or

Komal: yeah I thought it was moochaa <moustache>

Gopinder: I say mooch for English

Gurpal: homework, where’s your mustachio man

Gopinder: that sounds like Michelin Man that joke

Komal: right maybe he just can’t read

Heteroglossia as pedagogy and practice

• beyond ‘which language is in use’, we can ask what signs are in use and action, what do these signs point to, what are the tensions and conflicts among those signs, and how are voices represented in them

• a multilingual approach does not in itself guarantee critical engagement with localities, histories and identities

• a heteroglossic orientation to language teaching incorporates multilingualism, and goes beyond it, to ensure that teachers can bring into play voices which index students’ localities, social histories, circumstances, and identities (Bailey 2012)