Medium request: Talking language shift into being
01 Jan 2009-
TL;DR: The article describes the practice as a specific type of language/medium negotiation, examines its various strategies, and shows how, through this interactional practice, members of the community actually talk language shift into being.
Abstract: In his landmark contribution to the field of language shift/maintenance, Fishman maintains that, for language shift to be reversed, “face-to-face, small-scale social life must be pursued in their own right and focused upon directly.” This article responds to this call to examine language shift at the level of face-to-face interaction. It describes a specific interactional practice, referred to as “medium request,” observed in the Rwandan community in Belgium, where language shift is taking place from Kinyarwanda-French bilingualism to French monolingualism. The practice consists in the fact that younger members of the community, when in interaction with adult members, constantly (albeit indirectly) request the latter to “medium-switch” from Kinyarwanda to French. The article therefore describes the practice as a specific type of language/medium negotiation, examines its various strategies, and shows how, through this interactional practice, members of the community actually talk language shift into being. (Medium request, language shift, language maintenance, language/medium negotiation, other-initiated medium repair, embedded medium repair, generalized content repair, targeted content repair, understanding check)
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TL;DR: Fishman and Clevedon as discussed by the authors proposed the Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages, which is the foundation of our work.
Abstract: Reversing Language Shift: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Joshua A. Fishman. Multilingual Matters, 76. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 1991. 431 pp.
861 citations
534 citations
TL;DR: Zentella as discussed by the authors described growing up bilingual in New York as a "growing up Bilingual" child in a bilingual family, and used it in her book Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in Manhattan.
Abstract: Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in New York. Ana Celia Zentella. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.323 pp.
400 citations
TL;DR: Kulick et al. as mentioned in this paper discuss socialization, self-and syncretism in Papua New Guinean village and study the social and cultural foundations of language shift and cultural reproduction.
Abstract: Language Shift and Cultural Reproduction: Socialization, Self, and Syncretism in. Papua New Guinean Village. Don Kulick. Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language, 14. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992. 317 pp.
202 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present some of the ways that have been developed for dealing with closings in conversation, and they make an attempt to specify the domain for which the closing problems as they have been posed seem apposite.
Abstract: : The paper presents some of the ways that have been developed for dealing with closings in conversation. Earlier work on conversation formulations of several problems that have been employed to cut into aspects of the data. One may derive an initial problem from a consideration of the most basic features of conversation that are now known of. A partial solution is developed. Problematic aspects of that solution lead to the derivation of another problem which permits the further illumination of the data about closings. After relating the two problems, the paper closes with an attempt to specify the domain for which the closing problems, as they have been posed seem apposite. (Author)
3,831 citations
"Medium request: Talking language sh..." refers methods in this paper
...I can see an arm’ In line 1, B produces a FIRST-PAIR PART (Schegloff & Sacks 1973) using KINYARWANDA-FOR-ALL-PRACTICAL-PURPOSES (Gafaranga 1998)....
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Book•
01 Jan 1986TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a survey of the sociolinguistics and the Sociology of Language Methodological Concerns in the context of Pidgin to Creole and beyond.
Abstract: Preface. Acknowledgements. 1. Introduction Knowledge of Language Variation Language and Society Sociolinguistics and the Sociology of Language Methodological Concerns Overview Further Reading Part I: Languages and Communities: 2. Languages, Dialects, and Varieties Language or Dialect? Standardization Regional Dialects Social Dialects Styles, Registers, and Beliefs Further Reading 3. Pidgins and Creoles Lingua Francas Definitions Distribution and Characteristics Origins From Pidgin to Creole and Beyond Further Reading 4. Codes Diglossia Bilingualism and Multilingualism Code-Switching Accommodation Further Reading 5. Speech Communities Definitions Intersecting Communities Networks and Repertoires Further Reading Part II: Inherent Variety: 6. Language Variation Regional Variation The Linguistic Variable Social Variation Data Collection and Analysis Further Reading 7. Some Findings and Issues An Early Study New York City Norwich and Reading A Variety of Studies Belfast Controversies Further Reading 8. Change The Traditional View Some Changes in Progress The Process of Change Further Reading Part III: Words at Work: 9. Words and Culture Whorf Kinship Taxonomies Color Prototypes Taboo and Euphemism Further Reading 10. Ethnographies Varieties of Talk The Ethnography of Speaking Ethnomethodology Further Reading 11. Solidarity and Politeness Tu and Vous Address Terms Politeness Further Reading 12. Talk and Action Speech Acts Cooperation Conversation Further Reading Part IV: Understanding and Intervening: 13. Gender Differences Possible Explanations Further Reading 14. Disadvantage Codes Again African American English Consequences for Education Further Reading 15. Planning Issues A Variety of Situations Further Examples Winners and Losers Further Reading 16. Conclusion References Index
2,182 citations
TL;DR: Bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective, by Ofelia Garcia with contributions by Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, Oxford, UK, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, 496 pp., US$99.95 (hardback), ISBN...
Abstract: Bilingual education in the 21st century: a global perspective, by Ofelia Garcia with contributions by Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, Oxford, UK, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, 496 pp., US$99.95 (hardback), ISBN ...
1,048 citations
Book•
06 May 1997
TL;DR: In this article, Teun A van Dijk et al. discuss the importance of discourse as interaction in society and discuss the role of gender in discourse, ethnicity, culture and race.
Abstract: Discourse as Interaction in Society - Teun A van Dijk Discourse Pragmatics - Shoshana Blum-Kulka Conversation Analysis - Anita Pomerantz and B J Fehr Institutional Dialogue - Paul Drew and Marja-Leena Soronjen Gender in Discourse - Cheris Kramarae, Candace West and Michelle Lazar Discourse, Ethnicity, Culture and Racism - Teun A van Dijk et al Organizational Discourse - Dennis Mumby and Robin Clair Discourse and Politics - Paul Chilton and Christina Sch[um]affner Discourse and Culture - Anna Wierzbicka and Cliff Goddard Critical Discourse Analysis - Norman Fairclough and Ruth Wodak Applied Discourse Analysis - Britt-Louise Gunnarsson
989 citations
TL;DR: Gumperz as discussed by the authors discusses the relationship between language and the communication of social identity in the context of committee negotiations and the use of yes-no questions in the course of a conversation.
Abstract: Preface A note on conventions 1. Introduction: language and the communication of social identity John J. Gumperz and Jenny Cook-Gumperz 2. Thematic structure and progression in discourse John J. Gumperz, Gurinder Aulakh and Hannah Kaltman 3. Discovering connections Arpita Mishra 4. Inscrutability revisited Linda Wai Ling Young 5. Negotiating interpretations in interethnic settings Mark Hansell and Cheryl Seabrook Ajirotutu 6. Strategies and counterstrategies in the use of yes-no questions in discourse Adrian Bennett 7. Negotiations of language choice in Montreal Monica S. Heller 8. Performance and ethnic style in job interviews F. Niyi Akinnaso and Cheryl Seabrook Ajirotutu 9. Interethnic communication in committee negotiations John J. Gumperz and Jenny Cook-Gumperz 10. Fact and inference in courtroom testimony John J. Gumperz 11. A cultural approach to male-female miscommunication Daniel N. Maltz and Ruth A. Borker 12. Ethnic style in male-female conversation Deborah Tannen 13. Language and disadvanage: the hidden process T. C. Jupp, Celia Roberts and Jenny Cook-Gumperz Bibliography Subject index Author index.
980 citations