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Monday 9 December, 2019
Monday 9 December, 2019
University of Jyväskylä
University of Jyväskylä
This roundtable seminar brings together researchers from across Europe to discuss ideological valorisation of language in a range of contexts - international orientation towards particular national varieties; within nations the elevation of 'standard' forms; ideologies within government language policy; and people's everyday attitudinal tussles between contemporary shibboleths. Languages covered include Dutch, English, Welsh, and Indonesian Sign Language. Methodologies include textual policy analysis, attitude surveys, ethnography, and systematic review.
The purpose is to share insights from different linguistic contexts, where dialogue is lacking; and to provide inspiration for interlingual and mixed-methods research.
We are very grateful to the Research Collegium for Language in Changing Society at the University of Jyväskylä for sponsoring this event.
A video of the entire event is below (click 'cc' at the bottom of the video for automatically generated subtitles, mostly accurate!).
A video of the entire event is below (click 'cc' at the bottom of the video for automatically generated subtitles, mostly accurate!).
If you want to skip to a particular speaker, there are time-specific links in each section further down the page.
If you want to skip to a particular speaker, there are time-specific links in each section further down the page.
Click 'cc' at the bottom of the video for automatically generated subtitles.
Click 'cc' at the bottom of the video for automatically generated subtitles.
Speakers (and their slides and videos)
Speakers (and their slides and videos)
Making sense of "Bad English"
Making sense of "Bad English"
Author of the newly published Routledge monograph Making Sense of "Bad English": An introduction to language attitudes and ideologies, Elizabeth’s research also encompasses the study of linguistic politeness in English and Finnish, in the USA and in Finland. Elizabeth will speak about contemporary ideologies of correctness in English as a foreign language.
Suggested further reading
- Lippi-Green, R. 2012. English with an accent: language, ideology and discrimination in the United States (2nd ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Garrett, P. 2010. Attitudes to Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Milroy, J. & L. Milroy. 1999. Authority in language: investigating standard English (3rd ed.). Abingdon: Routledge.
- Peterson, E. 2019. Making sense of “bad English”: an introduction to language attitudes and ideologies. Abingdon: Routledge.
Sign language on a pedestal?
Sign language on a pedestal?
Nick is a sign language sociolinguist, and much of his research focuses on Indonesian Sign Language. Despite some important differences, there are interesting parallels in language ideologies for spoken and signed languages in Indonesia, covering issues such as standardisation and naming practices, correctness and prescriptivism. The inclusion of insights from research on sign languages is a particular strength and unique feature of the workshop.
Nick will attend with a sign language interpreter who will use British Sign Language. In addition, we are currently looking into Finnish Sign Language interpreting for the event.
Suggested further reading
- Palfreyman, Nick (2019). Variation in Indonesian Sign Language. A Typological and Sociolinguistic Analysis. Lancaster: Ishara Press and Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.
- De Meulder, Maartje, A. Kusters, E. Moriarty & J.J. Murray (2019). Describe, don’t prescribe. The practice and politics of translanguaging inthe context of deaf signers. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 40(10): 892-906.
- Eichmann, Hanna (2009). Planning sign languages: promoting hearing hegemony? Conceptualizing sign language standardization. Current Issues in Language Planning 10(3): 293-307.
- Kusters, Annelies (2014). Language ideologies in the shared signing community of Adamorobe. Language in Society 43(2): 139-158.
Exploring the enigma of Welsh language policy (or, Why content analysis matters!)
Exploring the enigma of Welsh language policy (or, Why content analysis matters!)
Dave’s research foci include language ideology in minority language contexts, with an empirical focus on Welsh. Dave will share insights on recent language policies published by the Welsh Government, and how these reflect ideological orientations towards the Welsh language. A key question is the way the language itself is held up as an independent priority, separate from the wellbeing of people in Wales. This speaks to the theme of the workshop by showing how this language is normatively highlighted.
Suggested further reading
- De Schutter, Helder. 2007. Language policy and political philosophy: On the emerging linguistic justice debate. Language Problems and Language Planning 31(1): 1–23.
- Fevre, R. et al. 1997. Class, status and party in the analysis of nationalism: lessons from Max Weber. Nations & Nationalism 3(4): 559-577.
- Selleck, Charlotte (2013). Inclusive policy and exclusionary practice in secondary education in Wales. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 16(1): 20-41.
- Sen, Amartya. 2004. Rationality and Freedom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
The pedestal and the paradox: Why do we cherish a variety we don’t speak and hate the variety we all speak?
The pedestal and the paradox: Why do we cherish a variety we don’t speak and hate the variety we all speak?
Stefan’s research focuses on (mostly experimental) methods to investigate the prestige and ideology factors which determine the ongoing de- and re-standardisation of Belgian and Netherlandic Dutch. In the round table, Stefan reports the findings from a computationally enhanced survey tool to cast new light on the very different status and ideological embedding of the “best language” in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Suggested further reading
- Grondelaers, S., R. van. Hout & P. van Gent (2016). Destandardization is not destandardization. Revising standardness criteria in order to revisit standard language typologies in the Low Countries. Taal & Tongval 68: 119-149.
- Grondelaers, S,. D. Speelman, C. Lybaert & P. van Gent (in press). Getting a (big) data-based grip on ideological change. Evidence from Belgian Dutch. Journal of Linguistic Geography.
- Kristiansen, T. (2009). The macro-level social meanings of late-modern Danish accents. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 41: 167-192.
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