CCGL9038

English as a global language in Asian contexts Lecture 4 English in mul<lingual contexts

The University of Hong Kong ~ Common Core Curriculum ~ Global Issues

Semester I, 2017/18
hFps://www.dropbox.com/s/F9j2od5dzoejrj/Mul<lingual
%20Hong%20Kong%20Episode%201%20-%20Present
%20Yat1%20Go3%20Project%20%282005%29.avi?dl=0

Opening (0:00-1:00)
Discuss with neighbour: How do you say?
Back to documentary ( ~10:29)

There is a restructured variety, the result of close contact with local

languages, such as Singlish in Singapore, which is usually ocially Tradi<onal -- more structural -- deni<ons of:
disinherited, but is ocen the variety that is (a) a dominant language for
many, (b) a variety that is widely used, (c) a variety that is an important Alterna(onal code switching [=inter-senten<al]:
iden<ty marker for its speakers.
Some<mes Ill start a sentence in English y termin i Espaol.
There are plurilingual prac<ces, Some<mes Ill start a sentence in English and nish in Spanish.
which in one incarna<on are viewed as a glocalised linguis<c prac<ce in
(Poplack 1980)
which Standard English and more localised features are used in a uid mix; &
which in another incarna<on comprises a monolectal code switching prac<ce
of English and the other local language(s), e.g. Mandarin and Hokkien in Inser(onal code switching/ code mixing [=intra-senten<al]:
Singapore, or Cantonese in Hong Kong, which is a code which is used as a
intracommunal medium. Yo anduve in a state of shock pa dos dias.
(Lim 2009) I walked in a state of shock for two days.

Reading for lecture:
Lim, Lisa and Umberto Ansaldo. 2016. Languages in Contact. CUP. Chap 2.

Dr Lisa Lim, 27 Sep 2017 1

CCGL9038 English as a global language in Asian contexts Lecture 4 English in mul<lingual contexts

Markedness model of conversa<onal code-switching: Code switching as

1. a series of unmarked choices,
Speakers language choices are predictable based on a set of 2. as an exploratory choice,
indicators that are associated with each of the languages in their 3. as a marked choice, and
repertoire, 4. code switching itself as an unmarked choice.
on the assump<on that in every mul<lingual community there are
unmarked and marked language choices, (Based on research in In Nairobi, Kenya; Myers-ScoFon 1993)
where the language used is one that would be expected or
unexpected, respec<vely, in that par<cular context.
(Myers-ScoFon 1993)

Luyia passenger using Luyia to busconductor

(3) Code switching as marked choice (on a bus, Swahili would be default)

(1) Code switching as series of unmarked choices 1. L: [Holding out his hand with some money in it, speaking quite loudly, self-consciously]
Mwana weru, vugula khasimoni khonyene.
Take only cy cents, dear brother
A visitor to a company and the security guard speak ini<ally in Swahili, [Other passengers laugh]
the usual language for such interac<ons between strangers. But then 2. C: [Also just laughs]
the guard, followed by the visitor, switches to their joint ethnic language 3. L: Shuli mwana weru mbaa?
Luyia when they discover that they come from the same ethnic group, Arent you a brother?
with the code choice indexing their common iden<ty and marking their 4. C: Apana. Mimi si ndugu wako. Kama ungekuwa ndugu wangu ningekujua, ningekujua kwa
rela<onship as one between ethnic brethren rather than strangers. jina. Lakini sasa sikujui wala sikufahamu.
No, Im not your brother. If you were my brother, I would know you. I would know you
by name. But now I dont know you nor do I understand you.
5. L: Nisaidie, tu, Bwana. Maisha ya Nairobi imenishinda kwa sababu bei ya kila kitu
(2) Code switching as an exploratory choice imeongezwa. Mimi ninakeM Kariobangi, pahali ninapolipa pesa nyingi sana kwa nauli ya

basi.
A local businessman meets up with a former classmate, now a university Just help me, mister. The life of Nairobi has defeated me because the price of
student who is home for a visit. Uncertain how to relate to his former everything has gone up. I live in Kariobangi, a place to which I pay much money for the
classmate, he tries English, a marked choice to be used in a local bar, as bus fare.
well as some Kikuyu and Swahili, either or both of which could be the 6. C: [Taking some money out of the Luyia mans outstretched hand]
unmarked choice. He ends up using English inappropriately and more Nimechukua peni nane pekee yake.
frequently than his former classmate who, as a university student, I have taken 80 cents alone.
would actually have more familiarity with the language. 7. L: Thank you very much. Nimeshkuru sana kwa huruma ya ngugu wangu.
Thank you very much for the pity of this one, my brother.

Dr Lisa Lim, 27 Sep 2017 2

CCGL9038 English as a global language in Asian contexts Lecture 4 English in mul<lingual contexts

(4) Code switching as unmarked choice Taita & Luyia speakers in Nairobi,
Kenya, using Swahili and English
T: Ukisha ikanyaganganga hivi pedals, unasikia air umeshakishwa. Sasa
unashangaa kama ni bike au ni ma-ghosts.
When you step on the pedals you hear the air coming out. Now you wonder
whether its the bike or the ghosts [that do that]. monolectal code switching (Meeuwis and Blommaert 1998) on
Lingala-French code used by Zaireans in Belgium
L: Wewe pia una-believe habari ya ma-ghosts kumbe?
You also believe about ghosts?
fused lect (Auer 1999): to denote a combina<on of structures from

T: Ah, ghost, lazima una-believe, usiku unaona something kama bones na
dierent language sources which no longer has any par<cular
inatembea on the road. conversa<on-structuring func<on, but instead is meaningful as a
Ah, ghost, you have to believe [when] at night you see something like bones wholesale token of group iden<ty and mode of conversa<on
and its walking on the road.
It is this last paFern of unmarked code switching that is perhaps
L: Kulikuwa na table long namna hii, maze, imejaa tu chakula ya kila aina most signicant in mul<lingual communi<es. This is when language
Nilikwenda pale nikaangalia, nikapata chakula nyingine iko grey, nika-i-taste alterna(on itself cons<tutes a default op<on that is meaningful as a
nikaona ina taste lousy sana. signal of shared, mul<lingual iden<ty. (Lim and Ansaldo 2016)
There was a long table like this, my friend, full of food of every kind I went
there and looked and I got another kind of food [that was] grey, and I tasted it
and I thought it had a very lousy taste.

Mixed code as the usual, dis(nc(ve linguis(c mode

Mixed code of English and Cantonese in 2nd-genera<on bilinguals, e.g.

1. Prociency in languages is not conceptualised individually, with younger genera<on Bri<sh-born Chinese, in north England, originally
separate competencies developed for each language. What is from Ap Chau, HK (Li Wei 1998)
emphasised is the repertoire the way the dierent languages
cons<tute an integrated competence.
2. Equal or advanced prociency is not expected in all the languages. A: Yeo hou do yeo contact
3. Using dierent languages for dis<nct purposes qualies as Have very many have contact
competence. One does not have to use all the languages involved as We have many contacts
all-purpose languages.
4. Language competence is not treated in isola<on but as a form of social G: We always have opportuni<es heu xig kei ta dei fong gaowui di
prac<ce and intercultural competence. yen. Ngodei xixi dou keep in contact
5. There is a recogni<on that speakers develop plurilingual competence We always have opportuni<es to get to know people from other
by themselves (intui<vely and through social prac<ce) more than churches. We always keep in contact.
through schools or formal means.

Dr Lisa Lim, 27 Sep 2017 3

CCGL9038 English as a global language in Asian contexts Lecture 4 English in mul<lingual contexts

Mixed code as the usual, dis(nc(ve linguis(c mode Mixed code as the usual, dis(nc(ve linguis(c mode
(contd) (contd)

Taglish is the usual code amongst (urban) Filipinos, with pure Tagalog English, Mandarin and Hokkien used by Chinese Singaporeans (Tay
or English seldom heard (Bau<sta and Gonzales 2009; McFarland 2009) 1993; Lim 2009)

Then they ask me, ano pa daw capabili<es ko in singing I did not told Oh I see, guai bu de wo xie xing wen bi jiao kuai, gua sia eng boon
them gusto ko sila mag nd out. luan jut u luan ju sia, jiaru move de fast, bo tek khak o. Dui bu qi. I got
Then they ask me, what other capabili<es I have in singing I did not to go.
tell them I wanted them to nd out for themselves Oh, I see, no wonder I write faster in English, when I write English, I
simply scribble and write, carelessly, if [I] move fast, [Im] not sure.
Sorry. I got to go.

Plurilingual English (here: Englishised Tamil)

as unmarked everyday code also in formal domains
Senior Professor and junior Lecturer in Jana, Sri Lanka speaking in
Englishised Tamil (English and Tamil)
An increasing body of research is
1 P: So you have done a masters in sociology? What is your area of
research?
i. rst, documen<ng the presence of such prac<ces in the
2 L: Naan sociology of religion-ilai taan interested. enTai thesis topic classroom, revealing that it is not only prac<sed by students
vantu the rise of local dei<es in the Jana peninsula. amongst themselves, whether in or out of structured lesson <me,
It is in the sociology of religion that I am interested. My thesis topic
was the rise of local dei<es in the Jana peninsula. but also by teachers in lessons, and,
ii. further, demonstra<ng that such prac<ces are systema<c and
3 P: Did this involve a eld work? serve pedagogical purposes.
(Lim and Ansaldo 2016)
4 L: oom, oru ethnographic study-aai taan itay ceitanaan. kiTTaDaTTa
four years-aai eld work ceitanaan.
Yes, I did this as an ethnographic study. I did eld work for roughly
four years.

5 P: appa kooTa qualita<ve research taan ceiyiraniir?
So you do mostly qualita<ve research?

Dr Lisa Lim, 27 Sep 2017 4

CCGL9038 English as a global language in Asian contexts Lecture 4 English in mul<lingual contexts

Singapore classroom language use: Singapore classroom teacher talk: Using globalist (standard)
Students use Standard English, Singlish and Mandarin features when organising the lesson, alongside localist features
organising rather than obstruc(ng learning when focusing on content

1 TJ: Number 3, A girl is siwng on a swing hao le ma? So you can do things like this ok ... [Long pause] Ya, I dont want to keep
are you done? men<oning your name here. Ya, Go blush. Ok, structure. This is about the
2 JG: hei, ni kan ni same structure as we did for ac<on story. Recap, you are going to be given
hey, look at what you did a template later. A template will be given; I am not going to reprint the
3 TJ: hao le ma? template. This template is given to you as a model and this template, youll
are you done? be using for all your work from now on from all the other passage Ill be
4 JG: deng yi xia lah wo deng yi xia lah, ni chao si ren giving, for all the wri<ng that you are going to do, for even the produc<on
wait a moment I wait a moment you are too noisy that you are coming. What is our end result of this produc<on here, ya,
5 TJ: ni ye shi hen chao leh
you are noisy too Ian? That means our end result in two, three weeks <me, instead of
6 JG: wo duo mei you chao ni, ni chao wo, hao liao coming up with a commercial you will be given a choice to come up with a
I didnt disturb you, you disturb me, its done produc<on of your suspense story. Ya, but this <me it need not be; [ ] you
[] want to act it out, [ ] you want to lm it, lm it, [ ] you want to make an
21 TJ: Number 8, a girl is ska<ng audio tape out of it, make an audio tape out of it, [ ]you want to write it,
22 JG: A boy lah ni (you) (Silver and Bokhorst-Heng 2013) script it, go ahead.[ ] You want to make a comic script out of it, go ahead,
but we will lead on to it and well show you dierent types, ok.

In Sri Lankan classroom: Teachers and students use diverse

languages to nego(ate content and facilitate language acquisi(on
Scaold () always ah, in any wri<ng. You it, eh, Band B, you need to
know all this, you know, because when we mark [ ] ah, well check ah.
Intro, that one, you all know ah, introduc<on, how you start. Very 1 T: Today we are going to study about fruits. What fruits do you
usually eat? ( ) inraikku niinkal viiTTilai enna palankaL caappiTTa
important, when I pick up a story, the rst thing that does is the intro. [ ]
niinkaL? Cila peer kaalamai caappaaTTikku paLankaL
You go and buy a story book, the intro doesnt always start, long Mme caappiTiravai ello?
ago, once upon a Mme, far, far away in a long lost land ter ra ra ra. Dont What fruits did you eat this morning at home? Dont some
have. Theme? What theme? Although its a suspense story, but what you people eat fruits for breakfast?
doing, which theme are you going about? (Announcement on
loudspeaker). Eh, 4G. Ok, the, whatever theme you set, the sewng must 2 S1: naan maampaLam caappiTTanaan, Miss.
match ok. If you want to do a theme of ok, maybe eh, where there are I ate mangoes, Miss.
knights and castles or whatever [ ] ok, Peters favourite, then the sewng
must be there. You want to talk about the pirates and everything at that 3 T: Good, mangoes, eh? Maampalam enRaal mangoes.
Maampalam means mangoes.
<me, then the sewng must be there. You want to talk about eh say the,

what we did, we watch the roller coasters and its about a fair and the 4 S2: vaaLappaLam caappi[a naan, Miss.
modern <mes, then the sewng must be there. I ate bananas, Miss.

(Kwek 2005, in Alsago 2010) 5 T: Okay, bananas. (Canagarajah 2009)

Dr Lisa Lim, 27 Sep 2017 5