Linguistic Capital

Univision, historically the number one Spanish network, departed from its long tradition of safeguarding neutral Spanish to embrace not only English, but also Spanglish and Spanish-Caribbean accents in 2015. This article explores Univision's new linguistic flexibility via two emblematic reality TV shows: Nuestra Belleza Latina (2007-) and La Banda (2015-). Through a textual analysis of these shows and industrial analysis of the strategies deployed by the network, the authors argue that Univision's targeting of "billennials"-bicultural and bilingual millennials-prompted a linguistic flexibility that challenges the traditional lineup of neutral, Spanish-only, television, and is more inclusive of Latina/o audiences' language use.

This book provides a unique insight into negotiations around language investment for employability in the context of public employment services. Drawing on extensive ethnographical research carried out in Regional Employment Offices in Switzerland, the authors follow the stories of various job seekers. In doing so, they challenge the currently dominant assumption that investment in language competences leads to better employability. Arguing for a political economic perspective on these issues, this book will be of interest to anyone concerned with the connections between language and social inequality, as well as students and scholars of sociolinguistics and applied linguistics.

This study is motivated by the under theorization of language and the impact that perception and discourse about languages have on diverse language users in the classroom. It draws on the theoretical understanding of Bourdieu’s linguistic capital, as well as language ideology and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). I argue that there is a link between the micro- and macro-level discourses that circulate a specific type of language ideology that affects the positioning of diverse language users in the classroom.
For the investigation of language ideologies and learner positioning, I observed a multilingual grade one classroom in a township school in the Cape Flats, South Africa for five weeks, and later interviewed the participating classroom teacher. I transcribed video-recorded data from the classroom as well as the teacher interview and used CDA for analysis.
Supported by the analysis of my non-participant observations and interview of the classroom teacher, my study suggests that the discourses of languages as separate and bounded entities that must remain pure limit the teaching of language and literacy, and inhibit the students from using their full linguistic repertoire in the classroom, reducing students to deficient monolingual speakers. At the same time, discourse about students being deficient furthers their negative positioning. The teacher’s language background plays a role in the way she connects with the children and the way that children are positioned. I conclude that macro-level discourses and perceptions of languages and students of diverse languages have a large impact on the micro-level context of a classroom. In order to create a more positive learning environment, I suggest the need for teachers to have more exposure to theorization of language thereby gaining a better understanding of language and an awareness of the impact of discourse on learner positioning in order for change to take place.

This paper reports on a critical qualitative case study of an EMI-based, under-resourced public school in Nepal through Bourdieu’s lens of linguistic capital. As the data analysis revealed, parents, students and teachers regarded EMI as a privileged form of linguistic capital to developing advanced English skills, enhancing educational achievements and access to higher education, and increasing the chance of upward social and economic mobility. In contrary to these rosy perceptions of EMI with overtly superficial promises, switching to EMI, without enough teacher preparation and infrastructure support in the school, had contributed to several unplanned negative outcomes, including a contested process of developing the English proficiency. Despite the school’s claim as offering EMI education, Nepali was the actual language of instruction in the school due to teachers’ lack of proficiency in English and the school’s inadequate resources and preparedness for a shift to EMI. As a result, the students developed neither the content knowledge nor English language skills. Therefore, rather than being an educational equalizer, EMI has served to (re)produce linguistic marginalization and educational inequality and injustice for children from lower socio-economic status. We suggest critical reflection on EMI adoption and re-envision “sustainable additive multilingualism” in such contexts (Erling et al., 2016).

This is a keynote abstract from a publication that deals with issues with respect to the work of the French social theorist Pierre Bourdieu and its relevance to research on language and literacy. The salient trends in Bourdieu's oeuvre are discussed along with the attention required to apply and extend it in current and future research studies.

**N.B. - Tá feabhas mór déanta agam ó shin ar na hargóintí a rinne mé sa tráchtas MA seo. Más spéis leat an t-ábhar seo, bí cinntí go mbreathnaíonn tú ar mo chuid foilsiúchán eile chomh maith**

Achoimre

Sa tráchtas seo, déantar cíoradh ar an mbaint atá idir an córas eacnamaíochta agus cinniúint mionteangacha. Breathnaítear ar an gcaipitleachas nualiobrálach agus ar an domhandú a théann i bpáirt leis agus na himpleachtaí teangeolaíochta a bhaineann leis an múnla seo. Sa réamhrá tugtar léargas ar an ngéarchéim teangeolaíochta agus mínítear céard atá i gceist leis an gcaipitleachas, an nualiobrálachas agus an domhandú.

Tugtar stair an chórais caipitligh sa dara chaibidil agus breathnaítear ar an litríocht i réimse na pleanála teanga agus na sochtheangeaolaíochta mar a bhaineann sí leis an ngné seo. Léirítear go bhfuil comhthuiscint ann i measc go leor de na húdair is mó a phléann ceist na haisiompaithe teanga go gcuirtear brú ar dhaoine faoin gcóras caipitleach éirí as a dteangacha dúchais chun páirt a ghlacadh sa mhargadh. Pléitear teoiricí agus dearcthaí éagsúla i leith bhás teanga agus an nasc atá aige seo le fórsaí eacnamaíochta.

I gcaibidil a trí, úsáidtear cás na hÉireann mar chás staidéar ar an gcaoi a raibh tionchar ag na fórsaí seo ar an nGaeilge agus an meath atá tágtha uirthi ó 1600 ar aghaidh. Breathnaítear ar stair na tíre agus áitítear nach raibh sé go dtí gur thosaigh an caipitleachas nua-aimseartha ag teacht chun cinn gur thosaigh an t-iompú teanga go tréan sa tír seo. Tugtar dearcadh an tSaorstáit agus na Poblachta i leith na teanga agus an t-athrú a tháinig ar an dearcadh seo in imeacht ama mar fhianaise ar an gcaoi a bhfuil na polasaithe a bhaineann leis an nualiobrálachas ach go háirithe ag déanamh dochair don teanga.

Sa chonclúid, maítear gur gá do phleanálaithe teanga bheith feasach ar na ceisteanna seo chun dul i ngleic leis an ngéarchéim teangeolaíochta go héifeachtach. Ag tarraingt inspioráide ó shaothar Pierre Bourdieu agus eile, áitítear nach féidir é seo a dhéanamh mar phleanálaithe teanga amháin, áfach, ach gur gá nasc a dhéanamh le gluaiseacht níos leithne a fhéachann le dul i ngleic leis an gcaipitleachas agus le dúshlán an nualiobrálachais a thabhairt.

This paper focuses on the lack of impact on language education of recent paradigm shifts in the study of language and society such as the recognition of the ideology of language[s] as stable, discrete or bounded entities and the reality of heteroglossic languaging and semiotic practices in everyday life. Using South Africa as a case, the paper explores the implications of heteroglossic concep-tualising of language as social practice for language education through three ethnographically informed case studies of classroom discourse. I will argue that monoglossic orientations which ironically underpin both monolingual and "multilingual" approaches have wide-ranging constraining effects on how children are positioned in schooling, and on children's participation in classrooms, resulting in a form of 'epistemic injustice' (Fricker, 2007).

The article summarises the results of pilot research about communicative practices among adolescents at bilingual schools in Austrian Carinthia. I present the findings by referencing Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, which I supplement when necessary with established concepts from sociolinguistics and social psychology. Bilingual schools are one of the last public spaces in the region where the use of Slovene is said to prevail, but even here it seems that Slovene is not the first choice of most pupils. We can conclude from what the young people say about their language practices that the decisive elements for the formation of an individual's (language) identity are the habitus acquired during primary socialisation and the linguistic capital acquired during the phase of secondary socialisation or formal education. The current relative values of different languages in Austrian Carinthia as determined by their use are, of course, not set in stone, but it seems that that any change would require active language policies.

This study seeks to compare how linguistically secure students from different class backgrounds feel about their accents and dialects, incorporating Bourdieu’s concept of linguistic capital and evaluating how it has been used by sociolinguists in educational
settings. The data for this study comes from 45 undergraduate students at the University of Leeds (UoL). This university belongs to the Russell Group, a collection of ‘24 leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector’ (The Russell Group of  Universities, 2016). At these universities, working class students remain in the minority, something that research on linguistic capital in HE has cited as a reason for the linguistic insecurities of the working class (Thomas, 2002; Reay et al, 2009; Loveday, 2015; Jerim, 2013; Gregg et al, 2013).

The main concern of this paper is the extent to which students’ expectations of first language studies reflect the idea that linguistic proficiency produces social and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 2008 and earlier work). The participants consisted of 14 focus groups of students in secondary schools in Iceland. Most of the students believe it is desirable to acquire fluency in reading and formal writing. In their view, however, the amount of time devoted to traditional school grammar is actually a detriment to that very goal. Furthermore, the students think that success in Icelandic as a school subject depends to some extent on reading habits and language instruction at home. These views support the idea that schools tend to reward their students for knowledge and skills that are not necessarily highlighted in the classroom but which can rather be viewed as advantageous due to a systematic cultural reproduction within families and social networks.

The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of selected theoretical frameworks and some empirical studies that take up theories on identity, ideology, and language. The researcher attempts to highlight the most important theoretical frameworks on identity, ideologies, and language, and discusses key theoretical frameworks that have had an influence among recent scholars' empirical work especially in the fields of second language acquisition (SLA), sociolinguistics, and linguistic anthropology. This article has two objectives. First, with a focus on the relationship between language, identity, and investment, the researcher attempts to present a review of Norton's foundational work dated between 1995 (Peirce, 1995) to a more recent scholarly work (Darvin & Norton, 2015). Next, she discusses identity and interaction from a sociocultural linguistic approach by drawing on Bucholtz and Hall's framework (2004a, 2004b, 2005). Findings from this article highlight a paradigm shift in the ways the scholarly focus has changed from looking at language solely as an oral and written skill to looking at language from the sociocultural lens and studying how it is embedded in identity production through linguistics interaction. This article concludes with a recommendation for future research on identity and language to respond to the diversity of language practices and aim at connecting language ideologies and identity to enhance our understanding of today's complex learning communities and globalized world.

In order to better understand the role that language plays in the social mobility of Latino immigrants in the United States, and their acquisition of techno-capital and adoption of information and communication technologies, this study examines the findings of a door-to-door bilingual survey (n=800) on technology adoption and use. The results show the importance of English language fluency and education on the awareness and use of Internet and broadband Internet among Latinos in border communities.  The results also show that bilingual, immigrant Latinos are equally likely to be aware of and use the Internet as monolingual, non-immigrant Latinos.

The chapter provides a (meta-) analysis of the interpretational space between Chinese, English and local African languages. It concentrates on Swahili, a language widely spoken along the East African coast. The chapter seeks to answer a number of central research questions using theories of knowledge transfer and effective communication: Which institutions offer Chinese experts the opportunity to learn technical jargon in English and Swahili? The chapter questions the extent to which knowledge and experience are transferred and instilled when China provides aid with the aim of fostering human resources in Africa and promoting its soft power in the form of scholarship programmes, training workshops and the creation of various language and demonstration centres. It examines language institutions for Chinese and Swahili speakers for professional purposes, the language proficiency of Chinese technical experts in Africa, and the limitations of Chinese language in conveying technology jargon to its learners within the domain of technical aid.

The phrase 'English for development' is frequently uttered in policy discourse in many non-English-speaking developing countries. This discourse has been further intensified when English is used as a global business lingua franca-a common language for global communication among business personnel who speak different first languages. However, how English language plays an influential role in empowering business personnel whose mother tongue is not English and how English as a language continues to promote their businesses to warrant economic development have been relatively under-researched in language enquiry. Applying a qualitative study approach, this chapter attempts to understand the role of English as a means of empowerment for international business and business personnel in Bangladesh and how it contributes to economic development. Data have been gathered through in-depth interviews from three cohorts of business personnel engaged in three tiers of communication in the ready-made garments (RMG) business sector in Bangladesh. Findings reveal that English language skills empower business individuals and organisations and create opportunities of achieving material gains in the form of suitable jobs, position, salary and status, which in turn contribute to the country's economic growth, poverty reduction and overall sustainable development.

This contribution to the forum argues for the need to center "language" as a fundamental axis of power relations in Rhetoric, Politics & Culture. I argue for (1) a dialectical understanding of "language" as a source of invention that is, at the same time, its product, and (2) a sustained interrogation of dominant assumptions about language(s), ("English, " "Spanish, " or "Navajo") and how they shape contemporary rhetorical theory and criticism. Sacando la lengua will help us to illuminate the sometimes covert but continuous implication of the rhetorical production of "languages" with white, North-American privilege. For full paper, visit:
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/801950?fbclid=IwAR3FWLQ6c7Aea4-F_Fq7-pMbjsErrat5hSi3FCWjcFF8ohQHq-hlozllre8

The paper discusses the use of words of foreign origin in Slovenian political discourse. At the outset, this usage is broken down into four groups: the first contains specific phrases and terminology inherent to the political domain; the second contains words of foreign origin generally present in the Slovene language (because of their high frequency of nonexclusivistic use, these words are not of interest to the scope of this investigation); the third contains various words of foreign origin used as affectional packaging for messages with the aim of stimulating the desired interpretation (framing reality); the fourth group, which is the most interesting for our research, is made up of words of foreign origin which could have a marker: + marked, + not necessary, + unwanted, but only if we accept the logic of purism. All the words in this group could be replaced - without any loss of meaning - with their Slovene equivalents. The speakerʼs motivation for using the foreign word is crucial to our discussion. In the framework of Pierre Bourdieuʼs poststructural theory as well as Austinʼs and Searleʼs speech act theory, statistical data is analysed to observe how usage frequency varies in correlation with selected factors which manifest the speakerʼs habitus. We argue that words of foreign origin represent symbolic cultural capital, a kind of added value which functions as credit and as such is an important form of the accumulation of capital.

Globalization has been an irreversible trend in the world economic and social advances. China, as an
indispensable developing power, is playing a significant role on the world stage. Language, as a cultural
element, is also affecting the process of China’s globalization. This paper aims to study the relationship
between globalization and the cultural development of foreign language teaching and learning in China. It
analyzes the reasons for the boost of foreign language teaching and learning in the age of knowledge
economy. Language, conveying ideological, political and cultural connotations, carries more significance
beyond its linguistic importance. In the context of globalization, therefore, language teaching and learning
is a more complicated issue than a pure culture indicator.

Deaf people whose first or preferred language is sign language have long faced inequalities in the education system, with their outcomes consistently lagging behind those of their hearing peers.  Despite this, there are a growing number of Deaf people worldwide who are taking higher education degrees.  However, the numbers who then play active roles in the academic sphere is miniscule, even in the field of Deaf Studies. The inequalities faced by Deaf people in the educational system therefore risk being reproduced and reified as the knowledge, skills and experience, along with the potential contributions to Deaf-friendly teaching and research practices of these Deaf academics is lost through their non-participation in the academic sphere.
In this presentation, I shall argue that understanding the role of linguistic capital, often regarded as a relatively minor form of Bourdieu's cultural capital, is vital to understanding the lack of participation of Deaf people in academia.  Mediating access to academic journals, publications and discussion, incidental learning and informal circulation of knowledge, utilisation of linguistic capital is a key element of academic life.  I shall discuss how exploring the position of Deaf academics in the academic sphere allows us to see the concept of linguistic capital in action and provides the opportunity to develop the concept.  This can help us understand and combat the inequalities faced by Deaf people at all levels of the educational system and help us change the system, and society, for the better.

Univision, historically the number one Spanish network, departed from its long tradition of safeguarding neutral Spanish to embrace not only English, but also Spanglish and Spanish-Caribbean accents in 2015. This article explores Univision’s new linguistic flexibility via two emblematic reality TV shows: Nuestra Belleza Latina (2007–) and La Banda (2015–). Through a textual analysis of these shows and industrial analysis of the strategies deployed by the network, the authors argue that Univision’s targeting of “billennials”—bicultural and bilingual millennials—prompted a linguistic flexibility that challenges the traditional lineup of neutral, Spanish-only, television, and is more inclusive of Latina/o audiences’ language use.

This qualitative multiple-case study explores a broad question: Who is successful here and why? Students’ community cultural capital contributes to the funds of knowledge that set students on a pathway toward “success” – as defined by them.

Trang Nguyen & John Hajek

This article examines Vietnamese students’ motivation for learning Mandarin Chinese during their study abroad in Taiwan and their construction of self in relation to this language learning motivation. A combination of several concepts of ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, instrumental motive, integrative motive, linguistic capital, and multiple self-aspects is used as a theoretical lens to gain insights into the students’ Chinese learning motivation. The study employs a qualitative research approach in which semi-structured interviews with English-medium students from five Taiwanese universities were conducted. Findings reveal that the students’ motivation for learning Chinese contributed to portraying their ideal and ought-to Chinese selves, which subsume their different instrumental and integrative motives for language learning. The ideal Chinese self they would like to become possesses Chinese linguistic capital, which would confer on them advantages pertaining to their study, career development and social relations. The students’ ideal Chinese self also incorporates and reinforces their (desired) cultural, economic and social selves. Implications for supporting international students’ motivation for out-of-class language learning and their construction of self at the institutional level are then discussed.

This qualitative interview study investigates the dialect-related beliefs and perceptions of second language (L2) speakers of Japanese who were JET Programme participants living and working in Ehime, Japan. The dialects of Ehime differ significantly from Standard Japanese and can pose problems to someone unfamiliar with them. In local communities such as those in Ehime, in addition to Standard Japanese, L2 speakers often encounter Japanese Dialect and must negotiate its understanding and use.

Resumo: Os estudos das migrações contemporâneas têm procurado resgatar os laços históricos, culturais e linguísticos, para além de analisar as redes sociais que ligam origem e destino, para melhor compreenderem o que tem influenciado os fluxos migratórios da atualidade. No entanto, enquanto as " redes de relações úteis " , ou seja, o capital social do imigrante, tem-se apresentado como objeto de muitas pesquisas, ainda pouco se sabe sobre o grau de influência que o capital linguístico (uma das características do capital social) pode exercer sobre a escolha do país do destino no contexto das mobilidades estudantis internacionais. Com base na análise dos dados obtidos através de uma pesquisa de doutoramento em curso, pretendo discutir sobre o grau de influência que o capital linguístico dos estudantes brasileiros do ensino superior tem exercido na escolha de Portugal, quando está em causa a realização dos seus projetos de mobilidade estudantil internacional.