Freie Universität Berlin

This Monday I started to teach a new seminar in the Master of Education programme:

Language Ideologies and Language Teaching – Dealing with Postcolonial Variation and Diversity in the Language Classroom

https://www.fu-berlin.de/vv/de/lv/231715?sm=181709

We had really interesting discussions on Monday and I am looking forward to an inspiring semester where we work on how the social functions of language, standardization, variation, colonialism, diversity and translanguaging are relevant topics for future teachers of English!

See here for my talk last week in Southampton:

https://blog.soton.ac.uk/ilc/2015/09/29/tns-seminar-wed-7th-october-dr-britta-schneider/

Thanks to Patrick Stevenson for the invitation, I had a great time and met very interesting people!

Just returned from a conference in Leiden, The Netherlands. It was on ‚Globalising Sociolinguistics‘ and aimed to address mismatches between mainstream sociolinguistic models and non-Anglo-Western sociolinguistic settings. And of course, Belizean sociolinguistic economy with its complex, sometimes contradictory patterns of language use and social affiliation fitted well into this. I gave a talk on ‚Overcoming methodological nationalism‘, where ‚methodological nationalism‘ is a concept from social anthropology and sociology (see e.g. Wimmer and Glick Schiller 2002) that criticises methodological approaches that take territorial entities as given and as unquestioned starting points for analysis.

Particularly interesting I found the research of Pierpaolo Di Carlo who currently works on multilingualism and affiliation in a region in north west Cameroon, where each village has its own language. All inhabitants of the region speak several languages and Pierpaolo interprets their desire to speak many languages as linked to spiritual needs, as each village chief is also a spiritual chief. By being able to speak a village’s language, one is also protected by its chief (see his papers for more).

Indeed, models and methods of Western sociolinguistics are not necessarily apt to study language use in all societies and it was an interesting conference theme that should be followed.

Wimmer, Andreas, and Nina Glick Schiller. „Methodological nationalism and beyond: Nation-state building, migration and the social sciences.“ Global Networks 2.4 (2002): 301-34.

Back in Germany and last week, I gave a talk at the GAPS conference in Münster, Germany. GAPS (formerly ‚ASNEL‘, the Association for the Study of the New Literatures) is now the ‚Gesellschaft für Anglophone Postkoloniale Studien (Association for Anglophone Postcolonial Studies) and hosted a conference on ideologies in postcolonial texts and contexts.

I spoke about language choices in Belizean literature (Zee Edgell’s Beka Lamb in particular) and how they are indexically linked to social, historical and political discourses that exist in Belize. A main aspect was to develop an understanding that the symbolic meaning of using ‚English‘ should not be looked at within colonial dichotomies (colonizer vs colonized) but that due to processes of localization, the symbolic meaning of a language is complex, created in a multiplex space and very much embedded in local and regional histories (which of course does not mean that the history of colonization would not be part of that). Looking more closely into postcolonial (anti-binary) theory would certainly be fruitful for (socio)linguistics.

I also saw other interesting talks on language ideologies, for example by Lionel Wee on language ideologies in Singapore (and linguistic chutzpah) and by some younger researchers who work on language ideologies and the Creole – English context in the Caribbean (as did, for example, Eva Canan Hänsel and Glenda Leung). Great that linguistic studies on language ideologies become more visible in the German-speaking world!

The Split is a gap between the northern and the southern part of Caye Caulker, the Belizean island where I conduct ethnographic research, and it apparently was created by a hurricane and was then made bigger by fishermen who thus had a shorter way to the gas station. The Split is now the most northern part of the tourist hub and it is a beautiful place to swim, to watch the sunset and to have a drink at a bar called The Lazy Lizard. Interestingly, although it is a very touristy spot, it is also a place where locals hang out. It represents the fact that on Caye Caulker, although places like The Split seem to suggest that there are boundaries between those who hang out in expensive bars and those who do not, social boundaries are very hard to grasp and it is therefore difficult to define their links to linguistic boundaries.

The distinction between locals and non-locals is very blurred. It reminds me to a certain extent of urban spaces, where people from many language backgrounds have become part of the normal make-up – which nowadays not only includes languages of ‘poor’ immigrants but also of more wealthy (white?) people, typically called ‘expats’ . The dividing line that I feel to be the strongest is that between US/European tourists and expats (who are not necessarily ‘white’ – the owner of one of the poshest hotels, for example, is US-American with Filipino background) and local people. However, even though there are clear differences, it is not so easy. There are also many local tourists, for example rich people from Belize City who come for the weekend. And then there are also people from the US with Belizean heritage who come as tourists. Finally, a lot of the local people who live here hang out or have partners with people from Europe or the US. The division of tourist versus local thus exists but it is not necessarily dependent on nationality, skin colour or ethnicity. It depends on social practices and on the places one attends.

This weekend, I met Pen Cayetano at his studio in Dangriga, a little town in the south of Belize which is known for its Garifuna population and also called the cultural capital of Belize. Pen is the inventor of Punta Rock, which is, next to Brukdown, one of the popular music styles considered to be authentically Belizean (Reggae is usually regarded as Jamaican).

By combining traditional Garifuna rhythm with modern music styles and instruments, he created a popular music for the Garifuna youth that came to be indexical of Belizean culture, having emerged at roughly the same historical moment as Belize became an independent nation. With lyrics in both English and Garifuna, it is extremely popular until today and it is safe to say that Punta Rock is an enlightening and promising example of how popular music can support use, maintenance and pride in an otherwise relatively marginalised minority culture.

Kriol as a written language…

During the last weeks, I met some really interesting people – for example Silvaana Udz from the National Kriol Council. She is teaching in the education department at the University of Belize and is a language activist, striving for making Kriol a written, standard language. She and other members of the Council have developed a spelling system for Kriol and a Kriol-Inglish dikshineri.

Next to supporting Kriol for strengthening Creole culture in Belize, Silvaana finds it important for improving literacy abilities of pupils in Belize. Many pupils in Belize face difficulties in English. One reason may be that the differences between English and Kriol are usually not taught systematically. Linguistic research, as well as the UNESCO, actually support native language tuition as learning to read and in a language you do not know is obviously problematic (a ‘classic’ on this is, for example, Cummins 1995, see also UNESCO 1953). Indeed, language skills do represent a problem in Belizean education. Sylvanna showed me a curriculum she developed to improve standard English language skills at university level as many students come to university whose standard English is not sufficient. Supporting literacy in Kriol thus may be a sensible idea.

… or as ‘anti-standard’ in an age of global mass communication???

I also met with Corinth Morter-Lewis, an educator who used to be the president of the University of Belize, and a writer of poetry and prose. More about her works and her person can be found here.

Interestingly, Corinth said that statistically, pupils’ level of standard English used to be better in the past – when there neither existed any teaching of Kriol. She suggested that a lack of exposure to standard English is one reason, as kids nowadays generally read very little but listen to radio, internet videos and TV where the boundary between English and Kriol is oftentimes not very clear. Even teachers commonly use grammatical forms that would not be regarded as ‘standard’ by people from outside of Belize. Another interesting aspect she mentioned was that pupils have started to use forms of language in class that they also use in texting and chatting – where they use a lot of non-standard and a lot of Kriol forms (see also examples from texting in my entry from 27th of January).

So it seems, firstly, that the model of what is ‘standard’ English is not very clear in Belize. Secondly, the role of standard language in general may become different in a world where oral but also written language is less regimented – as in email communication, chatting and texting – and where reading books is not often done to entertain oneself (with youtube, Netflix, facebook, and I do not know what, available even to people who have no access to a washing machine – or books, for that matter). The role of writing and literacy may become a very different one in a world where people use digital media (see also Günter 2014) and this of course impacts on the role of standard language. Corinth and I thus spoke about whether or not Kriol will ever reach the status of a standard written language in Belize, where she expressed doubts.

Actually, several of my informants here have told me that they did not like the idea of Kriol being standardised as it is the fact that there is no standard they like so much (see Romaine 2005 on similar discussions in Hawai’i). I often wondered why all kids in school seem to quickly learn Kriol, even if there parents do not know it, and why everyone told my that they love Kriol because it is ‘easy’ (I do not find it easy at all…). But maybe it is just easier to learn something if you can appropriate to your own needs, without official institutions telling you what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’? Without wanting to suggest that any Kriol will be considered ‘cool’ or ‘authentic’ in a local context, maybe the idea of a non-standardised Kriol is very inclusive?

Cummins, Jim. 1995. „The Discourse of Disinformation: The Debate on Bilingual Education and Language Rights in the United States.“ In: Skutnabb-Kangas, Tove and Robert Phillipson, Linguistic Human Rigths. Overcoming Linguistic Discrimination. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 159-177.

Günther, Markus: „Nur noch Analphabeten“, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung – FAS, 25. Mai 2014, S. 2

Romaine, Suzanne. 2005. „Orthographic Practices in the Standardization of Pidgins and Creoles: Pidgin in Hawai’i as Anti-Language and Anti-Standard.“ In: Mühleisen, Susanne, Creole Language in Creole Literatures. Special Issue of Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 20. 101–140.

UNESCO. 1953. The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education. Paris: Unesco.

At the moment, when thinking about all the languages in Belize, I actually start to think that the most fascinating aspect is that Kriol is the oral lingua franca, which is nevertheless rejected as a language of writing, high culture and education.

So far, almost everyone I interviewed, either in a more formal and recorded interview or on the streets, told me that they use Kriol with their friends (some among Spanish, English, Garifuna, Mopan or Ketchi). Some of the older say that they do not speak Kriol but say they speak English or insist that they use ‘broken English’, but from the way they talk to me, it is very obvious that they do speak what younger people call Kriol. For these speakers, the British legacy seems important. Actually, the two older men who insisted on not speaking Kriol but English or broken English both complained about the ‘Alien’ ‘Spanish’ people (who probably have been a demographic majority since the middle of the 19^th century). In one case, this older man actually spoke Spanish at home.

Anyhow, the question is: Why do people learn Kriol? Speakers who do not use it at home learn it on the streets and in school, from their peers, although their native languages, particularly if it is Spanish (English as home language is a rare exception), is a widely used prestigious standard world language. So why is it that Kriol has this prestige, although it is not officially mediated, neither in education nor in public media? It does not seem to be an effect of strong contemporary ties with Jamaican youth culture (which I thought to be possible). There is this a historical, cultural and musical link to Jamaica but using Jamaican features is not common among Belizeans, only among those who adhere to Jamaican Reggae music and want to show this. So, coming back to the original question of where the popularity of Kriol comes from, it is important to observe that although Mestizo Spanish-speakers tend to see themselves as being superior to black Creoles – the issue of racism is mentioned frequently in my interviews, which is constructed simply in terms of shades of skin colour – they all learn Kriol. This, I think, may be explained with a look at political history. Clearly, the English language was implemented in Belize by the British but it was only the elite (called Royal Creoles by some, lighter in skin and descending from British males directly) who learned English, either in families or in school. The rest would not have access to English but only to Kriol and, potentially, their other native languages. Today’s relative prestigious status of Kriol may have to do with the, in relative terms, equal (compared to other slave societies) status of slaves, which people explain to me with the fact that male Belizean slaves did not work on plantations but were woodcutters, using sharp instruments to do that, so having a weapon at hand.

The myth of a brotherly relationship between white slave masters and their black co-workers has been only mentioned to me by white rich Belizeans, and, as a matter of fact, history books on Belize will have enough examples of the desperate and right-free situation of slaves. Yet, considering the work practices of Belizean slaves, it may make sense to say that the position of slaves in Belize was different compared to slaves in plantation colonies. The most crucial factor, however, is probably that members of the Creole group (people of mixed African and European descent) were given posts by the British, first as supervisors during slavery, then as leaders of political administration before independence, in jobs as lawyers, politicians, public servants and so on. The political elite of Belize, therefore, before and after independence, was Creole. This remains so today in the Belize district, where is the biggest town – Belize City. Yet, this still does not answer why Kriol has such a strong position in Belize, so strong that not only Creoles keep it but that all other groups learn it. It could have been English, the language of education, media, the government and of more or less everything that is written in Belize.

Do people here feel the need to maintain a linguistic safe zone? Is this linked to the colonial history, a desire to be different from the British and the Americans? Will this explain why Kriolis mostly rejected as a language for standardisation and for writing? Is it simply a national community-building tool that is available only to the ‘born-and-bred’ Belizean? It is all the more interesting that by now several people have told me that there are different varieties of Creole that seem to differ according to location but also according to race. I think that this is the right spot for a study on language ideologies!

Language Ideologies in Music: Emergent Socialities in the Age of Transnationalism

The aim of this publication project is to bring together studies of language ideologies in the context of popular music. Language ideologies can give an intricate understanding of linguistic affiliation in an age of transnationalism, where apriori categorisations – among them the native speaker, language and the speech community – cannot be taken for granted (Blommaert & Rampton 2011). Compared to ethnic or national contexts, social ties in popular music cultures are less institutional and therefore less naturalised. Their ubiquitous, globally marketised nature promises inspiring insights into the role of language and discourse in the emergence of territorial and non-territorial socialities. We approach language and community as socio-cognitive categories, emerging in social interaction that determines and is determined by language use, language acquisition practices, linguistic identification and the creation of new linguistic forms. Discourses impacting on the either the creation of fixity, normativity and authenticity, or on constructions of difference, fluidity and hybridity, and their interactions, are here of prime interest (cf. Pennycook 2010, Otsuji and Pennycook 2010). Previous research that has focused on language and music gives valuable insight, predominantly into identification strategies and linguistic hybridity in musical-linguistic forms (e.g. Alim & Pennycook 2008, Terkourafi 2010). The aim of this publication project is to analyse the discursive base of the formation of new socialities which we aim to illustrate with evidence from music contexts.

In the complex cultural practices in music, people develop global and at the same time often very local forms of belonging, grounded in varied forms of music, sound and language from many different places. Taking a holistic approach, the volume will present case studies of different settings and musical styles from around the world, such as Sheng in Genge music, Pacific reggae, Philippine creole rap or Caribbean reggae. These allow a view on how linguistic resources are reiterated or appropriated as to newly form or reconstruct social stances, leading to local affiliation, global resistance, style positioning and/or the construction of new and old ethnicities.

We welcome papers on any of the following kinds of topics:

• Case studies on the intersections of language ideologies and music

• Theoretical approaches to emergent socialities in musical contexts

• Interactions of paralinguistic, linguistic (phonological, semantic, syntactical, …) and musical indexicalities

• Construction of social styles through the reinforcement, resistance or reappropiation of the links between language and discourse of different social actors

• Discourse trajectories and practices of reiteration in connection to global/local flows and global/local fixity

• Language and language ideologies in the creation of socio-cognitive categories of belonging

As soon as we have a clear idea about the number of contributions we will enter into discussions with interested publishers. We expect papers to be in English and between 8000 and 14000 words (or 20-35 pages). The papers will be peer-reviewed by external reviewers and the editors.

Expressions of interest, titles and abstracts should preferably be sent in electronic format to the following address by March 1: sippola@uni-bremen.de

Deadlines:

• March 1, 2015: Expression of interest and a title and abstract for a proposal.

• September 1, 2015: First versions of full papers.

Editors: Carsten Levisen (Aarhus U, Roskilde U) Britta Schneider (FU Berlin) Eeva Sippola (U Bremen)

I have arrived safely on Caye Caulker, a small island in the Caribbean Sea where about 1500 people live permanently. I have chosen this site as it is not only small and so I hope to get into community life more easily, I am also interested in how global tourism affects language practices – Caye Caulker is famous with divers worldwide and a popular traveller hang-out – as to see whether impacts from transnational discourses, practices of mixing and ethnic diversity are maybe not urban-only phenomena.

Getting first impressions of the linguistic landscape of Caye Caulker, I am a bit afraid that the official statement that Belize, having been a British colony until 1982, is an English-speaking country may have become true on the island. This may be a bit problematic for my research, where I plan to focus on what people do if their languages (English, Spanish, Creole, Garifuna, Kechi Maya, Mopan Maya, German, Mandarin, Lebanese and all the other languages that are officially part of the Belizean language make-up) do not necessarily fit in with their ethnic affiliation. Belize has many families of multi-ethnic origin and I don’t even know if many people have something they would call their ‚ethnic‘ identity, apart from their official Belizean citizenship . On the first days, I actually do not see much of linguistic diversity. Close to all shop and street signs are in English – even if they do carry local flavour in their style:

On the northern end of the island, many bars, restaurants and hotels are located and again, with few exceptions in single words that are in Spanish or Creole or Chinese, or names of the owners (who frequently are Spanish), close to everything is written in English, sometimes also involving creative sexist plays of interest to the linguist:

All people who talk to me – restaurant owners, scuba dive shop employees, street vendors – speak in English and I have no problem whatsoever understanding them and they have no problem understanding me (with the exception of some of the Chinese supermarket employees). So maybe there is no language mixing, code-switching and multilingualism because everyone has shifted to English?

Luckily, my fears about an English-only speaking Belize vanish soon. I hear many people on the streets using Creole and even more who speak Spanish. My first days in the school even confirm what Genevieve Escure has said about Belize , namely that English seems to be close to no one’s first language (Escure 1997:39). Teachers tell me that pupils have difficulties to use English in class – and they enter this school at age 13 or 14. Although all pupils speak English with me, when I do my first classroom observation, I actually have strong difficulties understanding what the pupils are saying. The teachers and the pupils tell me that they always use Creole (even though I am told that many pupils speak Spanish at home) – I will have to get used to their way of talking and  do my recordings to study this! I am not sure about their definition of Creole. As is common in many parts of the world, the written and spoken forms of language are simply very different.

Another moment when I feel relieved that my research on multilingualism in Belize is not based on a phantasm is when I buy a new sim card for my telephone. When I switch it on for the first time, I receive three messages for the person who must have had the number before me:

Ok, yes, English is a language that is written in Belize and that is also spoken but there are certainly more things to discover…

References:

Escure, Geneviève. 1997. Creole and Dialect Continua: Standard Acquisition Processes in Belize and China. Amsterdam:Benjamins.