Abstract
The study of language as a fundamental element of social reality has long been a central concern for sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropologists. The studies gathered in this volume make an important contribution to critical sociolinguistic research on the relationship between language and globalization, by examining how transnational migration flows and the new economic order produce social and economic changes which rearticulate what counts as ‘language capital’.
The volume is coherently divided into three parts. Part 1, ‘Sites of control’, contains two chapters. Chapter 2, by Codó, studies how late-modern states maintain their power to control migrants by ‘subsidising’ its regulatory services to institutions like unions and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). In Chapter 3, Allan analyses how English language teaching (ELT) courses in Canada lead to continuing underemployment among ‘flexible’ skilled migrants.
Part 2, ‘Sites of selection’, contains in turn four chapters. Roberts (Chapter 4) neatly shows how the ‘language card’ is played at job interviews to the disadvantage of migrant candidates, who might very well have the required skills to conduct the tasks that the job demands but are outperformed in the job-interview genre by White British or ethnic minority British citizens who have been locally socialized. In Chapter 5, Piller and Takahashi present a study of Japanese flight attendants working for an Australian low-cost airline, highlighting a number of key sociolinguistic contradictions that they find in their professional careers. To name one of them, these flight attendants were selected by their Asian profile and linguistic skills; however, in Australia, these were the very attributes that would put them at a disadvantage, given the company’s English-only policy and Australian-marked type of identity. Chapter 6, by Martín Rojo, contrasts two types of bilingual programs at secondary schools in Madrid and the hierarchization process that they entail: on one hand, a more elitist program that combines English and Spanish, and on the other hand, a so-called Spanish as a Second Language program designed for migrant students, where their L1s are only allowed for backstage work in the classroom. Chapter 7, by Lytra, offers an investigation of how standard Turkish is commodified within the context of Turkish complementary schools in London, in which standard Turkish is linked to standard English and to academic success by the Turkish-speaking elites. It is a form of added value that can lead to social mobility outside kebapçi, but in fact it reinforces and reproduces the dominant hierarchies in the Turkish communities in London.
Part 3, ‘Sites of resistance’, starts with Chapter 8, by Holly and Meinhof, who examine the prevalent discourses on ‘integration’, analyzing bottom-up forms of discourse on and around this particular concept, building up a form of what the authors label ‘discursive resistance’. Chapter 9, by Moyer, presents an ethnographic study of the interactions between migrant patients of various ethnic origins and their doctors within a health institution in an area densely populated by migrants in Barcelona. Moyer’s analysis demonstrates the relevance of language as an intercultural resource in this kind of interaction, which is particularly key in terms of the interactants’ agency and stance-taking. In Chapter 10, Vigouroux provides an analysis of Congolese migrants in Cape Town, South Africa, focusing on the relationship among language, labor, and migration in the so-called informal economy. Vigouroux’s analysis is an interesting investigation that shows how much language proficiency matters on the ground: Congolese middle-class migrants seem to be more disenfranchised in Cape Town vis-a-vis their low-class compatriots, who appear to better integrate into the city’s informal economy precisely (but not only) thanks to their skills in Lingala. Chapter 11, by Sabaté i Dalmau, offers a thought-provoking analysis of a migrant-regulated form of economy, that of locutorios (‘migrant-tailored call shops’). Sabaté i Dalmau argues compellingly that these spaces are key in allowing migrants a certain amount of resistance to the more officially controlled institutions mainly (although not exclusively) because of their information and communication technology (ICT) nature. Finally, a postscript by Baynham concludes the volume with a commentary discussing the major themes presented by the 10 contributors.
A key strength of the volume is explicit engagement with (linguistic) ethnography as a methodological and theoretical tool. The interdisciplinary nature of linguistic ethnography uniquely allows it to contribute to the examination of people’s social reality, in particular regarding the challenges facing less empowered social groups, and all chapters vividly and effectively show how it can be employed for the benefit of social (i.e. sociolinguistic and sociological) analysis. Take, for example, the seemingly simple question that Roberts addresses indirectly in her chapter: Why is it that immigrants have a lower rate of success at job interviews in the United Kingdom? The ‘linguistic penalty’ that they suffer from due to them being unfamiliar with the job-interview genre and their inability to produce Anglo discourse types of narratives in that context would not have been apparent without the meticulous and detailed analysis that she and her team conducted.
That said, however, there are questions that I believe are still worth thinking about as critical sociolinguists. One of them is the geographic location of most of the studies presented in this book. With the exception only of Vigouroux’s chapter, based on research in Cape Town, and Holly and Meinhof’s chapter, discussing data from smaller cities in Germany, the studies in this volume report on research conducted in (large) urban concentrations in the Western world (Australia, Canada, Spain, and the United Kingdom). While ease of access makes research on such large urban concentrations in the West a natural choice, an effort to cover other parts of the world would provide a richer and more nuanced perspective of the questions under examination. Interesting and important as it may be, the urban West is not the only stage in the world where linguistic and social inequalities are at play.
The second concerns the role of the linguistic ethnographer and their place in doing ethnographic work. Although any form of research is dependent on the role of the analyst and their relationship to their object of study, this is particularly the case in qualitative work such as that presented in this volume. However, few chapters explicitly reflect on the researcher’s role, which I believe is crucial to understanding how the author arrived at their interpretation of the data. Even if space restrictions limit the possibility of this kind of explicit reflection by the author, I still consider it a very important element that should be explained as far as is possible.
Despite these concerns, Language, Migration and Social Inequalities constitutes a very important contribution to the growing literature on critical sociolinguistics, linguistic ethnography, and discourse studies. Graduate students and scholars working in these areas will find the studies contained in the volume stimulating and thought-provoking. Indeed, the central issues addressed in this book (language and globalization, migration, and social inequalities) are becoming increasingly important in many contemporary societies. Therefore, this volume is a must-read for anyone interested in such matters.