Elite multilingualism: discourses, practices, and debates

Abstract

Yasser is taking an advanced English course, but not for the kinds of teaching, administrative or manual work that dominates research into language learning. Yasser is an international lawyer; for him, language is a key conduit to elite professional circles. Aisha is taking an introductory French class as part of the francization programme in Montreal. She is a medical consultant who has recently moved to Canada to escape the troubles of her homeland and provide a better life for her family. She already speaks three languages but needs to acquire French to improve her chances of finding permanent and well paid work. These vignettes capture the phenomenon of what we are terming 'elite multilingualism'. In the introduction to the special issue "Elite Multilingualism. Discourses, practices, and debate", we focus on 'elite multilingualism' as a means to provide a window into the complex layers and nuances of today's multilingual, mobile and global society. Our aims here are to provide an empirical and conceptual discussion of a growing language-centred elitism. We also aim to expand current scholarship on the construction, valuation and instrumentalisation of multilingualism, and its consequences for the formation of social boundaries and inequalities. We first discuss major concepts such as the notion of elite/ness and multilingualism, commodification, authenticity and hierarchies and the linguistic market in a global knowledge economy. We also discuss the critical sociolinguistic, discourse and ethnographic approaches that frame this special issue and go on to outline the diverse manifestations of elite multilingualism in different educational and social settings. Finally, we conclude by reflecting on the value of the concept of elite multilingualism as a social practice, and argue for the importance of examining the lived experience of multilinguals on the ground.

Prestigious language, pigeonholed speakers: Stances towards the ‘native English speaker’ in a multilingual European institution

“…Gearing and Roger (2018) observed a similar pattern, describing the unwanted monolingual life of ‘native English speakers’ in Korea as an ‘English cocoon’. This positioning appears to be embedded in the ideology of ‘elite multilingualism’, representing a desired personal development towards a multilingual status that would serve as an ‘access code to a local, national or global perceived elite (way of life)’ (Barakos & Selleck, 2019, p. 362). As a result of their disappointment, Lucy, Ben and Florence went so far as to talk about themselves as ‘monolingual’, although they had to know other languages to get the traineeship.…”

“…On the other hand, the ideologies associated with the ‘native English speaker’ construct exposed them to tedious linguistic tasks, objectified them as linguistic skills rather than people, and limited their work experience to an ‘English bubble’. This clashed with their aspirations towards ‘elite multilingualism’ (Barakos & Selleck, 2019) as another neoliberal resource, leaving them frustrated in their attempts to construct a ‘cosmopolitan self’ (Garrido, 2020) in contrast to the stereotypical monolingual ‘native English speaker’. Their discursive positioning led them to place the ‘native English speaker’ in a hierarchy above the rest of the team, aligning with the ideology of the superior importance of English over other languages, thereby raising their personal status in the institution.…”

“…Kubota (2011) notes that Japan‐based companies tend to hire cheaper agency workers for exclusively English‐related tasks. Commodification of languages clearly also negatively affects ‘native English speakers’ and ‘elite multilinguals’ (Barakos & Selleck, 2019). Our participants are speakers of what is constructed as one of the most powerful languages in the world, but they are also ‘neoliberal workers’ valued for their assumed skills in a highly commodified linguistic resource.…”

La construcción de la identidad lingüística de Santiago Abascal en Twitter

“…Esta identidad digital conformada a través de lo que se muestra, se dice y cómo se dice -como acabamos de explicar-se construye también en función de otro aspecto: el idioma que se emplea para comunicarse. Conocer y emplear varias lenguas transmite prestigio social (Barakos y Selleck, 2019), especialmente si son aquellas consideradas de moda, como el inglés.…”

“…En el caso del contexto español, dado el discurso hipernacionalista de la supremacía del castellano y su valor como parte de la idea de españolidad que ya hemos descrito, las lenguas minoritarias no están connotadas socialmente de manera positiva en términos generales. Este fenómeno, como ya mencionamos (Barakos y Selleck, 2019), no es exclusivo de España y, en general, el inglés, por ejemplo, tiene una mejor valoración social que otras lenguas minoritarias también en otros países. Esta relación que tienen estos idiomas regionales con la identidad étnica es fundamental para entender por qué sí o por qué no hay una valoración de la diversidad lingüística como algo positivo.…”