Problematizing ethnolects: Naming linguistic practices in an Antwerp secondary school

Abstract

AcknowledgmentsThe author wishes to thank Michael Meeuwis, Frank Brisard and two anonymous referees for their useful comments. AbstractThis article argues that naming linguistic practices "ethnolectal" is a praxis with ideological consequences that sociolinguists fail sufficiently to address. It suggests that a transformation of linguistic differences into ethnolect-codes quickly falls prey to homogenizing groups and their language use, obscures speakers' styling practices as well as the relations between "ethnolect" and standard language speakers. Furthermore, "ethnolect" as an analytical concept buttresses the idea that linguistic practices are caused by ethnicity, when it is more likely to assume language use is shaped by how speakers interpret prevailing representations of ethnicity and style their language use in relation to that. As an alternative, I argue that ethnolects be viewed as representations of particular ways of speaking that do not necessarily correspond to systematic linguistic practices. Sociolinguists therefore need to investigate how local and general perceptions of ways of speaking lead to specific styling practices, and integrate these into their descriptions. In addition, they need to be aware that their own work is social action as well, which requires taking into account the concerns of who gets labeled. This is illustrated with data from a case study showing how Belgian adolescents of Moroccan background resist an ethnolectal categorization of their routine Dutch.

Globalization in the margins: toward a re-evalution of language and mobility

“…Exposure to popular media here provokes the transformation of local dialects, in such a way that dialects are still experienced as 'our own' while they have been infused with new indexical orders of belonging, ownership and legitimate usage. Similar complex transformations of local dialects have been observed among immigrant youngsters elsewhere (e.g., Spotti 2007;Jaspers 2008), and the phenomenon is clearly germane to the changes in minority languages discussed above.…”

Multi-ethnolects: Kebabnorsk, Perkerdansk, Verlan, Kanakensprache, Straattaal, etc.

“…Jaspers (2008) reports on young immigrants of Moroccan descent who are aware of the stereotypical image of the Moroccan who has a poor command of Dutch, as in the following example (Jaspers 2008: 98-99 'when we were in primary school okay t-then, then maybe then we spoke then we spoke perhaps like a strange strange accent and then uh they remember that (…)'…”

Variation in the realization of /εi/ by Dutch youngsters: from local urban dialects to emerging ethnolects?

“…Other researchers have investigated these new ethnolects in relation to the notions of stylization and identity (cf. Flanders: Jaspers 2006Jaspers , 2008Jaspers & Aertsen 2004;Netherlands: Nortier & Dorleijn 2008).…”