In this study, I explored the language transmission experiences of migrant mothers living in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Specifically, I examined the meanings and stakes of language transmission experiences, taking into account the migrant mothers constructions of first languages and/or English transmission experiences with their children in the context of migration. Employing (a) Brunners (1986) and Goods (1994) narrative approach to ethnography and critical phenomenology as well as (b) Kleinmans (1995, 1999) theory of moral experience and Godbouts (1998) formulations of social exchanges as my primary theoretical framework, I carried out in-depth, open-ended interviews with 13 mothers from nine different countries, namely, Afghanistan, Argentina, Chile, Japan, India, Iran, Russia, South Korea, and Ukraine. The resulting language transmission narratives were then organized into four distinct language transmission plots, which were formednot on the basis of ethnicitybut on the basis of similar migration trajectories and background characteristics. Some of the most noteworthy findings were as follows: (1) portrayals of the objects of language transmission (e.g., first languages and English) and of language transmission experiences were not static as previous literature has suggested, but dynamic, varying across time and social context; (2) the stakes involved in the transmission of first languages were depicted as high as the stakes inherent in the transmission of English; and (3) the long-term language transmission goal of at least half of mothers in the sample was not simply bilingualism, but instead multilingualism. In the Conclusion of the thesis, I not only detailed how the present study contributed to the literature on language transmission, but I also elaborated on the following topics: (a) the role of subjunctivizing tactics on language transmission narratives, (b) language transmission as an intersubjective enterprise, (c) language transmission as a plural and dynamic process, and (d) language transmission as moral experience. The applications and limitations of the study as well as directions for future research were also presented in the concluding chapter.

Texte remanié de : Doctoral thesis : Français : Stockholms universitet : 2006. / Résumé. L'ouvrage porte un ISSN erroné : 1400-7010. Bibliogr. p. 196-205. Notes bibliogr.

This paper presents a case study of the strategies used for vocabulary teaching and learning in a multilingual adult education English classroom with recently arrived students in Sweden. Through classroom observations, an analysis of the textbook used, an interview with the teacher, and interviews with recently arrived students, several strategies and approaches to teaching or learning English vocabulary were found. The most common strategies for teaching vocabulary were to explain the word in the target language and to put it in context, although Swedish translations were also frequently used. Among the students’ strategies found were the use of dictionaries, flash cards, wordlists, and guessing from similar words in other languages. The students reported some difficulties with Swedish translations of English words and the use of Swedish in the classroom, albeit some also appreciated the opportunity to learn more Swedish. From these findings, some potential challenges for a multilingual classroom with recently arrived students were drawn.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-219). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-236).

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis reports on research into the attitudes of multilingual students at the Universities of Stellenbosch and the Western Cape towards their mother tongues and other languages. With specific focus on attitudes towards English, Afrikaans, and Xhosa, the study aimed to establish in which domains these language attitudes are manifested, and to identify reasons for the attitudes observed. Upon completion of these components of the research, a comparison was drawn between the language attitudes reported by students of the two universities. In order to gain insight into the themes mentioned above, an online language attitude questionnaire was administered to 140 students from the two universities. Detailed analysis of this data indicates that the participants of this study display the most favourable attitudes towards English, followed by Afrikaans. Participants displayed the least favourable attitudes towards the indigenous languages, although none of the eleven official languages of South Africa were ranked unfavourably by a large percentage of the participants. The data further indicates that English is the preferred language in formal domains while the mother tongues of the participants are preferred in informal domains. Finally, despite the implementation of different language policies that appear to appeal to different linguistic loyalties, no significant differences were found when comparing the language attitudes of the students from the two universities. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis doen verslag van ʼn ondersoek na multitalige studente aan die Universiteite van Stellenbosch en die Wes-Kaap se houdings teenoor hulle moedertale en ander tale. Met die spesifieke fokus op houdings teenoor Afrikaans, Engels en Xhosa het die studie probeer vasstel in watter domeine dié taalhoudings manifesteer en wat die redes vir die waargenome houdings is. Na die afhandeling van hierdie komponente van die navorsing is ʼn vergelyking getref tussen die taalhoudings wat deur die studente aan die twee universiteite gerapporteer is. Ten einde insig in die bogenoemde temas te bekom, is ʼn aanlyn taalhoudingsvraelys deur 140 studente aan die twee universiteite voltooi. In diepte ontleding van die data toon dat die respondente die gunstigste houdings teenoor Engels openbaar, gevolg deur Afrikaans. Respondente het die minste gunstig teenoor die inheemse tale reageer, hoewel geeneen van die elf amptelike tale van Suid-Afrika deur ʼn groot persentasie van die respondente ongunstig geplaas is nie. Die data dui verder daarop dat Engels die taal van voorkeur is in formele domeine terwyl die respondente hulle moedertale in informele domeine verkies. Uiteindelik is bevind dat ten spyte van die implementering van verskillende taalbeleide wat oënskynlik tot verskillende taallojaliteite spreek, daar geen beduidende verskille geblyk het toe die taalhoudings van die twee universiteite se studente vergelyk is nie.

Studies by Fishman (1968a) and Pool (1971) show some correlation between economic development and multilingualism. In other words, countries that are multilingual tend to be less economically developed. This kind of investigation is not easy or straightforward. Pool mentions three difficulties associated with such a study. The first is what to measure and how to measure it; the second is unreliability in sources of statistical information, and the third, and probably most dangerous, is the risk of making erroneous causal inferences. While it is necessary to keep these cautions in mind, it is nevertheless appropriate to give these studies some thought. For example, why does multilingualism correlate with poor economic growth? Are there any inherent problems in societal multilingualism that have adverse effects on economic performance of certain countries? Are there any ways that this effect can be minimized? This study of language planning in Ghana’s economic development is an exploratory study of language use in the educational system of Ghana, its relation to the general sociolinguistic and demographic profile of the country, and the potential for greater roles for the indigenous Ghanaian languages in the pursuit of economic progress. The study attempts to contextualize the case study of Ghana within the larger framework of multilingualism and multilingual education, by analyzing the factors which, in the past, determined and continue to determine the language education policies of the developing nations in the former British Colonial Africa. The study has three components; the descriptive, the empirical and the programmatic. The descriptive component examined the socio-historical factors that shaped language policies in the past and continue to influence present-day policies. Ghana was born out of an amalgamation of several otherwise independent and powerful kingdoms. This was the result of colonial intervention. This amalgamation brought with it a complex linguistic problem. In order to promote unity among the different ethnic groups that have come under the new nation, and to pursue their economic and political agenda, the colonial government set into motion a language policy which gave English a sole official language status, which has remained ever since. With this language policy in the midst of such linguistic diversity as Ghana's, it is expected that problems would be experienced by persons who are not proficient in the official language, and by persons who are illiterate. The purpose of the study, therefore, was to assess the language-related and literacy-related problems that occur in social, economic and political experiences of the people. It was necessary to evaluate the success or failure of this policy, and that is what the second component of the study sought to investigate. The empirical component comprised a sociolinguistic survey, conducted with the aim of evaluating the present language policies in a small way, and with a view to finding out what went wrong and why. The survey sought to find out the real language situation in Ghana and the level of individual multilingualism or bilingualism in three sample populations, which were assumed to represent the different types of communities found in Ghana; (a) rural homogeneous, (b) rural heterogeneous and (c) urban. It also sought to find out how successfully the ideologies behind the present language policies have been fulfilled. In short, the survey tried to find out the role played by the various languages used in Ghana in the social, economic and political lives of the people, and how the languages stand in relation to one another as far as their functions are concerned. As part of the empirical component, an English proficiency test was conducted in six Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in the three districts involved in the survey (two schools from each district). This was to find out to what extent the results would reflect the emphasis placed on the learning and use of English as the official language of Ghana. The following summarize some of the findings; 1. the majority of the people use the indigenous languages more than English, including the elite; English serves only an instrumental role; 2. most of the people are engaged in occupations that do not require English; 3. the emphasis on English prevents the larger masses of the population from having access to vital information on matters that could otherwise promote the economic, social and political well-being of the people; 4. the school drop-out rate is high, and most children drop out at a stage where they have no firm grip on literacy in either English or a Ghanaian language; 5. learning through a second language implies knowing that language, and the conditions for learning English in Ghana are not favorable (lack of native speakers, lack of qualified teachers and textbooks, etc.); the result is that after 9 years of schooling, most children can neither speak nor read and write in English; 6. the results of the proficiency test showed that most of the students in the final year of Junior Secondary (JSS) (the stage which happens to be the terminal point for a majority of the students) have such a low level of literacy in English that they cannot communicate in it in any meaningful way. 7. the unity that English was supposed to bring about seemed to be better served by the indigenous languages. In the urban and linguistically heterogeneous rural communities, the people are more united by the fact that the minority groups are able to learn the language of the majority group without losing their own languages; these major Ghanaian languages feature most in inter-ethnic communication. The programmatic component is a proposal for a national language policy and a consequent proposal of a framework for language of education in Ghana. The proposal was based on the findings of the survey and other theoretical and pragmatic facts, some of which include the fact that: 1. bilingual education is vital and necessary for Ghanaian children; 2. research into second language acquisition supports the positive role of L1 in L2 acquisition; 3. concept formation is important in the early part of a child's education, and the language that can more efficiently transmit knowledge to the schoolchildren at the early stages of schooling is the mother tongue or L1. 4. the full development of a nation demands (a) mobilization of the population in informed participation in the social, economic and political programs of the nation; (b) equalization of access to information - for example, information regarding workplace health and safety, global problems of population growth, resource consumption and the environment, and how to help deal with the problems. The present policy makes it possible for only a small proportion of the population to become fluent in English and have access to higher education. This situation denies a majority of the population access to information, because they are not literate in the official language in which most of the relevant information is encoded. The framework proposed gives equal emphasis to English and the Ghanaian languages, and ensures that children who drop out of school early are able to read and write at least a major Ghanaian language. It is also acknowledged that literacy in a Ghanaian language can play positive roles in the lives of the literates by way of acquisition of knowledge and the opportunity to participate better in nation-building. / Graduate

A relevant subject in our globalized world concerns the relationship between language and identity, specifically amongst migrant youngsters’ experience of group belonging. This study therefore focused on how adolescents born to foreign parents in Sweden, perceived their multilingualism as part of their identity formation. I also aimed to include how socio-economic aspects could affect the process of identity construction. Thus, the investigation was performed with seventh grade students at a primary school located in the Stockholm suburb Bredäng. The methods consisted of a questionnaire, which was completed by the entire class and a group interview where six students participated. The results revealed that students adapted their language use based on the context, but Swedish was used most habitually. The informants viewed their multilingualism as beneficial but yet fully aware of the linguistic ideologies functioning in society. By combining their minority and majority language, the students were left with different ethnic identities and had diverse interpretations of what it meant to be Swedish. Even though all of them perceived themselves to have multiple ethnic identities, this was not solely seen positively. The issue of belonging was raised and the students claimed to be outcasts everywhere. However, the results differed depending on whether the students were born in Sweden or not. Also, most of them struggled with the process of assumed and ascribed identities, since they perceived themselves to be Swedish but experienced that society valued them as immigrants. Lastly, the study revealed that there were connections between their multilingualism and social mobility as the relationship towards the motherland was highly prioritized even with low levels of economic capital.

Magister Artium - MA / Terminology such as mother tongue, first language and second language remain prevalent in South African schools’ language policies. These monolingual terms seem out of place within our multilingual landscape (Banda, 2018). With the emergence of the concept of translanguaging (Garcia, 2009, 2014; Banda, 2018), the linguistic practices that people of the Western Cape (and elsewhere in South Africa) have now been legitimised as a useful communicative tool within multilingual spaces. Despite research showing the advantages of using translanguaging in classrooms to enhance comprehension (Banda, 2018), language policies remain monolingual in nature. By conducting research at two schools in Delft, Western Cape, I am able to show how learners and teachers defy the monolingual structure of the language policy, by translanguaging, to make learning and teaching more comprehensible. Using Heller’s (2007) concept of language as social practice, it becomes apparent how learners become social actors within the classroom, by languaging to make meaning. In addition to looking at classroom practices, I use supplementary data, an analysis of the school’s language policy, observations of and commentary on linguistic practices outside of the classroom, to further support the idea that school’s confinement of language is incongruous with the language practices in the area. Finally, I propose that translanguaging be legitimised as classroom practice and teaching materials also be adapted likewise, by producing trilingual posters, showing Afrikaans, English and isiXhosa terms, for the Western Cape.