Drawing on the notion of sociolinguistic scaling, the present contribution argues for an understa... more Drawing on the notion of sociolinguistic scaling, the present contribution argues for an understanding of an asylum-seeking centre as a unit of inquiry in which sociolinguistic repertoires are played out during intercultural communicative encounters. The contribution shows how the centre’s spaces encapsulate time- and space-bound interactional regimes and language hierarchies. Taken as such, the different rooms that make up the centre, e. g. the office, the activity room and the corridor, all may seem neutral spaces where the daily lives of people unfold. However, each of these spaces invites, allows and dismisses various interactional sociolinguistic regimes that lead to micro-practices of inclusion and exclusion. The article concludes with a consideration on whether the homogeneous category ‘newly arrived migrant in need of civic integration’ authored by many governments across Europe, should not be re-evaluated, in light of the affordances of sociolinguistic scaling and digital l...
... Page 98. 97 Immigrant minority language teachingpolicies and practices in the Netherlands Tab... more ... Page 98. 97 Immigrant minority language teachingpolicies and practices in the Netherlands Table 1: Gender, names and home languages of the pupils in Form 8a Boys Girls Home language (s) Khalid Dutch, Arabic Sofian Samira; Lemnja; Siham Dutch, Berber Rhonda Dutch ...
This paper explores the intersection of new speakers in conditions of globalisation led mobility ... more This paper explores the intersection of new speakers in conditions of globalisation led mobility and it investigates the implications the phenomena may have for language policy making. It first describes two historical phases in language policy development that are closely related to a sociolinguistics of stability. In this, it criticises how present-day language policy is attached to specific time and space constraints whose focus is a by now outdated concept of language and of speaker as its prescriptive objects-thus leading institutional language policies to not being 'in sync' with contemporary new speakers' socio-and geo-political movements and developments. This proposition is illustrated in two case studies, both located in the Netherlands and dealing with the language practices and connected policies of two types of new speakers. The first case deals with the experiences of asylum seekers being engaged with 'techno-literacies'. That is asylum seekers being part of ICT assisted classes for civic integration through the learning of Dutch (new speakers of a new language, learning through new means of language learning). The second case deals with Chinese students who are fully proficient in Dutch, attending language heritage classes for learning Mandarin through book based lessons (new speakers of an old language, learning through old means of language learning). In both cases, the observed language practices and meta-pragmatic judgements of the individual language users elect them as initiators of bottom-up sociolinguistic change that, while offering grassroots solutions for local challenges, also plays a role as local evidence for informing future top-down language policy development.
Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Spotti, M. (2010). Every ethnographer i... more Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Spotti, M. (2010). Every ethnographer is a Borat but is every Borat an ethnographer?. Kielen kanoilla, 1-2. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.? Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research? You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain? You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 17. mei. 2016 Every et...
If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.
The Volume extends earlier work done on the concept of superdiversity from describing linguistic ... more The Volume extends earlier work done on the concept of superdiversity from describing linguistic and sociolinguistic complexity occuring globally to a focus on specific institutional and formal and non-formal spaces that come to adopted and adapted to infrastructures of globalisation
Resumo Vivemos uma sociedade fortemente marcada por uma nova e complexa teia de relações, regulaç... more Resumo Vivemos uma sociedade fortemente marcada por uma nova e complexa teia de relações, regulações e práticas em resposta à globalização e ao advento das novas tecnologias digitais. A mobilidade humana, em particular, torna-se um elemento fundamental no exercício de compreensão desses novos tempos na medida em que dela emerge uma diversificação da diversidade sem precedentes, a qual passou a ser tratada como superdiversidade. Tomando-se a linguagem como aspecto primordial nas relações humanas, as complexidades emergentes nas novas interações sociais devem ser consideradas em pesquisas que se voltam para a produção de sentidos em contextos comunicativos online e offline. Nesta entrevista, Jan Blommaert e Massimiliano Spotti, da Universidade de Tilburg (Holanda), oferecem-nos uma análise pungente a respeito da trajetória da sociolinguística. Ao posicionarem-se em favor da necessária mudança paradigmática do campo em que as pesquisas acerca da linguagem passem a considerar elementos ...
Drawing on the notion of sociolinguistic scaling, the present contribution argues for an understa... more Drawing on the notion of sociolinguistic scaling, the present contribution argues for an understanding of an asylum-seeking centre as a unit of inquiry in which sociolinguistic repertoires are played out during intercultural communicative encounters. The contribution shows how the centre’s spaces encapsulate time- and space-bound interactional regimes and language hierarchies. Taken as such, the different rooms that make up the centre, e. g. the office, the activity room and the corridor, all may seem neutral spaces where the daily lives of people unfold. However, each of these spaces invites, allows and dismisses various interactional sociolinguistic regimes that lead to micro-practices of inclusion and exclusion. The article concludes with a consideration on whether the homogeneous category ‘newly arrived migrant in need of civic integration’ authored by many governments across Europe, should not be re-evaluated, in light of the affordances of sociolinguistic scaling and digital l...
... Page 98. 97 Immigrant minority language teachingpolicies and practices in the Netherlands Tab... more ... Page 98. 97 Immigrant minority language teachingpolicies and practices in the Netherlands Table 1: Gender, names and home languages of the pupils in Form 8a Boys Girls Home language (s) Khalid Dutch, Arabic Sofian Samira; Lemnja; Siham Dutch, Berber Rhonda Dutch ...
This paper explores the intersection of new speakers in conditions of globalisation led mobility ... more This paper explores the intersection of new speakers in conditions of globalisation led mobility and it investigates the implications the phenomena may have for language policy making. It first describes two historical phases in language policy development that are closely related to a sociolinguistics of stability. In this, it criticises how present-day language policy is attached to specific time and space constraints whose focus is a by now outdated concept of language and of speaker as its prescriptive objects-thus leading institutional language policies to not being 'in sync' with contemporary new speakers' socio-and geo-political movements and developments. This proposition is illustrated in two case studies, both located in the Netherlands and dealing with the language practices and connected policies of two types of new speakers. The first case deals with the experiences of asylum seekers being engaged with 'techno-literacies'. That is asylum seekers being part of ICT assisted classes for civic integration through the learning of Dutch (new speakers of a new language, learning through new means of language learning). The second case deals with Chinese students who are fully proficient in Dutch, attending language heritage classes for learning Mandarin through book based lessons (new speakers of an old language, learning through old means of language learning). In both cases, the observed language practices and meta-pragmatic judgements of the individual language users elect them as initiators of bottom-up sociolinguistic change that, while offering grassroots solutions for local challenges, also plays a role as local evidence for informing future top-down language policy development.
Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Spotti, M. (2010). Every ethnographer i... more Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Spotti, M. (2010). Every ethnographer is a Borat but is every Borat an ethnographer?. Kielen kanoilla, 1-2. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.? Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research? You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain? You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright, please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 17. mei. 2016 Every et...
If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination... more If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections.
The Volume extends earlier work done on the concept of superdiversity from describing linguistic ... more The Volume extends earlier work done on the concept of superdiversity from describing linguistic and sociolinguistic complexity occuring globally to a focus on specific institutional and formal and non-formal spaces that come to adopted and adapted to infrastructures of globalisation
Resumo Vivemos uma sociedade fortemente marcada por uma nova e complexa teia de relações, regulaç... more Resumo Vivemos uma sociedade fortemente marcada por uma nova e complexa teia de relações, regulações e práticas em resposta à globalização e ao advento das novas tecnologias digitais. A mobilidade humana, em particular, torna-se um elemento fundamental no exercício de compreensão desses novos tempos na medida em que dela emerge uma diversificação da diversidade sem precedentes, a qual passou a ser tratada como superdiversidade. Tomando-se a linguagem como aspecto primordial nas relações humanas, as complexidades emergentes nas novas interações sociais devem ser consideradas em pesquisas que se voltam para a produção de sentidos em contextos comunicativos online e offline. Nesta entrevista, Jan Blommaert e Massimiliano Spotti, da Universidade de Tilburg (Holanda), oferecem-nos uma análise pungente a respeito da trajetória da sociolinguística. Ao posicionarem-se em favor da necessária mudança paradigmática do campo em que as pesquisas acerca da linguagem passem a considerar elementos ...
this paper explores the scope for research on language and superdiversity. 1 Following a protract... more this paper explores the scope for research on language and superdiversity. 1 Following a protracted process of paradigm shift, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology are well placed to engage with the contemporary social changes associated with superdiversity. After a brief introductory discussion of what superdiversity entails, the paper outlines key theoretical and methodological developments in language study: named languages have now been denaturalized, the linguistic is treated as just one semiotic among many, inequality and innovation are positioned together in a dynamics of pervasive normativity, and the contexts in which people orient their interactions reach far beyond the communicative event itself. From here, this paper moves to a research agenda on superdiversity and language that is strongly embedded in ethnography. The combination of linguistics and ethnography produces an exceptionally powerful and differentiated view of both activity and ideology. After a characterization of what linguistic ethnography offers social science in general, this paper sketches some priorities for research on language and communication in particular, emphasizing the need for cumulative comparison, both as an objective in theory and description and as a resource for practical intervention.
La collana intende accogliere contributi dedicati alla descrizione e all'analisi dell'italiano e ... more La collana intende accogliere contributi dedicati alla descrizione e all'analisi dell'italiano e di altre lingue moderne e antiche, secondo l'ampio ventaglio delle teorie linguistiche e con riferimento alle realizzazioni scritte e orali, offrendo così strumenti di lavoro sia agli specialisti del settore sia agli studenti. Nel quadro dello studio teorico dei meccanismi che governano il funzionamento e l'evoluzione delle lingue, la collana riserva ampio spazio ai contributi dedicati all'analisi del testo tradotto, in quanto luogo di contatto e veicolo privilegiato di interferenza. Parallelamente, essa è aperta ad accogliere lavori sui temi relativi alla didattica dell'italiano e delle lingue straniere, nonché alla didattica della traduzione, riportando così i risultati delle indagini descrittive e teoriche a una dimensione di tipo formativo. La vocazione della collana a coniugare la ricerca teorica e la didattica, inoltre, è solo il versante privilegiato dell'apertura a contributi di tipo applicativo.
What is required to achieve civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world? ... more What is required to achieve civic integration and citizenship in nation states across the world? Should language testing be a part of it? This book addresses the urgent need to develop a fuller conceptual and theoretical basis for language testing than is currently available, to enable widespread discussion of this theme and the concomitant linguistic and cultural requirements.
The policy proposals for civic integration have so far been conducted almost entirely at a national level, and with little regard for the experiences of a countries with long traditions of migration, such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia. At the same time, EU enlargment and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that these issues will continue to grow in importance.
This book raises the level of discussion to take account of international developments and to promote a more coherent and soundly based debate. It will appeal to researchers and academics working in sociolinguistics and language education, as well as those working on language policy.
Launched in 2005 following the revised Lisbon Agenda, the policy framework ‘i2010: A European Inf... more Launched in 2005 following the revised Lisbon Agenda, the policy framework ‘i2010: A European Information Society for Growth and Employment’ established digital inclusion as an EU strategic policy goal. Building on this, the 2006 Riga Declaration on e-Inclusion
defined eInclusion as meaning “both inclusive ICT and the use of ICT to achieve wider inclusion objectives” and identified, as one of its six priorities, the promotion of cultural diversity in Europe by
“improving the possibilities for economic and social participation and integration, creativity and entrepreneurship of immigrants and minorities by stimulating their participation in the information society.”
In the light of these goals, and given the dearth of empirical evidence on this topic, DG Information Society and Media, Unit H3 (eInclusion) asked the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS)1 to investigate from different angles the adoption and use of ICTs by immigrants and ethnic minorities (henceforth IEM) in Europe and the related policy implications. In response to this request, IPTS carried out several studies exploring the potential of ICTs for the inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities. This study falls into this research line. This document reports on the results of a qualitative study on the use of ICT applications for L2 (second language) learning by adult immigrants in the Netherlands and Sweden.
The purpose of this study was to discover the main drivers and
barriers that influence the successful use of ICTs in formal L2 education and to formulate opportunities for future development.
Building on an overview of the history of civic integration policy in the Netherlands, we show ho... more Building on an overview of the history of civic integration policy in the Netherlands, we show how – parallel to the development of a stricter integration policy – we see an exponential growth of ICT in the Dutch as a second language sector. While ICT used to be a means for learning support in second language classrooms, it seems to have become a key factor for the newly arrived migrant to manage his own learning and integration. This stress laid on ICT, though, impinges upon (low-educated) migrants as a new obstacle where it is the being literate the precondition upon which someone becomes more easily integrated and through that can stay. To back this claim, our contribution looks at ICT applications and at how they get picked up – or else – by learners. The contribution concludes denouncing that the transformational power of ICT is institutionally adopted in integration classes in that it serves the purpose of becoming a fast track lane for integration exams. The paradoxes emerged from the learner's view, however, stress that the diversity of migrants' own learning development requires diversity in and reflection on 'self-teaching devices' when ICT applications are brought into classes on the basis of policy requirements.
The web is the repository of truth and the net is its vehicle, well, at least that is what it see... more The web is the repository of truth and the net is its vehicle, well, at least that is what it seems to be. An example that casts some doubts on the diffused belief of the web's unchallengeable authority is what happened to me a few weeks ago. While having to rent a car for the Dutch Heritage Day, I had to find a car rental provider. Was I to trust one of the most monopolizing authorities of human beings' daily lives, I would not have found it. This is but a trivial example but in spite of its triviality, there is something well worth noticing here about web truths and the consequences these may have for such people's lives when it comes down to matters of being legally allowed to stay in a country or being made leave. It is against this background that I try to take you by the hand, into the paradoxes of web truths and asylum seeking
Goal: In contexts of crisis and controversies, bipartisan positioning, and polarising political t... more Goal: In contexts of crisis and controversies, bipartisan positioning, and polarising political tendencies, minorities and migrants tend to emerge as a scapegoat to explain social, educational, health, and economic problems, leading to the spread of far-right ideologies and to the dissemination of fake news and hate discourse. Such discourse emerges and disseminates at a high pace in social media and social networks, through text and multimedia resources, meaning that a high level of digital literacy, understood as the capacity to critically read, interpret and engage with (multimodal) news and discourse in digital supports, is needed to navigate information on these hot social themes and their educational implications. CoMMiTTEd, an ERASMUS PLUS approved by the German Agency, addresses these issues by planning, developing, testing, and evaluating resources for digital teaching education, aiming at enhancing student teachers' critical thinking through enriched critical (multimodal) discourse analysis abilities and digital teaching competences. Participating universities:
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Papers by Max Spotti
The policy proposals for civic integration have so far been conducted almost entirely at a national level, and with little regard for the experiences of a countries with long traditions of migration, such as the USA, Canada, the UK or Australia. At the same time, EU enlargment and the ongoing rise in the rate of migration into and across Europe suggest that these issues will continue to grow in importance.
This book raises the level of discussion to take account of international developments and to promote a more coherent and soundly based debate. It will appeal to researchers and academics working in sociolinguistics and language education, as well as those working on language policy.
defined eInclusion as meaning “both inclusive ICT and the use of ICT to achieve wider inclusion objectives” and identified, as one of its six priorities, the promotion of cultural diversity in Europe by
“improving the possibilities for economic and social participation and integration, creativity and entrepreneurship of immigrants and minorities by stimulating their participation in the information society.”
In the light of these goals, and given the dearth of empirical evidence on this topic, DG Information Society and Media, Unit H3 (eInclusion) asked the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS)1 to investigate from different angles the adoption and use of ICTs by immigrants and ethnic minorities (henceforth IEM) in Europe and the related policy implications. In response to this request, IPTS carried out several studies exploring the potential of ICTs for the inclusion of migrants and ethnic minorities. This study falls into this research line. This document reports on the results of a qualitative study on the use of ICT applications for L2 (second language) learning by adult immigrants in the Netherlands and Sweden.
The purpose of this study was to discover the main drivers and
barriers that influence the successful use of ICTs in formal L2 education and to formulate opportunities for future development.