Facing the Juggernaut: Living Multilingual Lives  

by 

Dr. Lee Su KimSchool of Language Studies & Linguistics

Universiti Kebangsaan MalaysiaMalaysia

Facing the Juggernaut: Living Multilingual Lives

• Jugger-what ? • Theories in second language acquisition• Multilingual speakers in Outer Circle contexts• Research on Language and Identity• Towards a sensitive EIL pedagogy

JuggernautJuggernaut - used to describe a force regarded as unstoppable, that will crush all in its path.

Derived from the Sanskrit Jagannātha (‘Lord of the universe’ ) one of the manynames of Krishna from the ancient Vedic scriptures of India.

The Jagannath Temple in Puri, Orissa has an annual procession of chariotscarrying the statues of Krishna.

Global English - The Juggernaut No of L1 speakers of English – 337 millionNo of L2 speakers - 350 millionNo of EFL speakers - 1 billion Crystal, David. 1997

2010 2 billion people will be learning English. Thereafter, the number of ‘learners’ will decline rapidly, falling to 500–600 million by 2050 – or fewer if enthusiasm for English wanes. Graddol, David. 2006. ‘English Next’ ( London: British Council )

FOCUS ON FORM FOCUS ON PROCESS FOCUS ON THE LEARNER AS A SOCIAL BEING Gardner and Lambert (1972)

Instrumental motivation & Integrative motivation

Krashen (1981 ) The affective filter

Schumann (1978) Congruence for successful acculturation

Theories in Second Language Acquisition ( SLA)

Revisiting Motivation (Norton Peirce, 1995; Norton, 2000)

INVESTMENTAssumes- complex identity- changing across time and space-reproduced in social interaction

MOTIVATIONAssumes- unitary- coherent- ahistoricallanguage learner

Multilingual Speakers in Outer Circle contextsProblems of using a Native Speaker Model in research

Much of SLA theory not relevant:1. Assumptions - developed in Inner Circle contexts, with little

input from other countries. - all speakers of English are targeting for native

speaker competence.

Multilingual Speakers in Outer Circle contextsProblems of using a Native Speaker Model in research

2. Sociocultural contexts are very different between Inner and Outer Circle contexts.

3. Most users of English in Outer Circle contexts have a repertoire of languages. They use English alongside the other languages and draw on their rich linguistic repertoire to signal role relationships.

Differences between the Inner Circle and Outer Circle contexts

Norton Peirce (1995)Inner Circle contexts

Investment in the TL isinvestment in one’s social

identity

Investment in TL - expectationof rewards - “range of

symbolic resources”.

Returns will increase their “cultural capital”

Lee Su Kim ( 2003 )Outer Circle contexts

Highly dependent on the localised contexts

Has to be masked sometimes depending on contexts

Language – used to include and exclude

Does not always brings outright rewards

Despite dissonance, still brings dividends and positive returns.

Work on impact of English Language on Identity of Bi/Multilingual Speakers

Previous research

• Lee Su Kim, 2001. A Qualitative Study of the Impact of English on the Identity Constructions of

Malaysian ESL speakers• Lee, Su Kim. (2003) Multiple

Identities in a Multicultural World: A Malaysian perspective. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, Vol. 2, No. 3, 137- 58.

UKM GUP research projecton Language & Identity

Lee Su Kim ( Team Leader ) Lee King SiongWong Fook FeiAzizah Ya’acob

Research on Language and Identity

Multilingualism

- Adept bilingual/multilingual speakers- Owners of a repertoire of languages, with English as

a dominant language - No longer a ‘mother tongue’ but a number of

tongues. - English used in all domains - family, friendship,

academic, social, cyberspace.- Not necessarily nativelike competence of English.

Varying degrees of competence

Call for new ways of looking at Multilingualism

-A reassessment needed of some of the frameworks and theories

Bilingualism, multilingualism, language planning, identity construction, SLA, interference.

- Has to be approached in terms of the interrelatability of the languages in these contexts, and NOT on the basis of how the earlier European based theories represent them outside these contexts.

Multilingualism – generational differences

English – viewed as a pragmatic useful language. • Not regarded as a threat to cultural identity.• The ‘What’s the big deal?’ factor. • A tool that allows access to different world views. • A language of empowerment.

Musa : You’re not going to develop yourself whether, uhm, economically, or, you know, individually if you don’t speak English right now. Because I think it’s a tool for us. 

Towards an appropriate methodology for EIL

- No one best method- “A sense of plausibility” (Prabhu, 1990)“Teacher’s subjective understanding of the teaching

they do”- A pedagogy of appropriation- Methodology should not be linked to just one

cultural mode or paradigm- Sensitivity to the local cultural context- Be aware of the cultures of learning- Global thinking, local teaching