CONTESTING LINGUISTIC IDENTITIES AND THE PERSISTENCE OF STANDARDISED PRONUNCIATION
Main Article Content
Abstract
Despite a global paradigm shift towards multilingualism and EIL (English as an International Language) in English language education, a stubborn adherence to so-called ‘standardised’ forms of foreign languages persists in non-English language speaking countries. Language teachers, learners and their parents, as much as policy makers and curriculum designers, insist on the adoption of ‘standard’ varieties of English as normative and unquestioned. These expectations are natural, given language users’ awareness of the cultural capital that these standardised forms of pronunciations can afford to them. This paper discusses how formal education, often through the hidden curriculum, reinforces the pressure to conform to standardised pronunciation and how this can negatively implicate language learners’ identities. One may question why a Vietnamese speaker would want to have a distinct ‘American’ or ‘British’ accent when they speak, and what real privileges these bring to them. One may also question why a Vietnamese accent in English, a distinct identity marker, can be deemed to represent less prestigious capital, and whether this may disadvantage them in certain contexts. In discussing the cognitive and cultural benefits of multilingual and culturally responsive instruction, the paper argues that as language educators we need to make our learners aware of their linguistic identities and how intelligible but non-standardised accents of foreign languages can and should be legitimate markers of one’s identity.
Article Details
Keywords
linguistic identity, standardised pronunciation, accent, hidden curriculum, native speakerism, English as an international language
References
Alisaari, J., Heikkola, L. M., Commins, N., & Acquah, E. O. (2019). Monolingual ideologies confronting multilingual realities: Finnish teachers’ beliefs about linguistic diversity. Teaching and Teacher Education, 80, 48-58. Https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2019.01.003
Alsubaie, M. A. (2015). Hidden curriculum as one of current issue of curriculum. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(33), 125-128.
Althusser, L. (1976). Ideology and ideological state apparatuses. In A. Sharma, & A. Gupta (Eds.), Essays on ideology (pp. 1-60). Blackwell.
Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Education, 162(1), 67-92.
Apple, M. W. (1979). Ideology and curriculum. Routledge.
Baker, C., & Wright, W. E. (2021). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
Bjork, C. (2023). ChatGPT threatens language diversity. More needs to be done to protect our differences in the age of AI. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-threatens-language-diversity-more-needs-to-be-done-to-protect-our-differences-in-the-age-of-ai-198878
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. Sage.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). Forms of Capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). Greenwood.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Canagarajah, S. (2011). Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 1-28.
Canagarajah, S. (2012). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. Routledge.
Canh, L. V. (2018). My professional journey: An autobiographical narrative. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 34(5), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4294
Canh, L.V (2016). English language teaching in Vietnam: An overview. In W. A. Renandya & H. P. Widodo (Eds.), English language teaching today: Linking theory and practice (pp. 229–241). Springer.
Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10, 221-240.
Cummins, J., Bismila, V., Chow, P., Cohen, P., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., et al. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38-43.
Delavan, M. G., Valdez, V. E., & Freire, J. A. (2017). Language as whose resource? When global economics usurp the local equity potentials of dual language education. International Multilingual Research Journal, 11(2), 86-100.
Fitch, F. (2003). Inclusion, exclusion, and ideology: Special education students' changing sense of self. The Urban Review, 35(3), 233-252.
García, O., & Beardsmore, H. G. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Wiley/Blackwell.
García, O. (2013). From disglossia to transglossia: Bilingual and multilingual classrooms in the 21st century. In
C. Abello-Contesse, P. M. Chandler, M. D. López-Jiménez, & R. Chacón-Beltrán (Eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education in the 21st century: Building on experience (pp. 155-178). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090716-012
García, O. (2017). Critical multilingual language awareness and teacher education. In J. Cenoz, D. Gorter, & S. May (Eds.), Language awareness and multilingualism (pp. 263-280). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02240-6_30
García, O., & Hesson, S. (2015). Translanguaging frameworks for teachers: Macro and micro perspectives. In A. Yiacoumetti (Ed.), Multilingualism and language in education: Current sociolinguistic and pedagogical perspectives from Commonwealth countries (pp. 221-242). Cambridge University Press.
García, O., & Kleyn, T. (2016). Translanguaging theory in education. In O. García, & T. Kleyn (Eds.), Translanguaging with multilingual students: Learning from classroom moments (pp. 9-33). Routledge.
García, O., & Lin, A. (2017). Translanguaging in bilingual education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02258-1_9
García, O., & Otheguy, R. (2014). Spanish and Hispanic bilingualism. In M. Lacorte (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Hispanic applied linguistics (pp. 639-658). Routledge.
García, O., Johnson, S. I., & Seltzer, K. (2017). The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Caslon Publishing.
García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
Giroux, H. A., & Penna, A. N. (1983). The hidden curriculum and moral education: Deception or Discovery? McCutchan Publishing Corporation.
Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does and does not say. American Educator, 8(23), 41-44.
Hoang, V.V. (2010). The current situation and issues of the teaching of English in Vietnam. Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture, 22(1), 7-18.
Jackson, P. W. (1968). Life in classrooms. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Kachru, B. B. (1986). The alchemy of English: The spread functions and models of non-native Englishes. Pergamon.
Kachru, B. B. (Ed.). (1996). The other tongue: English across cultures. Oxford University Press.
Koutsouris, G., Mountford-Zimdars, A., & Dingwall, K. (2021). The ‘ideal’ higher education student: Understanding the hidden curriculum to enable institutional change. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 26(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.1909921
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
Lareau, A. &, Weininger, E. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment. Theory and Society, 32, 567–606.
Le Ha, P. (2008). Teaching English as an international language: Identity, resistance, and negotiation. Multilingual Matters.
MacSwan, J. (2017). A multilingual perspective on translanguaging. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 167-201. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216683935
May, S. (2013). Introducing the “multilingual turn”. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 1-6). Routledge.
McKay, S. (2010). English as an international language. In N. Hornberger & S. McKay (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language education (pp. 89-115). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692849-006
Menken, K., & Kleyn, T. (2010). The long-term impact of subtractive schooling in educational experiences of secondary English language learners. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(4), 399-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050903370143
Miramontes, O. B., Nadeau, A., & Commins, N. L. (2011). Restructuring schools for linguistic diversity: Linking decision making to effective programs. Teachers College Press.
Nguyen, H. T. M. (2011). Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225–249.
Ovando, C. J., & Combs, M. C. (2011). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. McGraw-Hill Education.
Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Longman.
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. Routledge.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Roshid, M. M., & Chowdhury, R. (2023). Power dynamics in business English as lingua franca discourse. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906231165275
Roshid, M. M. & Chowdhury, R. (2013). English language proficiency and employment: A case study of Bangladeshi graduates in Australian employment market. Mevlana International Journal of Education, 3(1), 68-81.
Roshid, M. M., Webb, S., & Chowdhury, R. (2022). English as a business lingua franca: A discursive analysis of business emails. International Journal of Business Communication, 59(1), 83-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488418808040
Rossouw, N., & Frick, L. (2023). A conceptual framework for uncovering the hidden curriculum in private higher education. Cogent Education, 10(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2023.2191409
Slavin, R., & Cheung, A. (2005). A synthesis of research on language of reading instruction for English Language Learners. Review of Educational Research, 75, 247-281.
Taylor, L. K., Bernhard, J. K., Garg, S., & Cummins, J. (2008). Affirming plural belonging: Building on students' family-based cultural and linguistic capital through multiliteracies pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Education, 8(3), 269-294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798408096481
Thielsch, A. (2017). Approaching the invisible: Hidden curriculum and implicit expectations in higher education. Journal for Higher Education Development, 12(4), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.3217/zfhe-12-04/11
Throsby, D. (1999). Cultural capital. Journal of Cultural Economics, 23, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007543313370
Tuan, D. A. (2021). Intelligible pronunciation: Teaching English to Vietnamese learners. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 37(1), 176-182. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4666
Uleanya, C. (2022). Hidden curriculum versus transition from onsite to online: A review following COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Cogent Education, 9(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2090102
Valdiviezo, L. A., & Nieto, S. (2017). Culture in bilingual and multilingual education: Conflict, struggle, and power. In W. E. Wright, S. Boun, & O. García (Eds.), The handbook of bilingual and multilingual education (pp. 92-108). Wiley.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
Alsubaie, M. A. (2015). Hidden curriculum as one of current issue of curriculum. Journal of Education and Practice, 6(33), 125-128.
Althusser, L. (1976). Ideology and ideological state apparatuses. In A. Sharma, & A. Gupta (Eds.), Essays on ideology (pp. 1-60). Blackwell.
Anyon, J. (1980). Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Education, 162(1), 67-92.
Apple, M. W. (1979). Ideology and curriculum. Routledge.
Baker, C., & Wright, W. E. (2021). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism. Multilingual Matters.
Bjork, C. (2023). ChatGPT threatens language diversity. More needs to be done to protect our differences in the age of AI. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-threatens-language-diversity-more-needs-to-be-done-to-protect-our-differences-in-the-age-of-ai-198878
Bourdieu, P., & Passeron, J. C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. Sage.
Bourdieu, P. (1986). Forms of Capital. In J. G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of Education (pp. 241-258). Greenwood.
Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Harvard University Press.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Canagarajah, S. (2011). Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy. Applied Linguistics Review, 2, 1-28.
Canagarajah, S. (2012). Translingual practice: Global Englishes and cosmopolitan relations. Routledge.
Canh, L. V. (2018). My professional journey: An autobiographical narrative. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 34(5), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4294
Canh, L.V (2016). English language teaching in Vietnam: An overview. In W. A. Renandya & H. P. Widodo (Eds.), English language teaching today: Linking theory and practice (pp. 229–241). Springer.
Cummins, J. (2007). Rethinking monolingual instructional strategies in multilingual classrooms. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 10, 221-240.
Cummins, J., Bismila, V., Chow, P., Cohen, P., Giampapa, F., Leoni, L., et al. (2005). Affirming identity in multilingual classrooms. Educational Leadership, 63(1), 38-43.
Delavan, M. G., Valdez, V. E., & Freire, J. A. (2017). Language as whose resource? When global economics usurp the local equity potentials of dual language education. International Multilingual Research Journal, 11(2), 86-100.
Fitch, F. (2003). Inclusion, exclusion, and ideology: Special education students' changing sense of self. The Urban Review, 35(3), 233-252.
García, O., & Beardsmore, H. G. (2009). Bilingual education in the 21st century: A global perspective. Wiley/Blackwell.
García, O. (2013). From disglossia to transglossia: Bilingual and multilingual classrooms in the 21st century. In
C. Abello-Contesse, P. M. Chandler, M. D. López-Jiménez, & R. Chacón-Beltrán (Eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education in the 21st century: Building on experience (pp. 155-178). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090716-012
García, O. (2017). Critical multilingual language awareness and teacher education. In J. Cenoz, D. Gorter, & S. May (Eds.), Language awareness and multilingualism (pp. 263-280). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02240-6_30
García, O., & Hesson, S. (2015). Translanguaging frameworks for teachers: Macro and micro perspectives. In A. Yiacoumetti (Ed.), Multilingualism and language in education: Current sociolinguistic and pedagogical perspectives from Commonwealth countries (pp. 221-242). Cambridge University Press.
García, O., & Kleyn, T. (2016). Translanguaging theory in education. In O. García, & T. Kleyn (Eds.), Translanguaging with multilingual students: Learning from classroom moments (pp. 9-33). Routledge.
García, O., & Lin, A. (2017). Translanguaging in bilingual education. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02258-1_9
García, O., & Otheguy, R. (2014). Spanish and Hispanic bilingualism. In M. Lacorte (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of Hispanic applied linguistics (pp. 639-658). Routledge.
García, O., Johnson, S. I., & Seltzer, K. (2017). The translanguaging classroom: Leveraging student bilingualism for learning. Caslon Publishing.
García, O., & Wei, L. (2014). Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Palgrave Macmillan.
Gay, G. (2000). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Teachers College Press.
Giroux, H. A., & Penna, A. N. (1983). The hidden curriculum and moral education: Deception or Discovery? McCutchan Publishing Corporation.
Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does and does not say. American Educator, 8(23), 41-44.
Hoang, V.V. (2010). The current situation and issues of the teaching of English in Vietnam. Ritsumeikan Studies in Language and Culture, 22(1), 7-18.
Jackson, P. W. (1968). Life in classrooms. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Kachru, B. B. (1986). The alchemy of English: The spread functions and models of non-native Englishes. Pergamon.
Kachru, B. B. (Ed.). (1996). The other tongue: English across cultures. Oxford University Press.
Koutsouris, G., Mountford-Zimdars, A., & Dingwall, K. (2021). The ‘ideal’ higher education student: Understanding the hidden curriculum to enable institutional change. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 26(2), 131–147. https://doi.org/10.1080/13596748.2021.1909921
Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. Jossey-Bass.
Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465-491.
Lareau, A. &, Weininger, E. B. (2003). Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment. Theory and Society, 32, 567–606.
Le Ha, P. (2008). Teaching English as an international language: Identity, resistance, and negotiation. Multilingual Matters.
MacSwan, J. (2017). A multilingual perspective on translanguaging. American Educational Research Journal, 54(1), 167-201. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216683935
May, S. (2013). Introducing the “multilingual turn”. In S. May (Ed.), The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL and bilingual education (pp. 1-6). Routledge.
McKay, S. (2010). English as an international language. In N. Hornberger & S. McKay (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and language education (pp. 89-115). Multilingual Matters. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692849-006
Menken, K., & Kleyn, T. (2010). The long-term impact of subtractive schooling in educational experiences of secondary English language learners. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 13(4), 399-417. https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050903370143
Miramontes, O. B., Nadeau, A., & Commins, N. L. (2011). Restructuring schools for linguistic diversity: Linking decision making to effective programs. Teachers College Press.
Nguyen, H. T. M. (2011). Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225–249.
Ovando, C. J., & Combs, M. C. (2011). Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts. McGraw-Hill Education.
Paris, D. (2012). Culturally sustaining pedagogy: A needed change in stance, terminology and practice. Educational Researcher, 41(3), 93-97. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12441244
Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. Longman.
Pennycook, A. (1998). English and the discourses of colonialism. Routledge.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Roshid, M. M., & Chowdhury, R. (2023). Power dynamics in business English as lingua franca discourse. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/23294906231165275
Roshid, M. M. & Chowdhury, R. (2013). English language proficiency and employment: A case study of Bangladeshi graduates in Australian employment market. Mevlana International Journal of Education, 3(1), 68-81.
Roshid, M. M., Webb, S., & Chowdhury, R. (2022). English as a business lingua franca: A discursive analysis of business emails. International Journal of Business Communication, 59(1), 83-103. https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488418808040
Rossouw, N., & Frick, L. (2023). A conceptual framework for uncovering the hidden curriculum in private higher education. Cogent Education, 10(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2023.2191409
Slavin, R., & Cheung, A. (2005). A synthesis of research on language of reading instruction for English Language Learners. Review of Educational Research, 75, 247-281.
Taylor, L. K., Bernhard, J. K., Garg, S., & Cummins, J. (2008). Affirming plural belonging: Building on students' family-based cultural and linguistic capital through multiliteracies pedagogy. Journal of Early Childhood Education, 8(3), 269-294. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468798408096481
Thielsch, A. (2017). Approaching the invisible: Hidden curriculum and implicit expectations in higher education. Journal for Higher Education Development, 12(4), 167–187. https://doi.org/10.3217/zfhe-12-04/11
Throsby, D. (1999). Cultural capital. Journal of Cultural Economics, 23, 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007543313370
Tuan, D. A. (2021). Intelligible pronunciation: Teaching English to Vietnamese learners. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 37(1), 176-182. https://doi.org/10.25073/2525-2445/vnufs.4666
Uleanya, C. (2022). Hidden curriculum versus transition from onsite to online: A review following COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Cogent Education, 9(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2022.2090102
Valdiviezo, L. A., & Nieto, S. (2017). Culture in bilingual and multilingual education: Conflict, struggle, and power. In W. E. Wright, S. Boun, & O. García (Eds.), The handbook of bilingual and multilingual education (pp. 92-108). Wiley.
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.