Researching multilingually – exploring emerging linguistic practices in migrant contexts

Jane Andrews (University of the West of England, UK), Richard Fay (The University of Manchester, UK), Sari Pöyhönen & Mirja

Tarnanen (Jyväskylän yliopisto, Suomi)

Outline• Theoretical underpinnings of ethnographic research with

migrants • Case 1: Insights from participative, photo-based research in

Finland• Case 2: Insights from participative, arts-based research in

Romania• Reflections from the two studies

Theoretical underpinnings

Informing theoretical areas 1. Intersectionality theory – applying

an intersectional lens (Crenshaw, 1989)

2. Languaging and linguistic incompetence (Phipps, 2011, 2013)

3. Linguistic ethnography concepts – identity, language, multilingual realities (Gardner & Martin-Jones, 2012)

4. Creative arts approaches in working / researching in communities (Connery, John-Steiner, Marjanovic-Shane, 2010)

Some questions raised• who migrates?• how does language work in

contexts of pressure and pain? • how are identities constructed

and reconstructed in changing contexts?

• How might music, visual arts, poetry open up affirming dialogues? – potentials to go beyond language

Applying an intersectional lens

• Crenshaw (1989: 139) need to focus on “the multidimensionality of Black women’s experiences”

• Rejection of “single axis analysis”• Provides a productive way to examine the lives and

experiences of individuals living in multicultural societies. • Accounts e.g. Caroline Moorhead’s “Human Cargo” testify to

the diverse experiences and backgrounds of migrants• David Block and Victor Corona (2014): “language, culture and

identity researchers need to take the intersectionality of identity inscriptions seriously. “

Languaging 1• The work of Alison Phipps 2011, 2013 • Linguistic hospitality, including the concept of linguistic

incompetence in order to show …• Linguistic solidarity• The value of studying language in contexts of pressure and

pain to address real world questions • Contrast with research into language in more stable contexts

– language classrooms in contexts of privilege

Languaging 2 Languaging• “… a way of articulating the full, embodied and engaged

interaction with the world that comes when we put the languages we are using into action.”

Languagers…• “… engage with the world-in-action, … move in the world in a

way that allows the risk of stepping out of one’s habitual ways of speaking and attempt to develop different, more relational ways of interacting with the people and phenomena that one encounters in everyday life.”

(Phipps, 2011, p. 365)

Multilingualism and linguistic ethnography• Heller (2012: 30-31) circulating people, entering a mobile, multilingual

global economy • Heller – we need to define multilingualism in current times - “not as a

property of individuals or of groups, or even as a characteristic of spaces, but rather as sets of circulating, constructible and deconstructible resources”

• New multilingual realities – Gardner & Martin-Jones, (2012: 9) – critical reflexivity, local practices studied and wider social and ideological processes, identities constructed

• Blackledge & Creese (2010) multilingual team working as integral to linguistic ethnography in community education contexts – attention to multilingual fieldwork processes

• Linguistic team ethnography assumes an elaboration and deeper understanding of complex phenomenon, negotiating the methodological rich points (Hornberger 2013) of the data, and their relevance in the development of research claims.

A Role for the Creative Arts?

• CAs as communication

• CAs in research

• CAs in migrant encounters

Case 1 - Finland• Explores how refugees seeking asylum narrate their

life stories and negotiate identities at a reception centre in a Swedish-dominant region of Finland.

• Analyses the significance of Swedish and Finnish in the narratives and practices of asylum seekers and various other actors.

• Photo-project among young, unaccompanied minors and their counselors in a group home. – Photographing surroundings, moments and feelings– Photo exhibition & co-presentation

Linguistic team ethnography with participants- Fieldnotes &

metacommentaries - Interviews,

conversations- Photographs,

diaries- Media data- Policy data

Feedback from the audience

• “I’m very happy that such project is going on in Finland. Keep on a wonderful job!”

• “Hieno projekti. Hyvä pojat! Kertoi hienosti sen, miten sanat ovat välillä todella marginaalinen asia, kun halutaan kertoa jotain merkityksellistä. Kiitos, lisää!” [‘A great project. Good boys! It told wonderfully, how words can be marginal if you want to say something meaningful. Thanks and [give us] more!’]

Case 2 - Romania

• Participative arts based research• Collaboration with NGO, artists, academics• Workshops as a mode of communication• Textiles, poetry, drama, music as languages• Story sharing, multiple languages• Personal reflections on the process (JA)• Link to project website

http://researching-multilingually-at-borders.com/

Reflections on participative action research in Romania

• Stories shared spontaneously in languages found in common

• An urge for some clients to share their experiences – potential link to the space we were in? Schaffer & Smith 2004: 35 – the “venues of storytelling”

• Lots of photography in evidence, initiated by the NGO clients – selfies

• Invitations made to “home” countries

• Sharing food opened up space for conversations and stories, some clearly harrowing but freely told

Joint reflections• When working with migrants going “beyond language” can

provide a mutually supportive way of engaging• Using arts-based methods can also open up communication• Ethical considerations when working with migrants in research

need to be considered • Respectful ways of working need to be developed• Representational issues, including self-representation need to be

considered• Teamwork in research is likely and needs to be planned• (Re)-Thinking about the functions of research – Lawson & Sayers

(2016) – outcomes of research, not just academic outputs

ReferencesBlackledge, A. & Creese, A. (2010). Multilingualism – A critical perspective. London: ContinuumConnery, M.C., John-Steiner, V.P., Marjanovic-Shane, A. (2010) Vygotsky and Creativity – A cultural-historical approach to play, meaning making and the arts New York: Peter LangCrenshaw, K. (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics University of Chicago Legal Forum 139-167Heller, M. (2012). Rethinking sociolinguistic ethnography: From community and identity to process and practice. In Gardner, S. & Martin-Jones, M. (Eds.) (2012), Multilingualism, discourse and ethnography, London: Routledge.Moorhead, C. (2005/2015) Human Cargo – A Journey among refugees London: VintagePhipps, A. (2011) Travelling languages? Land, languaging and translation in Language and Intercultural Communication 11:4 364-376Phipps, A. (2013). Linguistic incompetence: Giving an account of researching multilingually in International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 23/3: 329-341. Schaffer, K. & Sidonie, S. (2004) Human Rights and Narrated Lives – The Ethics of Recognition Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan