Isabelle Léglise

Language-naming practices, ideologies, and linguistic practices: Toward a comprehensive description of language varieties

Although it is well accepted that linguistic naming conventions provide valuable insights into the social and linguistic perceptions of people, this topic has not received much attention in sociolinguistics. Studies focus on the etymology of names, details about the social and historical circumstances of their emergence, and their users, and sometimes make recommendations about the appropriateness of terms. This article departs from this tradition. Focusing on the term “Takitaki” in French Guiana, it shows that an analysis of the discursive uses of language names by all local actors provides significant insights into the social and linguistic makeup of a complex sociolinguistic situation. Descriptions of languages in such settings should be based on the varieties identified by such an analysis and on practices in a range of naturalistic interactions. Based on these analytical steps, the authors propose a multi-perspective approach to language documentation. We would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor of this journal for valuable comments and criticisms on an earlier version of this article. All remaining errors are, of course, our own responsibility.

Dynamics of Contact-induced language change

This volume deals with some never before described morphosyntactic variations and changes appearing in settings involving language contact. Contact-induced changes are defined as dynamic and multiple, involving internal change as well as historical and sociolinguistic factors. The identification of a variety of explanations constitutes a first step; analyzing their relationships forms a second. Only a multifaceted methodology enables this fine-grained approach to contact-induced change. A range of methodologies are proposed, but the chapters generally have their roots in a typological perspective. The contributors recognize the precautionary principle: for example, they emphasize the difficulty of studying languages that have not been described adequately and for which diachronic data are not extensive or reliable. Three main perspectives on contact-induced language change are presented. The first explores the role of multilingual speakers in contact-induced language change, especially their spontaneous innovations in discourse. The second explores the differences between ordinary contact-induced change and change in endangered languages. The third discusses various aspects of the relationship between contact-induced change and internal change.

Multilingualism and Translanguaging as a Resource for Teaching and Learning in French Guiana

The French educational system commonly invalidates the multilingualism of primary school children. Education in French Guiana, a French overseas territory, also operates under this system and therefore minority languages (Indigenous languages, Creole languages, Migrant languages and so on) are rarely or never taken into account in schools. Official texts do not prohibit the use of languages other than French in the classroom; however, education officials often state that other languages are prohibited when advising and evaluating teachers. However, ethnographic fieldwork and data from a range of schools in French Guiana show that in everyday interactions teachers do codeswitch and that children’s mother tongues are often used in the classroom by the children (in some form of translanguaging), by the teachers and by other participants. This chapter shows that multilingualism and translanguaging can be a positive asset for both teaching and learning.

Looking at Language, Identity, and Mobility in Suriname

This introductory chapter aims at re-visiting the social and linguistic context of contemporary Suriname and shifting attention away from the purely historical and anthropological construction of Surinamese reality to look instead at language practices in Suriname through the lens of identity construction, mobility patterns, linguistic ideology and multilingualism. The three main themes we engage in this book, language, identity and mobility overlap in several aspects, though the link between language and social identity would likely seem the most obvious for most people.