Deconstructing and reinventing the concept of multilingualism : a case study of the Mauritian sociolinguistic landscape

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dc.contributor.author Tirvassen, Rada
dc.contributor.author Ramasawmy, Shalini Jagambal
dc.date.accessioned 2018-05-03T11:39:43Z
dc.date.available 2018-05-03T11:39:43Z
dc.date.issued 2017
dc.description.abstract This article aims at deconstructing the conception of multilingualism developed in mainstream sociolinguistics by critically examining the assumptions underlying this trend of research, which is grounded in the scholarship of Labov (1972), Fishman (1984) and even Gumperz (1972). In order to engage in that discussion, we use the Mauritian sociolinguistic landscape, as described by researchers following that tradition, as a case. We, thus, carry out a meta-analysis of existing sociolinguistic research conducted in Mauritius, which serve to illustrate the extent to which knowledge produced bear the influence of the structuralist approach. Then, we critically discuss and reflect upon the assumptions underpinning such research, and in so doing, challenge key concepts such as language and diglossia. Finally, we open a discussion on the need to adopt an alternative epistemological position in order to construct a different type of interpretation of the phenomenon following the ground-breaking work of scholars such as Makoni and Pennycook (2007), Herdina and Jessner (2002), Blackledge and Creese (2010), Garcia (2009) and de Robillard (2005, 2007). en_ZA
dc.description.department Modern European Languages en_ZA
dc.description.librarian am2018 en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/index en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Tirvassen, R. & Ramasawmy, S.J. 2017, 'Deconstructing and reinventing the concept of multilingualism : a case study of the Mauritian sociolinguistic landscape', Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, vol. 51, pp. 41-59. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 1726-541X (print)
dc.identifier.issn 2224-3380 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.5842/51-0-698
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/64766
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher University of Stellenbosch. Department of General Linguistics en_ZA
dc.rights University of Stellenbosch. Department of General Linguistics en_ZA
dc.subject Multilingualism en_ZA
dc.subject Language en_ZA
dc.subject Diglossia en_ZA
dc.subject Linguistic ethnography en_ZA
dc.subject Translanguaging en_ZA
dc.title Deconstructing and reinventing the concept of multilingualism : a case study of the Mauritian sociolinguistic landscape en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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