Pride, profit and distinction: Negotiations across time and space in community language education

Citation

Blackledge A & Creese A (2011) Pride, profit and distinction: Negotiations across time and space in community language education. In: Duchêne A & Heller M (eds.) Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit. New York: Taylor & Francis, pp. 116-141. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203155868

Abstract
Western societies have become more diverse in recent times, as numbers and territorial origins of migrants have expanded. This phenomenon has resulted in new demographic patterns of migration and postmigration, termed “superdiversity,” and characterised by “a dynamic interplay of variables among an increased number of new, small and scattered, multiple origin, transnationally connected, socio-economically differentiated and legally stratifi ed immigrants who have arrived over the last decade” (Vertovec 2007a, 1024). In recent years transnationalism has become one of the key ways of understanding contemporary migrant practices (Vertovec 2007b). In this chapter we demonstrate that the “language” associated with the home territory may become a key feature of maintaining and reproducing “cultural heritage.” That is, pride in the “national language” of the home country is a dimension of pride in the nation and the culture, as at least some language users, at least some of the time, hold passionate beliefs about the importance and significance of a particular language to their sense of “identity” (Blackledge and Creese 2010).

Keywords
Language & literature; Social sciences;

Journal
Language in Late Capitalism: Pride and Profit