《英语听说》课程教学资源（参考资料）Ecological perspectives on foreign language education.pdf_大学文库

8a62saoeshew Ecological perspectives on foreign language education Claire Kramsch University of California,Berkeley,USA ckramsch@berkeley.edu to anguage leaing and have captured the interest of language educators as both native and non-native speakers find themselves operating in increasingly multilingual and multicultural environments.This paper builds on Kramsch Whiteside (inpress)what per ctiveon foreign language education,based on complexity theory,would look like.It first explains some of the major tenets of complexity theory,and analyzes transcriptions of exchanges taking place among multilingual individuals in multicultural settings using the ecological approach offered by hery.these analyses reveal about the bility of to shape the very context in which language is learned and used,it discusses the notion of 'symbolic competence'recently proposed by Kramsch(2006)and explores how symbolic competence might be developed language education. 1.Introduction:changing times Several recent developments show the spread of ecological ways of thinking about language. language learning and language use.In second language acquisition(SLA)research,the groundbreaking article of Diane larsen-Freeman (1997)on complexity theory and sLA was followed by studies that encourage us to view growing competence in a second language as a non-linea emerg n 2002:Ellis Lars an2006 arsen-Freeman Cameron 2008).It was applied to the teaching of English as a secon language (Larsen-Freeman 2003)and to foreign language acquisition within a sociocultural theory of second language development (Van Lier 2004),and an ecological approach to language acquisition and language socialization (Kramsch 2002;Larsen-Freeman 2002; Kramsch Steffensen 2007). embers fro m linguistics. 、hology anthropology,education and the humanities at the University of Califorr nia at Berkeley got together to co-teach a combined graduate/undergraduate course entitled Language Ecology. The course description included the following: ted on 21 September 2007 at the Berkeley Language Center of the

Lang. Teach. (2008), 41:3, 389–408 c Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0261444808005065 Ecological perspectives on foreign language education Claire Kramsch University of California, Berkeley, USA ckramsch@berkeley.edu Ecological approaches to language learning and teaching have captured the interest of language educators as both native and non-native speakers find themselves operating in increasingly multilingual and multicultural environments. This paper builds on Kramsch & Whiteside (in press) to conceptualize what an ecological perspective on foreign language education, based on complexity theory, would look like. It first explains some of the major tenets of complexity theory, and analyzes transcriptions of exchanges taking place among multilingual individuals in multicultural settings using the ecological approach offered by complexity theory. Based on what these analyses reveal about the ability of these individuals to shape the very context in which language is learned and used, it discusses the notion of ‘symbolic competence’ recently proposed by Kramsch (2006) and explores how symbolic competence might be developed through foreign language education in institutional contexts. 1. Introduction: changing times Several recent developments show the spread of ecological ways of thinking about language, language learning and language use. In second language acquisition (SLA) research, the groundbreaking article of Diane Larsen-Freeman (1997) on complexity theory and SLA was followed by studies that encourage us to view growing competence in a second language as a non-linear, emergent phenomenon (Leather & van Dam 2002; Ellis & Larsen-Freeman 2006; Larsen-Freeman & Cameron 2008). It was applied to the teaching of English as a second language (Larsen-Freeman 2003) and to foreign language acquisition within a sociocultural theory of second language development (Van Lier 2004), and an ecological approach to language acquisition and language socialization (Kramsch 2002; Larsen-Freeman 2002; Kramsch & Steffensen 2007). In 2004, a group of ten faculty members from linguistics, cognitive science, psychology, anthropology, education and the humanities at the University of California at Berkeley got together to co-teach a combined graduate/undergraduate course entitled Language Ecology. The course description included the following: This is a revised version of a plenary paper presented on 21 September 2007 at the Berkeley Language Center of the University of California at Berkeley. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

3901 PLENARY SPEECHES at Berkeley toexpore language within its individual In March 2007,the Modern Lang age Association(MLA)issued the Report ofits Ad Ho committee on foreign languages,chaired by Mary Louise Pratt (MLA 2007). between languages In the course of acquiring functio al language abilities,students are taught critica cRa020036 anslation,historical and political consciousness,social sensibility. In spring 2008,an inte national research group,funded in part by the France-Berkele Fund,published the result of a three-year research project didactique des langues [Multilingualism and multiculturalism in the teaching of languages],on which Richard Kern and I have been participating (Zarate,Levy Kramsch 2008).In their introduction,Kramsch,Levy and Zarate define plurilingualism!as follows: and cultural pluralism is m re than the more cookistonce of lan s.It is primarily rculation es across bord lls the n tion of ident trainers of tomorrow will nced to ope in a globalized asingly plurilingual and pluricultural.(Kramsch.LevyZarate 2008:15,my translation) These developments stress the social and historical dimensions oflanguage learning and the need not just to teach one language/one culture,but to put languages and cultures in relation with one another.Indeed,the multilin xchanges has raised qu tions abc e traditiona ngual and monocultural natur of language education(Gogolin 1994,Zarate et al.2008).The prototypical communicative exchange found in foreign language textbooks usually includes two or three interlocutors, who all conduct the interaction in the same standard (target)language,all agree on what the purpose of the exchange is and what constitutes a culturally appropriate topic of conversation, all have equal speaking rights and oppo ortunities.But the re quite different Today,language users have to navigate much less predictable exchanges in which th interlocutors use a variety of different languages and dialects for various identification purposes,and exercise symbolic power in various ways to get heard and respected.They are asked to mediate inordinately more complex encounters among interlocutors with multiple language capacities and cultural imaginations,and different social and political memories 、a1 owing which strategy to pull off at which point n the interaction than it choosing which language ospeak with whom,about what and for what effect.Kramsch(2006)and Kramsch Whiteside(in press) nly to societies,and plurilingual/pluricultural is applied to w 2018 at 16:55:52,subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use

390 PLENARY SPEECHES This course is part of an emerging interdisciplinary effort at Berkeley to explore language within its individual, societal, cultural, and historical frameworks. We situate language in contexts of individual mental processes as well as contexts of interaction between individuals in a society and between social groups. We approach language learning and language use as a nonlinear, relational human activity, co-constructed between humans and their environment, contingent upon their position in space and history, and a site of struggle for the control of social power and cultural memory. (Berkeley Language Center 2004) In March 2007, the Modern Language Association (MLA) issued the Report of its Ad Hoc committee on foreign languages, chaired by Mary Louise Pratt (MLA 2007). The goal [of college and university foreign language majors] is translingual and transcultural competence. The idea of translingual and transcultural competence places value on the multilingual ability to operate between languages . . . In the course of acquiring functional language abilities, students are taught critical language awareness, interpretation and translation, historical and political consciousness, social sensibility, and aesthetic perception. (MLA 2007: 3f.) In spring 2008, an international research group, funded in part by the France–Berkeley Fund, published the result of a three-year research project Plurilinguisme et pluriculturalisme en didactique des langues [Multilingualism and multiculturalism in the teaching of languages], on which Richard Kern and I have been participating (Zarate, Levy & Kramsch 2008). In their ´ introduction, Kramsch, Levy and Zarate define plurilingualism1 as follows: Linguistic and cultural pluralism is more than the mere coexistence of various languages. It is primarily about the transcultural circulation of values across borders, the negotiation of identities, the inversions, even inventions of meaning, often concealed by a common illusion of effective communication . . . The teacher trainers of tomorrow will need to operate in a globalized space where verbal exchanges will be increasingly plurilingual and pluricultural. (Kramsch, Levy & Zarate 2008: 15, my translation). These developments stress the social and historical dimensions of language learning and the need not just to teach one language/one culture, but to put languages and cultures in relation with one another. Indeed, the increasingly multilingual and multicultural nature of global exchanges has raised questions about the traditionally monolingual and monocultural nature of language education (Gogolin 1994, Zarate et al. 2008). The prototypical communicative exchange found in foreign language textbooks usually includes two or three interlocutors, who all conduct the interaction in the same standard (target) language, all agree on what the purpose of the exchange is and what constitutes a culturally appropriate topic of conversation, all have equal speaking rights and opportunities. But the reality is quite different. Today, language users have to navigate much less predictable exchanges in which the interlocutors use a variety of different languages and dialects for various identification purposes, and exercise symbolic power in various ways to get heard and respected. They are asked to mediate inordinately more complex encounters among interlocutors with multiple language capacities and cultural imaginations, and different social and political memories. Conversational power comes less from knowing which communication strategy to pull off at which point in the interaction than it does from choosing which language to speak with whom, about what and for what effect. Kramsch (2006) and Kramsch & Whiteside (in press) 1 While in the U.S. the adjective multilingual/multicultural applies both to individuals and to societies, in Europe it applies only to societies, and plurilingual/pluricultural is applied to individuals. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

CLAIRE KRAMSCH:ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 391 have suggested that we teach our students less the ability to exchange information precisely accurately,and appropriately in monolingual conversations with speakers ofstandard national languages,but,rather,that we develop in them a much more flexible capacity to read people,situations and events based on a deep understanding of the historical and subjective dimensions of human experience. ppt加don Kran山&ee prt coe ess)to con eptualize what an ecological on foreign language education,inform ity theory,would look like I first explain some of the major tenets of complexity theory.I analyze transcriptions of exchanges taking place among multilingual individuals in multicultural settings using the ecological approach offered by complexity theory.I then draw some principles for the development of what I have called'symbolic competence'.Finally,I look at what we can do in an institutional context to develop our students' 2.Aspects of an ecological theory of second language acquisition and use In the following I draw from the extensive literature on complexity science (e.g,Byrne 2005)as well as from en ries of languag ,2003 Ellis&Larsen-Freeman 2006)and post-modern theories of language use(Rampton 1995,1999a;Blommaert 2005)to identify five major aspects of an ecological theory of language acquisition and use. 2.1 Relativity of self and other In complex systems like human relations,both the self and the other are intrinsically pluralistic,and possibly in conflict with themselves and with one another.Because the I is not unitary,but multiple,it contains in part the other and vice-versa;it can observe itself both subjectively from the inside and objectively through the eyes of the other.Hence the n,parody, ing in the dis Bampon (1995.1999a)nd other Pople vry rarely eak on to our e of everyday life observed transmit and exchange new information.More often than not,they say what they think others expect them to say,or what the situation requires,or they identify or empathize with others,or they present themselves as they would like to be seen by others. 2.2 Timescales An ecological model of language use shows that the meanings expressed through language operateon mwith unpredictable,ofen unintended,outcomes and mulpl not in past buti s present real in our bodies to be both and observed.Blomm aert(2005:130)refers to thi phenomenon as'lavered simultaneity:'We have to conceive of discourse as subject to LAYERED SIMULTANEITY.It occurs in a real-time,synchronic event,but it is simultaneously encapsulated

CLAIRE KRAMSCH: ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 391 have suggested that we teach our students less the ability to exchange information precisely, accurately, and appropriately in monolingual conversations with speakers of standard national languages, but, rather, that we develop in them a much more flexible capacity to read people, situations and events based on a deep understanding of the historical and subjective dimensions of human experience. This paper builds on Kramsch & Whiteside (in press) to conceptualize what an ecological perspective on foreign language education, informed by complexity theory, would look like. I first explain some of the major tenets of complexity theory. I analyze transcriptions of exchanges taking place among multilingual individuals in multicultural settings using the ecological approach offered by complexity theory. I then draw some principles for the development of what I have called ‘symbolic competence’. Finally, I look at what we can do in an institutional context to develop our students’ symbolic competence. 2. Aspects of an ecological theory of second language acquisition and use In the following I draw from the extensive literature on complexity science (e.g., Byrne 1997; Cilliers 1998; Capra 2005) as well as from emergentist theories of language acquisition (Larsen-Freeman 1997, 2002, 2003; Ellis & Larsen-Freeman 2006) and post-modern theories of language use (Rampton 1995, 1999a; Blommaert 2005) to identify five major aspects of an ecological theory of language acquisition and use. 2.1 Relativity of self and other In complex systems like human relations, both the self and the other are intrinsically pluralistic, and possibly in conflict with themselves and with one another. Because the I is not unitary, but multiple, it contains in part the other and vice-versa; it can observe itself both subjectively from the inside and objectively through the eyes of the other. Hence the frequency of stylization, parody, double-voicing in the discourse of everyday life observed by sociolinguists like Rampton (1995, 1999a) and others. People very rarely speak only to transmit and exchange new information. More often than not, they say what they think others expect them to say, or what the situation requires, or they identify or empathize with others, or they present themselves as they would like to be seen by others. 2.2 Timescales An ecological model of language use shows that the meanings expressed through language operate on multiple timescales, with unpredictable, often unintended, outcomes and multiple levels of reality and fiction. Our memories are not in the past but live on as present realities in our bodies to be both experienced and observed. Blommaert (2005: 130) refers to this phenomenon as ‘layered simultaneity’: ‘We have to conceive of discourse as subject to LAYERED SIMULTANEITY. It occurs in a real-time, synchronic event, but it is simultaneously encapsulated https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

392 PLENARY SPEECHES in several layers of historicity,some of which are within the grasp of the participants while others remain invisible but are nevertheless present'.Simultaneity does not necessarily rticipants in verbal exchanges might speak on different scales of historicity,thus creating multiple and contradictory temporalities'that may lead todifferent intertextual references and to communicative tensions p.128). 2.3 Emergentism Complex systems like the acquisition of a second language are 'inherently evolutionary and historical(Byrne 1997:2).Rather than developing in the linear manner that syllabi and t to us to believe,le ops in non-linear,discontinuous ways.Rathe than deriving from structures in the head-beliefs,rules,concepts and schemata-it emerges from the seamless dynamic of timescales,If we consider language learning and teaching as a complex system with emergent properties,we can no longer look for cause and effect in the simplistic linear fashion pr oposed by short-term proficiency tests.We have to take a much ning effectiveness.The meaning of a new pie ce of knowledge will emerge not from t e syllabus,but from the connections th learner will make with his/her own prior knowledge and experience.As Blommaert writes, "[m]eaning emerges as the result of creating semiotic simultaneity'(p.126). 2.4 Unfinalizability Ecological theory sees encounters at the grocery store or conversations with the butcher nded events,but,rathe as open-ended and unfinalizable patte web of past and future encounters,en sor staged presentations of self.I counts under 'participants'not only the flesh and blood interlocutors in verbal exchanges but also the remembered and the imagined,the stylized and the projected.Ecologically oriented sociolinguists have problematized the notion of bounded sp ech communities and focused our attention ondeterritorialized'(Rampton 1998)communicative practices rather posited by theo nguag one cult umption 05:216).Indeed,in the data at hand (see below),the protagonists have open ended identities and unfinalized territorial belongings.Don Francisco(DF)is just another Mexican 'Jose'for the Chinese clerk and a Yucateco for the Vietnamese grocer;2 Anne Whiteside (AW)is a member of the dominant Anglo community for the Chinese clerk and a Spanish maestra for DE 2.5 Fractals Finally,ecological theory is concerned with patterns of activities and events which are self- similar at different scales,i.e.,which are fractal figures for larger or smaller patterns.In the According tojournalist Thompson (06)Jose is a catchall name for all Mexican males in California

392 PLENARY SPEECHES in several layers of historicity, some of which are within the grasp of the participants while others remain invisible but are nevertheless present’. Simultaneity does not necessarily mean congruence. Blommaert notes that the participants in verbal exchanges might speak from positions on different scales of historicity, thus creating ‘multiple and contradictory temporalities’ that may lead to different intertextual references and to communicative tensions (p.128). 2.3 Emergentism Complex systems like the acquisition of a second language are ‘inherently evolutionary and historical’ (Byrne 1997: 2). Rather than developing in the linear manner that syllabi and curricula want to us to believe, learning develops in non-linear, discontinuous ways. Rather than deriving from structures in the head – beliefs, rules, concepts and schemata – it emerges from the seamless dynamic of timescales. If we consider language learning and teaching as a complex system with emergent properties, we can no longer look for cause and effect in the simplistic linear fashion proposed by short-term proficiency tests. We have to take a much longer and more differentiated view of teaching and learning effectiveness. The meaning of a new piece of knowledge will emerge not from the syllabus, but from the connections the learner will make with his/her own prior knowledge and experience. As Blommaert writes, ‘[m]eaning emerges as the result of creating semiotic simultaneity’ (p. 126). 2.4 Unfinalizability Ecological theory sees encounters at the grocery store or conversations with the butcher not as discrete, bounded events, but, rather, as open-ended and unfinalizable patterns in a web of past and future encounters, enacted conversations or staged presentations of self. It counts under ‘participants’ not only the flesh and blood interlocutors in verbal exchanges, but also the remembered and the imagined, the stylized and the projected. Ecologically oriented sociolinguists have problematized the notion of bounded speech communities and focused our attention on ‘deterritorialized’ (Rampton 1998) communicative practices rather than on the ‘territorial boundedness’ posited by the ‘one language – one culture assumption’ (Blommaert 2005: 216). Indeed, in the data at hand (see below), the protagonists have openended identities and unfinalized territorial belongings. Don Francisco (DF) is just another Mexican ‘Jose’ for the Chinese clerk and a Yucateco for the Vietnamese grocer;2 Anne Whiteside (AW) is a member of the dominant Anglo community for the Chinese clerk and a Spanish maestra for DF. 2.5 Fractals Finally, ecological theory is concerned with patterns of activities and events which are selfsimilar at different scales, i.e., which are fractal figures for larger or smaller patterns. In the 2 According to journalist Thompson (2006), Jose is a catchall name for all Mexican males in California. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

CLAIRE KRAMSCH:ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 393 encouters below we will look at the way individuals get named,how they greet and take leave from one another and in which language,and how these speech acts index larger social relationships between them and other native and non-native speakers.We will also look for evidence of refractions from one context of language use to another.For example,the way speakers use language in one context might be a fractal of the way they are made to relate to others in the larg ontext of a global e con Let us now look at the data through this ecol logical lens and see how it can illuminate the processes of language acquisition and use in multilingual settings. 3.An example of language ecology in practice The data I discuss here were collected by Anne Whiteside as part of her research on Mava-speaking immigrants from Yucatan.Mexico.now living in San Francisco na Whteside 2006).Auempting to understand patterns ofg these igrants,Whiteside spent o r two years w focal yud catecans following them in their daily lives,helping to organize community events,and exchanging English,Spanish and computer literacy lessons for lessons in Mava.The data are taken from conversations she recorded in stores located in a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood. Whiteside found that since ork t and three jobs,and with long-term nented status,learning English often take es a back seat Her informants workedn taurants where s many s iht anguages are poken, with English,if spoken,as the highly accented lingua franca.Spanish use is common,linking Yucatecans with other marginalized Spanish-speaking workers and allowing undocumented individuals to blend with Latino legal residents and citizer ns Yet inforn ants also complained of discrimi ory trea nt b of other r varieties of S nish,and of fellow immigrants to disguise their Yucatecan accents.English provided them with ar escape from such distinctions.It was often seen as portable capital,motivating some to learn it to teach future migrants back in Yucatan.By contrast,Maya can be a social liability, and speakers described a sense of'shame'speaking Maya in public,inhibited by racialized colonial discourse and stereotypes linking Maya with po erty and ignorance.Maya was used among work teams,where it provided a safe code in which to vent about oppressive conditions. In the set of data I discuss here,DF,49 years old,who runs an informal restaurant out of his apartment,is taking the researcher through his neighborhood as he shops for food.He has agreed to help her research project since she has been teaching him to read in Spanish,which he never leamed.As DF chaperon AW around,he is regularly interrupted in Maya and Span ish from fellow townspeople,now Francisco neighbors,who know s The r san francisco bay are a.and some 50,000-80,000 d ng that ha ereplaced entry-ev and social margins of national institutions

CLAIRE KRAMSCH: ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 393 encounters below, we will look at the way individuals get named, how they greet and take leave from one another and in which language, and how these speech acts index larger social relationships between them and other native and non-native speakers. We will also look for evidence of refractions from one context of language use to another. For example, the way speakers use language in one context might be a fractal of the way they are made to relate to others in the larger context of a global economy. Let us now look at the data through this ecological lens and see how it can illuminate the processes of language acquisition and use in multilingual settings. 3. An example of language ecology in practice The data I discuss here were collected by Anne Whiteside as part of her research on Maya-speaking immigrants from Yucatan, Mexico, now living in San Francisco, California (Whiteside 2006). Attempting to understand patterns of language use among these immigrants, Whiteside spent over two years working closely with four focal Yucatecans, following them in their daily lives, helping to organize community events, and exchanging English, Spanish and computer literacy lessons for lessons in Maya. The data are taken from conversations she recorded in stores located in a predominantly Spanish-speaking neighborhood.3 Whiteside found that since many Yucatecans work two and three jobs, and with long-term residence uncertain because of undocumented status, learning English often takes a back seat. Her informants worked in restaurants where as many as eight languages are routinely spoken, with English, if spoken, as the highly accented lingua franca. Spanish use is common, linking Yucatecans with other marginalized Spanish-speaking workers and allowing undocumented individuals to blend with Latino legal residents and citizens. Yet informants also complained of discriminatory treatment by speakers of other varieties of Spanish, and noted a tendency of fellow immigrants to disguise their Yucatecan accents. English provided them with an escape from such distinctions. It was often seen as portable capital, motivating some to learn it to teach future migrants back in Yucatan. By contrast, Maya can be a social liability, and speakers described a sense of ‘shame’ speaking Maya in public, inhibited by racialized colonial discourse and stereotypes linking Maya with poverty and ignorance. Maya was used predominantly at home and among work teams, where it provided a safe code in which to vent about oppressive conditions. In the set of data I discuss here, DF, 49 years old, who runs an informal restaurant out of his apartment, is taking the researcher through his neighborhood as he shops for food. He has agreed to help her research project since she has been teaching him to read in Spanish, which he never learned. As DF chaperones AW around, he is regularly interrupted by greetings in Maya and Spanish from fellow townspeople, now San Francisco neighbors, who know 3 There are now an estimated 25,000 Yucatecans living in the greater San Francisco Bay area, and some 50,000–80,000 in California, many of whom left Yucatan over the last decade. Like an increasing number of migrants crossing the Mexico/California border, many arrive without legal papers (Passell, Randall & Fix 2004; Passell 2005), lured by service sector jobs that have replaced entry-level manufacturing jobs in California’s post-industrial economy. Their situation is typical of workers in a global economy that knows no national borders, no standard national languages, and thrives on the informal economic and social margins of national institutions. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

394 PLENARY SPEECHES his status as a successful farmer in Yucatan. To local merchants DF is a preferred customer, one who makes frequent trips to supply his busy restaurant and who spends a lot of money. On this occasion he is stopping in to check out supplies and place orders, eager to show the researcher his routines and to demonstrate the rudiments of Maya the merchants are learning. (For transcription conventions, see Appendix.) 3.1 An ecology of multilingual spaces 3.1.1 At the Vietnamese grocery The first excerpt occurs in a grocery store with Vietnamese writing on its awning. The Vietnamese owner, whom DF introduces as Juan, has been speaking to DF in English, who answers him in Spanish. Juan is busy loading meat from the freezer into the display case, and this exchange comes at the end of a short conversation about the meat that DF needs. Excerpt 1 1 Juan: how much panza you want? (tripe) 2 DF: voy a comprar cinco libras de panza manana ˜ I’m going to buy 5lbs of tripe tomorrow. 3 Juan: OK manana ˜ 4 DF: ∧ma’alob. good 5 Juan: /OK! 6 DF: ∨Dios bo dik thanks 7 Juan: / bo dik 8 DF: / saama tomorrow 9 Juan: @@, 10 @@ 11 saama 12 DF: ah In this Vietnamese store, DF’s and Juan’s little pas de deux around the use of English, Spanish and Maya indexes the various ways in which the protagonists wish to position themselves in the ongoing discourse. At the end of a transaction in which Juan has been speaking a mix of English and Spanish, and DF has been speaking exclusively Spanish, Juan and DF take leave – Juan in English, DF in Maya. Taking leave is always a delicate part of any verbal exchange as it has to sum up the exchange, make plans for future exchanges, and perform a recognizable and acceptable leave-taking routine. But in multilingual exchanges like this one, it is doubly delicate, as language choice can always become foregrounded. Since Juan had addressed DF in English and had been responded to in Spanish, Juan’s ‘OK’ in line 3 can be seen to be oriented not only toward the content of DF’s utterance, but toward the language that DF chose to speak in. A gloss of this ‘OK’ might be ‘I agree to sell you 5lbs of tripe tomorrow’ but also ‘I agree to respond to you in Spanish’ or ‘I acknowledge the legitimacy of Spanish in my store’. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

CLAIRE KRAMSCH:ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION J395 Inine DFsuddenly swithes to Maya Because the store is located ina predominantly Spanish-speaking area of San Francisco,DFs efforts to get Juan and other merchants to respond to him in Maya has been a form of public resistance to a Spanish colonial discourse which holds Maya in low esteem among Mexicans.Here,a Vietnamese clerk serves as an unwitting catalyst for DF's efforts to provide a place for himself between the polarity social millston onging o a recent of migrants with dubious immigration status,in some neighborhoods of San Francisco Maya can be made to yield a different social capital.Vis-a-vis third ethnic groups,i.e.,immigrants that are neither Mexicans nor Anglos,DFs use of Maya gives him a prestige of distinction vis-a-vis Mexicans,Spanish gives him a distinction at par with Anglos Laughing in lines 9-10,Ju is both a used and slightly embarra ssed at havin roduce Maya sound n fro of th Anglo visito span neighborhood,English and Spanish would be the two unmarked codes,followed perhaps by Vietnamese as the storeowner's language,but Maya is definitely marked.However,it has,in this case,acquired some historical presence due to DF's repeated efforts to teach the local merchants some Maya,so we can interpret Juan's chuckle as a sign that he is both willing e and ambivaler worth noting that DF does not adr nister his little Maya lesson in al store,for example,he uses Spanish throughout even when admonishing the clerk that her ability to understand Maya is improving (see excerpt 6,lines 138-141). 3.1.2 At the Chinese grocery The next three excerpts come from a Chinese-run grocery store,where DF has stopped to find out how much masa(corn-flour dough)his son had picked up earlier in the dav. Excerpt 2 I DE ((TO BUTCHER IN MAYA)) 2 Butcher: sisisi DF: ((TO CLERK))buenas. tengo<>m maestra I'm with my teacher 5 AW: teacher Clerk OH [@ 8 DF: 9 es mi maestra She's my teacher 10 ah 11 ch-nomds,este,pase a preguntar/ I just uh came to ask 12 the masa that my son took. 13 80 and now 22 Clerk si bien. yes good. 2 le toco masa acd ahora he'll take masa here now

CLAIRE KRAMSCH: ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 395 In line 4, DF suddenly switches to Maya. Because the store is located in a predominantly Spanish-speaking area of San Francisco, DF’s efforts to get Juan and other merchants to respond to him in Maya has been a form of public resistance to a Spanish colonial discourse which holds Maya in low esteem among Mexicans. Here, a Vietnamese clerk serves as an unwitting catalyst for DF’s efforts to provide a place for himself between the polarity Spanish–English that divides much of California today. Whereas speaking Maya can be a social millstone in Yucatan and in California it marks speakers as belonging to a recent wave of migrants with dubious immigration status, in some neighborhoods of San Francisco Maya can be made to yield a different social capital. Vis-a-vis third ethnic groups, i.e., immigrants ` that are neither Mexicans nor Anglos, DF’s use of Maya gives him a prestige of distinction vis-a-vis Mexicans, Spanish gives him a distinction at par with Anglos. ` Laughing in lines 9–10, Juan is both amused and slightly embarrassed at having to produce Maya sounds in front of the Anglo visitor. In the usual hierarchy of codes in this Hispanic neighborhood, English and Spanish would be the two unmarked codes, followed perhaps by Vietnamese as the storeowner’s language, but Maya is definitely marked. However, it has, in this case, acquired some historical presence due to DF’s repeated efforts to teach the local merchants some Maya, so we can interpret Juan’s chuckle as a sign that he is both willing to respect DF’s language and ambivalent about his own legitimacy as a Maya speaker. It is worth noting that DF does not administer his little Maya lesson in all stores. In the Chinese store, for example, he uses Spanish throughout even when admonishing the clerk that her ability to understand Maya is improving (see excerpt 6, lines 138–141). 3.1.2 At the Chinese grocery The next three excerpts come from a Chinese-run grocery store, where DF has stopped to find out how much masa (corn-flour dough) his son had picked up earlier in the day. Excerpt 2 1 DF: ((TO BUTCHER IN MAYA)) 2 Butcher: si si si 3 DF: ((TO CLERK)) buenas . 4 vengo mi maestra I’m with my teacher 5 AW: 6 teacher 7 Clerk: OH [@] 8 DF: [ah] 9 es mi maestra\ She’s my teacher 10 ah 11 eh-nomas, este, pas ´ ´e a preguntar/ I just uh came to ask 12 la masa que agarro mi hijo ´ \ the masa that my son took, 13 ochenta y ahora/ 80 and now . 22 Clerk si bien. yes good. 23 le toco masa aca ahora ´ he’ll take masa here now https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

396 PLENARY SPEECHES Excerpt 3 31 DF: estamos de paseo con = maestra we’re out walking with the teacher 32 por eso yo no ∧vine that’s why I didn’t come 33 Clerk: ah/ 34 DF: si\ 35 ah 36 Clerk: ((to AW)) my Spanish is really limited 37 but I try to understand him 38 @[@@@@] 39 AW: [that’s good] 40 41 DF: [si ah ha] Excerpt 4 74 DF: mucho trabajo. a lot of work. 75 Older lady: ah @@@@ 76 DF: eso es el ticher. this is the teacher. 77 Clerk: ((TO OLDER LADY: IN CHINESE)) 78 Older lady: hi @@@ 79 AW: hi In excerpts 2–4, the Chinese clerk plays with the languages available in her store. She alternately speaks Chinese with her older relative, Spanish with putative ‘Mexicans’ like DF, and English with Anglos like AW. These three languages index respectively: her ethnic or cultural identity as a Chinese, the accommodating role that she wants to assume and cultivate with Spanish-speaking customers, and the public voice she feels appropriate to adopt with Anglos. But she clearly uses these languages to align herself symbolically with the shifting centers of power in her store. For her, Chinese is the language of intimacy with fellow customers, family and friends; Spanish is the useful service language of local transactions, but it also indexes for her the stigma of non-assimilated immigrants; English is her public transactional language but she can also use it as a way of distancing herself from Mexican newcomers. Viewing these exchanges from an ecological perspective enables us to see the various languages used by the participants as part of a more diversified linguistic landscape with various hierarchies of social respectability among codes, and added layers of foregrounding of the code itself rather than just the message. To the multiplicity of languages we must now add their subjective resonances in the speakers’ embodied memories. 3.2 The ecology of embodied time DF, who hardly understands any English at all, uses Spanish with the Chinese clerk and her older relative, thus forcing the clerk to respond in Spanish (excerpt 3) and the older lady, who doesn’t know Spanish, to chuckle politely (excerpt 4). In excerpt 5, DF persists in speaking https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

CLAIRE KRAMSCH: ECOLOGICAL FL EDUCATION 397 Spanish, introducing AW as ‘el ticher’, a mixed utterance that the clerk translates into Chinese for her older relative. Excerpt 5 80 Clerk: ((TO DF)) manana ˜ when you come [I give you no espanol ˜ ]. 81 Older lady: [@@@@@] 82 Clerk [solo English] 83 DF: [@@@] 84 NO, . 85 Clerk: Jose, tomorrow when you come in I don’t speak Spanish with you any more. 86 87 DF: [@@@@] 88 AW: [no, no, I] not teaching him English. 89 I’m teaching him to read and write in Spanish. 90 I’m not teaching him English. 91 Clerk: oh, oh, 92 read and write Span-[ish.] 93 AW: [yah,] read and write Span-ish 94 Clerk: that’s good ’cause he like he not even recognize the numbers The Clerk then addresses DF with the derogatory ‘Jose’, threatening to use only English with him. DF responds with a laugh (line 87). In line 88, AW jumps in, correcting what she perceives as an erroneous assumption on the part of the clerk that she is teaching DF English lessons. Her statement suggests that DF, who spends most of his time in his Spanish- and Maya-dominant restaurant and apartment building, has made learning Spanish literacy, not English, his priority. AW’s emphatic ‘no no’ can also be seen as an attempt to save DF’s face, which has been threatened by the clerk’s teacherly tone, and by her use of a stereotypical name that is not DF’s own. AW’s repetition in line 90 can be interpreted as ‘teacher talk’ to the NNS clerk, and her repetition of the prosody of the clerk’s English in line 93 as ‘foreigner talk’. The clerk realigns herself with the revised teaching agenda in line 91, noting that DF can’t read numbers. After a few other remarks the conversation returns to this topic. In excerpts 5 and 6, the protagonists’ choice of language is not dictated by some preexisting and permanent value assigned to each of these languages. Rather, it emerges from the subjective perceptions of shifting power dynamics within the interaction. Excerpt 6 107 AW: we’re going to learn to read the numbers 108 ((TO DF)) dice que vamos a aprender a leer los numeros para que she says we’re going to learn numbers so that you can . 109 [puedas .] 110 DF: [hm] 111 Clerk: [that’s the] most important part first: https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444808005065 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. University of Connecticut, on 01 Nov 2018 at 16:55:52, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at