“If you know all the languages of the world and you do not know your mother tongue or the language of your culture, that is self-enslavement. Knowing your mother tongue and all languages is empowerment.” (1986)
These words were taken from a well-known book called “Decolonizing the mind” by Kenyan writer and academic Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o. According to Van Herk (2018), most immigrant families shift to the languages of their new country over two or four generations. This phenomenon is called Language Shift. It is a topic I am interested in because of my fear of losing my heritage language.
As I reflect on my language autobiography, I recall the comments I hear whenever I speak in Cantonese.
“Did your Cantonese get worse?”
“Your language structure seems reversed”
“That is not how we say this….”
As a result, I’ve come to realize that I might be slowly losing my first language. It is a very odd feeling because Cantonese is the language I grew up with. My parents emigrated from Hong Kong and my mom was adamant about me speaking this language at home. She firmly believed that it would help maintain my relationship with my family. Since I don’t have many opportunities to practise, it has been difficult to learn literacy and communication skills.
In fact, most children from newcomer families in Canada generally speak either French or English. Jaffer Sheyholislami, a linguistic teacher at Carleton University, says that “One of the important causes of language shift and loss in Canada is the absence of robust language policies that would advocate and actively promote and support multilingualism and multiculturalism.” Losing the first language is not only losing a way to communicate with closed ones, but it also means losing one’s identity and culture. Sheyholislami also believes that any government has an obligation to cherish language diversity, support children’s learning and promote other languages.
In my opinion, heritage languages should be approached with understanding and empathy. No one should feel ashamed for their lack of language proficiency. For many second-generation immigrants, not being completely fluent can mean letting their family down. Thus, it is necessary to promote multilingualism and encourage acceptance that no language is “wrong” or “bad”.
As language teachers, how can we help our students preserve their heritage language?
The Japanese language has borrowed many words from other languages, beginning with China during the Nara Period (710-794). Gairaigo (外来語) is the Japanese word for “borrowed word” or “loaned word.” Japanese has adopted so many Chinese vocabulary that they are no longer regarded as “loan words.” The bulk of Chinese loan terms have a Chinese reading and are written in kanji .
Japanese speakers use English words to convey ideas for which they have no native counterparts. However, some people simply favour using English expressions out of necessity or just because it’s trendy. In fact, Japanese already has synonyms for many loan words. For example, the Japanese word for “business” is “shoubai 商売”, but the loan word “bijinesu ビジネス” is also used. Another example is “gyuunyuu 牛乳(Japanese word)” and “miruku ミルク(loan word)” for “milk.”
Loan words, with the exception of those with Chinese roots, are usually written in katakana. They are pronounced according to Japanese pronunciation rules and syllables. They end up sounding very different from how they were initially said. As a result, it becomes challenging to distinguish the original foreign word.
Japanese Katakana Chart (retrieved from https://www.japanesepod101.com/)
Many borrowed words are frequently shortened in ways that they wouldn’t be shortened in their native tongues.
Examples of Loan Words
Maiku マイク —- microphone
Suupaa スーパー —- supermarket
Depaato デパート — department store
Biru ビル —- building
Irasuto イラスト —- illustration
Meeku メーク —- make-up
Daiya ダイヤ —- diamond
Multiple words are also shortened, often to four syllables.
Pasokon パソコン —- personal computer
Waapuro ワープロ —- word processor
Amefuto アメフト —- American football
Puroresu プロレス —- professional wrestling
Konbini コンビニ —- convenience store
Eakon エアコン —- air conditioning
Masukomi マスコミ —- mass media (from mass communication)
A loan word might generate new words. Japanese or other loanwords may be used in combination with it. Here are some examples.
Shouene 省エネ —- energy saving
Shokupan 食パン —- loaf of bread
Keitora 軽トラ —- light commercial truck
Natsumero なつメロ —- a once-popular song
In Japanese, loan words are frequently joined to form nouns. They turn the term into a verb when paired with “suru.” “Suru” (to do) has a wide range of other uses.
Doraibu suru ドライブする —- to drive
Kisu suru キスする —- to kiss
Nokku suru ノックする —- to knock
Taipu suru タイプする —- to type
There are also “loan words” that are actually made in Japan. For example, “sarariiman サラリーマン(salary man)” refers to someone whose income is salary base, generally the people work for corporations. Another example, “naitaa ナイター,” comes from the English word “night” followed by “~er”, means baseball games played at night.
Common Loan Words
Arubaito アルバイト —- part-time job (from German arbeit)
Enjin エンジン —- engine
Gamu ガム —- chewing gum
Kamera カメラ —- camera
Garasu ガラス —- glass
Karendaa カレンダー —- calendar
Terebi テレビ —- television
Hoteru ホテル —- hotel
Resutoran レストラン —- restaurant
Macchi マッチ —- match
Mishin ミシン —- sewing machine
Ruuru ルール —- rule
Reji レジ —- cash register
Nationality is expressed by adding “jin 人”, which literally means “person”, after the country name.
Amerika-jin アメリカ人—- American
Itaria-jin イタリア人 —- Italian
Oranda-jin オランダ人—- Dutch
Kanada-jin カナダ人—– Canadian
Supein-jin スペイン人—- Spanish
Doitsu-jin ドイツ人—- Germany
Furansu-jin フランス人—- French
Loanword
Roma-ji / Reading
English Word
グラス
gurasu
glass
スプーン
supūn
spoon
フォーク
fōku
fork
ナイフ
naifu
knife
ビール
bīru
beer
ワイン
wain
wine
バス
basu
bus
バイク
baiku
(motor) bike
コンピューター
conpyūtā
computer
インターネット
intānetto
internet
ウェブサイト
webusaito
website
ホテル
hoteru
hotel
レストラン
resutoran
restaurant
テーブル
tēburu
table
サービス
sābisu
service
エレベーター
erebētā
elevator
ドア
doa
door
サイズ
saizu
size
シャツ
shatsu
shirt
ネクタイ
nekutai
necktie
サンダル
sandaru
sandal
サングラス
sangurasu
sunglasses
テスト
tesuto
test
Some examples of loaned words from English in Japanese
English words used in Japanese (2021) JapanesePod101.com Blog. Available at: https://www.japanesepod101.com/blog/2021/05/13/english-loanwords-in-japanese/ (Accessed: November 30, 2022).
Takashi Ichikawa, et al. (1998). Sanseidō New Modern Dictionary (三省堂現代新国語辞典, Sanseidō-gendai-shin-kokugo-jiten), Tokyo, Japan: Sanseido Co., Ltd. ISBN4-385-14034-0.
The other day I was chatting with my roommate in the kitchen, and he started preparing a tofu dish. Shortly after he finished cooking, another roommate of mine asked him, “can I eat your tofu?” Upon hearing that, my Chinese roommate and I started laughing. “What’s so funny?” asked my roommates who don’t understand Chinese. “Well,” I took a deep breath and held my urge to laugh. “In Mandarin, if you say to another person, especially of another gender, ‘Can I eat your tofu? (我可以吃你的豆腐嗎？wǒ kě yǐ chī nǐ de dòu fǔ má?)’ it means, ‘Can I flirt with you’ or ‘Can I touch you inappropriately’?, it usually has a sexual implication….” I couldn’t finish my sentence, it was too funny for me to explain this, especially to my non-Mandarin speaking roommates. After my explanation, my roommates suddenly realized why we were laughing. They then asked, “so how are we supposed to ask for another person’s tofu dish without sounding creepy?”
“Well, usually in Mandarin, we would specify the way that the tofu was prepared, for exampled, deep-fried, stir-fry, boil, etc. So the way to not sound inappropriate would be ‘May I try that stir-fry tofu?’ Also, not adding a possessive pronouns would also remove the suggestive meaning, since the expression ‘eat someone’s tofu’, the tofu here would refer to a person’s body, therefore, not specifying whose dish is it would be the perfect way to express your desire to try to dish itself.”
I found it fascinating that a simple phrase about tofu could start a conversation that lasted about 20 minutes. It reminded me of another expression “eat vinegar (吃醋 chī cù)”, which implies jealousy. If you say someone is eating vinegar in Mandarin, it means that this person is jealous, and it usually involves being jealous because the target person is ignoring him/her for someone else. It made me wonder, where did this expression originate? This tale dates back to the Tang dynasty, when the emperor himself gifted a favoured prime minister with a beautiful young concubine. The jealous wife of the prime minister was well-known for her meddling and henpecking ways. She threatened to drink poison to commit suicide rather than submit to the emperor’s will. This moved the emperor, but he also wanted to test her commitment to her husband. Therefore, he forced the wife’s hand by giving her a vial of poison and threatening her with death if she did not accept the concubine. She consumed the vial without hesitation, only to discover that it contained vinegar. Since then, vinegar consumption has come to symbolize jealousy and envy.
In some cases, like the example of my conversations with my roommates, these kinds of expression could be somehow translated into another language. However, in most cases, these phrases would be extremely hard to translate, and it usually would not make any sense to others who don’t speak the target language. This reminds me that even when certain words are translated, they don’t convey the original meaning perfectly either. Below are some examples of what a Native Chinese Speaker (NCS) and a Native English Speaker (NES) would say, according to Jiang (2000):
Steam bread vs. Hamburger
Noodles vs. Pasta
Jiaozi vs. Dumplings
Congee vs. Porridge
Rice vs. Risotto
As you can see, when certain words are being translated, sometimes it would be altered to something similar but not exactly identical due to localization purposes. Therefore, it would be interesting to observe how certain expression in your first language could be translated into another language.
Jiang, W. (2000). The relationship between culture and language. ELT journal, 54(4), 328-334.
It is the world cup fever. Billions worldwide are watching the games, supporting their teams, and participating in heated discussions with family and friends to share their football expertise.
Soccer unites the world, or is it football? Former players David Beckham and Peyton Manning’s humorous debate over the differences between British and American Englishes is one of the interesting linguistic points that was highlighted by Lays in their viral commercial.
Whether it is a pair of cleats or a pair of shoes, chips or crisps, trophies or souvenirs, it is still considered English, right? Of course, there are many varieties of English around the world, but Lays will not focus on Australian, Indian, or Jamaican Englishes for instance, at least not in this ad.
The question that occurred to me while watching the FIFA World Cup games is how do all these teams communicate during the competition? (FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association. In English, it is the International Federation of Association Football).
The situation is two teams who do not likely speak the same language have to face each other and communicate. Sometimes, the players do not share the same language within the same team.
The video below is an intense conversation between a coach and his players. The coach is a native speaker of French, but he speaks English with the players and uses the services of an interpreter.
What I find interesting is why he speaks English but not French. He has access to interpretation services, so why not speak French? Perhaps, some of the players can understand English?
However, all soccer players must, at a certain point, speak with each other and with the game referees. How do they succeed?
Well, they do not, but they try anyway. For instance, any comments said with attitude to the face of the referee in a language he (yes, he, because in most of the cases the referee is a man. Unfortunately, female presence is scarce in the world cup) does not understand, it will cost the player (offender in the referee’s eyes) a red card, which means, he is forced to leave the pitch.
We should know that in most situations, the rules of the game and the referee’s decisions are clearly understood without verbal communication. For example, the use of flags, cards, whistle blows, and hand gestures are enough to deliver the message. Players would know whether the ball is a throw-in, a corner kick, or even a penalty. They do not have to talk to perceive the referee’s decisions, but what if they want to protest and argue?
According to the FIFA website (2022), there are four accepted official languages during the tournaments: French, Spanish, English, and German. In 2022, FIFA added Arabic, Portuguese, and Russian. So, ideally, the referees must be bilingual to accommodate the two teams, but is it always the case?
No, it is not. English is by default the language of soccer (or football if you like).
Baker (2018) noted that in 2014, FIFA investigated a complaint made by the Croatian national team who claimed that the referee in their game against Brazil was speaking Japanese. FIFA denied the claims and defended its decision by saying that all referee workshops are done in English. Therefore, it is impossible that the Japanese official not to speak English with the players. Well, I do not intend to explain to FIFA today that if you understand a language, it does not mean that you can speak it.
In another example, we may wonder what language the referee used in the game between Argentina and Mexico (FIFA World Cup 2022). The referee was Daniele Orsato, an Italian national. He presided over two teams who share the same language, Spanish (The Sun, 2022). Did he speak Spanish? Maybe not. English was the official language of communication even though we may think that it is easier to call up a Spanish-speaking referee for the game, right?
I am not a FIFA expert, but I am trying to raise linguistic questions that I find interesting. For instance, is English undeniably a lingua franca without any competition? If so, why does FIFA have several official languages?
For the teams who come from poor regions of the world, how do you think that they cope with the English-is-a-must reality? Do you think that it is socially just?
Before I move on to the topic of this blog, please let me ask you one question first. When you go to the store and want to buy tofu, have you ever thought that the word ‘tofu’ is an original English word or it was borrowed from other language? Actually, this word is a loanword that originates from the Chinese word ‘dòu fu’. We can find many examples like this in our life.
Loanwords are words that are adopted from one language into another with little or no alteration. Borrowing is a consequence of cultural contact between two language communities. Borrowing of words can go in both directions between the two languages in contact, but often there is an asymmetry, such that more words go from one side to the other. The actual process of borrowing is complex and involves many usage events.
In order to study Chinese borrowed words in English vocabulary based on dictionary research, Vice Professor Zeng Tai Yuan of Dong Wu University, Taiwan, gave a close look at Shorter Oxford English Dictionary (Fifth Edition) and found out that there were at least about 300 words in English vocabulary borrowed from Chinese (Zeng, 2005). We can see some examples from this site https://www.thoughtco.com/english-words-borrowed-from-chinese-688248 Similarly as English has borrowed lots of words from Chinese, there are many words borrowed from English in Chinese vocabulary, from every aspect of social life. According to Zhang’s (2005) stratified sampling research, English-borrowed words can be divided into 14 groups. From my perspective, one of the reasons why there are loanwords between English and Chinese is due to external factors. To be more specific, they are related to geographical neighbourhood, politics, economy, culture, military, and other activities between different countries.
14 groups in English borrowed words
Language is the key to human communication, and despite the vast differences between world countries and their cultures, their people’s languages have always influenced one another. In my opinion, loanwords have many advantages. They usually seem fashionable and interesting, which can attract Chinese young students deeply and stir up their enthusiasm and motivation in learning English. In addition, the process of borrowing words can be regarded as the process of gaining a better and deeper understanding of each associated country’s cultures, economies, policies, etc.
So, here is the question: as language teachers, how can we help students learn languages better by using loanwords? And do you think there are still disadvantages of loanwords? If so, how could we improve them?
References:
Zeng, T. (2005). Translating Chinese Culture-Specific Words into English–from a Perspective of Shorter Oxford English Dictionary 5th edition. Journal of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, 11, 74-77.
Zhang, P. (2005). Study on English Loan Words in Chinese. Tianjin University of Finance & Economics, 10-15.
In the whole process of paying attention to the relationship between second languages, language diversity, and social justice, I think the social problems caused by dialects or accents haven’t been paid enough attention to. This blog will start with my own experience to discuss the discrimination caused by dialect or accent which often plays the role of the most direct “criterion” for judging other people.
I was born in the south of Jiangsu Province, China. In Jiangsu, there has always been some default “stigma chain” exists. Due to historical, economic, and many other factors, there are great differences between Southern and Northern Jiangsu, such as culture, living habits, and dialects. The resulting phenomenon is that people in these two parts don’t like each other and think the other is inferior. Among the many factors, dialect is one of the most important judgment bases because the dialects in southern Jiangsu and Northern Jiangsu are completely different. Therefore, the “regional identity” of a Jiangsu person can be judged by the accent alone. The consequence of this judgment is that the mutual discrimination between the north and the south is constantly emphasized and deepened. Facing such a phenomenon in my hometown, I often feel very powerless, as the concept has already been rooted in people’s minds. But I think the thing I can do, as a second language educator, is to tell everyone that, whether we use the word “dialect” or “accent” to describe the phonological and phonological characteristics of a local variety, language is at least not a tool to judge or measure a person’s strengths and weaknesses.
Actually, accent discrimination does not exist only in my hometown. Another example I know is the discrimination of African American vernacular English (AAVE). To some extent, dialects are the markers of power in society, (Winford, 1997). Over time, AAVE has been seen as an inferior dialect, and although it’s incorrect, such a concept has been accepted by many people around the world. As a result, people who speak AAVE are often judged or discriminated against by those who speak “standard English” (Grace, 2020).
All this social discrimination at home and abroad makes me think that if the accent or dialect will cause such great influence on social justice, does someone’s accent need to be corrected? If so, to sound like who? A native speaker or a group of people who belongs to a “superior” region? But what does that even mean? An accent can be a stigma, even among native speakers of the same language. These variations, determined by geography, class and race, are always identified with stereotypes. Fleeing from one means embracing another. Even though everybody has an accent, there certainly is such a thing as accent discrimination and most of us have either suffered or witnessed it at some point. Accent discrimination is, in the end, all about the place: who belongs and who doesn’t? I, for one, enjoy these ghostly presences of something strange in a familiar environment. They are a reminder of the fact that language doesn’t belong to anyone, not even to its native speakers. Language is shared. It is, in principle, a space where everyone is welcome and cooperates toward mutual comprehension, and the very fact that there are accents in the first place, the fact that we can still understand each other through all the differences is the most conclusive proof of the hospitality at the heart of every language.
References
Grace, G. (2020). DataSpace: Names, accents, and racial linguistic profiling: Linguistic and racial prejudice as mechanisms of discrimination against speakers of African American vernacular English. Princeton University. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01gb19f8846.
Winford, D. (1997, January 1). On the origins of African American vernacular English – A Creolist perspective: Part I: The sociohistorical background. Diachronica. Retrieved November 14, 2021, from https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.14.2.05win.
As a language teacher, I like the idea of hearing more languages being spoken everywhere. It translates to a persons’ full linguistic repertoire being used and honoured. However, in Quebec, the act of greeting people in more than one language has become a controversy. It is so well known that Saturday Night Live even made a skit about it.
According to Van Herk (2018), code switching is a common phenomenon. It is a linguistic resource many communities use to signal a bi-cultural identity. Montreal being in a French province within an English dominant country, complicates the situation. As stipulated by the Charter of the French Language, all workers must carry their activities in French. However, many retail and business workers use the expression Bonjour-Hi, to indicate their fluency in both languages and to provide courteous customer service.
In October 2019, the Quebec government expressed his will to eliminate the bilingual expression Bonjour-Hi in businesses and government services. This statement came after the Office Québécois de la langue française (OQLF), who oversees the preservation of French, revealed that greetings in French dropped from 84 to 75% between 2010 and 2017. Thus, Simon Jolin-Barette, the minister responsible for the French language, sees this as evidence that the official language of the province is under threat.
Following Jolin-Barette’s announcement, the Bloc Québécois posted an advertisement on Twitter promoting the alternative expression “Bonjour-HO”. This holiday campaign aims at stamping out the bilingual greeting Bonjour-Hi. However, many people on social media pointed out the that the phrase might not be appropriate because the word “ho” carries a markedly different meaning than Santa Claus’s ho-ho-ho.
Avec la campagne «2021 : On touche du bois!», on vous offre nos meilleurs voeux à notre manière afin que l’année qui vient soit meilleure que 2020. Montréal bénéficiera également de la campagne «Bonjour–HO !» qui met de l’avant l’usage du français. Joyeuses Fêtes! @yfblanchetpic.twitter.com/Z7GkakMncm
In my opinion, the expression Bonjour-Hi is what makes the city of Montreal unique. This greeting should be kept in the same way because it promotes inclusivity and respect for both languages. Our province’s financial resource should not be allocated to separate the anglophones and the francophones any further. Policies should also focus on expanding and not reducing people’s linguistic repertoire. That said, what are your thoughts on the proposed banning of Bonjour-Hi?
References
Gouvernement du Québec. (n.d.). Office québécois de la Langue Française. Accueil – Office québécois de la langue française. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/accueil.aspx
Québécois, B. (2020, December 13). Avec la campagne “2021. Twitter. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://twitter.com/BlocQuebecois/status/1337915163090030596?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1337915163090030596%7Ctwgr%5Ecdecb1b29c9448fb27db955ae6e0d4e1f375c097%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.timeout.com%2Fmontreal%2Fnews%2Fheres-how-montrealers-are-reacting-to-replacing-bonjour-hi-with-bonjour-ho-121420
Sandler, G. (2022, January 12). SNL did a skit about Montreal last night & it was brutal. MTL Blog. Retrieved October 27, 2022, from https://www.mtlblog.com/montreal/snl-did-a-skit-about-montreal-it-was-brutal
Van Herk, Gerard. (2018). What is sociolinguistics? 2e Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley- Blackwell.
While the European Union comprises different countries with diverse goals, the desire to increase cross-border mobility is a widely recognized consensus.
The number of English-taught bachelor’s programs (ETBs) in Europe in 2009 was practically 0, however in 2017, this number has grown to nearly 3000. The chart below shows the trend of the augmentation of ETBs in Europe from 2009 to 2017.
The number of English-taught bachelor’s programmes offered by institutions in the European Association for International Education, 2009–2017. Source: EAIE/StudyPortals
Why are there fast-growing English-medium programs in Europe? What are the expectations and motivations? Depending on the survey, boosting internationalisation at European institutions, and raising school’s international profile are the main reasons. By developing English-medium programs, schools can attract more top talent at both the student and staff levels. The Academic Cooperation Association tracked the effects of these programs and based on the results, 84% thought these programs improved international awareness of the institution, and 81% mentioned strengthening the partnership with foreign institutions.
It is undeniable that English as the lingua franca is highly related to high academic performance, international mobility opportunities, and global employment. English-taught programs are not only common in European countries. In some other regions and countries such as Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, and mainland China, English-speaking programs are growing at a fast speed. These programs are highly influenced by the status of English and strengthen linguistic imperialism in return. From some local students’ view, “teaching in English may endanger the survival of the local language and culture”. In addition, some domestic students may fear their insufficient proficiency in English.
English, as the common second language worldwide, has become more and more important, and this snowball effect may overvalue English and affect different nations in different ways. For native speakers of English, they may take more advantages from global opportunities and international communications. However, non-native speakers may accept this situation and study English at the expense of undervaluing their local language culture, if they want to integrate into the global market.
The French language Hip-Hop genre has undergone one of the most interesting and complex transformations amongst other genres of music in the past few decades. In Montreal, the rap scene reflects the city’s location within North America (predominantly English) and inside the province of Quebec (dominated by French), as well as other diverse immigrant communities. Sarkar and Allen studied the multilingual code-switching in Quebec rap and cited in an interview:
“Montreal style… is the only place where you have a cultural mix like that, whether it’s English, [Haitian] Creole, then French, but all the same as Quebec French” (2007).
The mixture of language in the music industry has contributed to the rise of a new unique subculture known as Franglais (French + English) and the French traditionalists of Montreal are afraid the bilingual nature of these songs and its ideologies could threaten the future of the French language and culture within the province.
Among the bilingual rappers of this generation are Loud, FouKi and the Dead Obies. They have received backlash from columnists such as Mathieu Bock-Coté from Le Journal de Montréal who says, “Franglais is a slippery slope toward Anglicization. These bourgeois-bohemian adolescents who think speaking English or Franglais will make Montreal into a New York are deluded because it is the French language that gives the city its cachet” (Soupcoff, 2020). Bilingual artists rapping in Franglais are known to face serious political and social challenges. Quebec’s music industry is heavily subsidized by the Provincial government, but only if artists and record companies are producing music in French. Some groups have lost subsidies from the Provincial government for Francophone artists because it did not reach at least 70% of its lyrics in French. Many rising artists severely depend on these types of grants and need to carefully ensure they meet the French word count requirements in their song. For the sake of language and cultural preservation, bilingual rappers are constantly rejected and are treated unfairly by Commercial French radio stations.
For bilingual artists, rapping in multiple languages allows for more creativity. In terms of rhymes, it opens the world to more lyrical possibilities and a better rhythmic flow. In my opinion, Montreal being one of the biggest multicultural cities of our country, the music should reflect the state of our modern cultural evolution and space. Sadly, the music industry is still dominated by cultural elites, that are white Francophone artists, and they will continue to suppress the rise of this subculture. Music has long been used by many as a tool to expose social injustices. By restricting and limiting an artist’s freedom to express as they desire, are we preventing the evolution of sociocultural growth?
References
Hornberger, N. H., & McKay, S. (2010). Sociolinguistics and language education. Multilingual Matters.
Sarkar, M. and Allen, D. (2007) Hybrid identities in Quebec hip-hop: Language, territory, and ethnicity in the mix. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education 6 (2), 117–130.
When I was 18, my piano teacher asked me if I wanted her to write a letter of recommendation to go to music school after graduating from high school. I didn’t hesitate to say ‘no’ because I had decided to go to college in the United States. My goal was to become a ‘native-like’ English speaker with ‘perfect’ grammar, lexical knowledge, and pronunciation. I didn’t even think about majoring music at a university in the US (or in other ‘English-speaking’ countries) because I not only wanted to learn the language but also learn about the language to become a native-like speaker. I was actually surprised a few years later when I realized that majoring in music in the US might also allow me to acquire ‘correct’ English, but it was too late to change my major to music because I had stopped practicing piano seriously. It’s not that I regret I didn’t become a pianist. I knew I wasn’t talented enough to be a top pianist, studying abroad had been my dream since I was very young, and I appreciate a chance to learn what I’m learning now. I am just curious whether my life would have been different if I didn’t hope to become a ‘perfect’ English speaker. Maybe if I kept practicing piano seriously, even if I couldn’t be a concert pianist, I could have done something related to music?
