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The Construction of Ethno-Linguistic Identity Amongst Polish-Born

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The Construction of Ethno-Linguistic Identity Amongst Polish-Born The Construction of Ethno-Linguistic Identity amongst Polish-born Adolescents Living in the UK Sara Rachel Jane Young Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy UCL Institute of Education, University College London 2018 2 Statement of originality I, Sara Rachel Jane Young, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Sara Rachel Jane Young April 2018 Word count (exclusive of list of references and appendices) approximately 93,750 words. 3 Abstract Polish accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004 led to an upsurge in the number of Poles coming to the UK. However, little research in socio and applied linguistics has investigated the experiences of Polish-born adolescents resident in the UK. Following the UK General Elections of May 2015 and June 2017, and the Referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU in June 2016, the climate in Britain has become one of an increasingly virulent anti-immigrant discourse, especially against EU migrants. Against this backdrop, this research purports to investigate how Polish-born adolescents resident in the UK negotiate the construction of their ethno-linguistic identity. The study explores the experiences of eleven adolescents (aged 11-16) living in small Polish communities in semi-rural settings in southern England, with a predominantly white British demographic. Fieldwork was conducted in spring 2016. A narrative approach was used, whereby participants are encouraged to tell their own stories. Based on an understanding of identity as contingent and a site of negotiation, the study draws on the notion of identity as positioning within discourse. Counter to previous identity work in socio and applied linguistics with established BAME migrants, findings suggest that in the face of dominant discourses surrounding EU migrants in the UK, scope for the (re)negotiation of ethno-linguistic identity positions amongst Polish-born adolescents in the UK is limited, and the creation of hybrid identities stymied. Similarly, the adolescents’ reported language use indicates an orientation to a separate rather than flexible bilingualism. The study also suggests a need to reconceptualise whiteness in socio and applied linguistics. While whiteness has been understood in such literature as homogenous, this study proposes that to examine questions of identity more comprehensively, the black/white binary which often underpins identity work demands reassessment, and the existence of prejudice against minority white individuals requires greater acknowledgement. 4 Acknowledgements I would firstly like to express my sincere thanks to all the students and teachers who participated in this study with such enthusiasm for the project, and who gave of themselves so openly. Warm and grateful thanks to my supervisor, Dr Siân Preece, for her insightful comments and encouragement; also to Professor Anne White and Dr John O’Regan for their detailed advice at various stages of this study. My immense gratitude goes to Dr Joanna Rzepa and to Dagmara Grabska for their generous assistance with the translation and transcription process, and for pointing out various nuances of the Polish language. Many kind thanks also to other colleagues at University College London, at both the UCL Institute of Education and the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, who took the time to discuss various aspects of this work. I would also like to acknowledge the contribution of Royal Holloway, University of London, where I began my academic journey and training, and in the libraries of which much of this thesis was written. Warm thanks to colleagues from the College for their support. My profound thanks to my father for his continual support; and to close friends and family for their unstinting encouragement. In loving memory of my mother. 5 Table of Contents 1.1 Background of the researcher ....................................................................... 10 1.2 Rationale for the study .................................................................................. 11 1.3 Research aims and questions ....................................................................... 14 1.4 Definitions of terms used .............................................................................. 14 1.5 Religion in Poland ......................................................................................... 18 1.6 Theoretical framework .................................................................................. 20 1.7 Organisation of the thesis ............................................................................. 21 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 23 2.2 Early Poland to the late 18th century ............................................................. 24 2.2.1 Polish migration in the 19th century ............................................. 25 2.2.2 20th century Poland: fluctuating migration 1918-1989 ................... 27 2.2.3 Poland post-1989: economic migration ........................................ 28 2.2.4 Poland post-1989: economic migration ........................................ 30 2.2.5 EU accession 2004 and beyond .................................................. 31 2.3 Poland: ethno-linguistic identity .................................................................... 33 2.3.1 The importance of Polish ............................................................. 33 2.3.2 Development of Polish ................................................................. 35 2.3.3 Suppression of Polish during the partitions .................................. 36 2.3.4 1918: An ethno-linguistically homogenous Poland? ..................... 38 2.3.5 1939-89: A renewed threat to Polish ............................................ 39 2.3.6 English in Poland ......................................................................... 42 2.4 Britain: the contemporary context ................................................................. 44 2.4.1 British identity .............................................................................. 44 2.4.2 A multilingual UK ......................................................................... 46 2.4.3 Election campaigns of 2015 and 2016 ......................................... 48 2.4.4 Attitudes to Poles in the UK ......................................................... 50 2.5 Summary ...................................................................................................... 53 3.1 Overview ...................................................................................................... 55 3.2 Conceptualisations of identity ....................................................................... 56 3.2.1 Changing notions of identity ......................................................... 56 3.2.2 Poststructuralism and discourse .................................................. 59 6 3.2.3 Subjectivity and positioning .......................................................... 62 3.2.4 Identity in socio and applied linguistics research .......................... 66 3.3 Dimensions of identity ................................................................................... 70 3.3.1 Identity as multi-dimensional ........................................................ 70 3.3.2 Ethnicity ....................................................................................... 72 3.3.3 Ethno-linguistic identity ................................................................ 76 3.4 Whiteness ..................................................................................................... 81 3.4.1 Ethnicity and race ........................................................................ 81 3.4.2 Problematising whiteness ............................................................ 82 3.4.3 Whiteness in socio and applied linguistics ................................... 85 3.5 Summary ...................................................................................................... 87 4.1 Overview ...................................................................................................... 89 4.2 Bakhtin ......................................................................................................... 90 4.2.1 Philosophy of language and self .................................................. 90 4.2.2 ‘Heteroglossia’ ............................................................................. 93 4.2.3 ‘Voice’ .......................................................................................... 94 4.3 Conceptualisations of language use ............................................................. 97 4.3.1 Native speaker ............................................................................. 98 4.3.2 Learner/user positions ............................................................... 102 4.3.3 Understandings of bilingualism .................................................. 104 4.4 Adolescents in socio and applied linguistics ............................................... 110 4.4.1 Adolescent migrants .................................................................. 110 4.4.2 Previous studies ........................................................................ 112 4.4.3 School settings .......................................................................... 115 4.4.4 Hybrid
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