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Societal Bilingualism in Malta: Systems of Institutionalised Knowledge

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Societal Bilingualism in Malta: Systems of Institutionalised Knowledge Textually-mediated social organisation for the exchange of knowledge: A study of language choice in organisational texts in Malta Melissa Joan Bagley BA (Hons), MA This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Department of Linguistics and English Language, Lancaster University, England UK November 2019 Abstract In what is officially a bilingual nation-state, post-colonial Maltese public institutions operate without explicit language policy guidance, such as provided in other jurisdictions by ‘language schemes’. Whilst both official languages are used in formal institutions, English appears to be the more popular choice of language for organisational texts. As social practices are a better indicator of actual language ideologies (Spolsky, 2004), a transdisciplinary approach was adopted, looking into select textually-mediated practices that coordinate institutionally-based activities (Smith, 1990b; Campbell and Gregor, 2004) and textual analysis (Fairclough, 2003). Taking texts as social spaces where the ideational and interpersonal metafunctions of language are activated (Halliday and Matthiessen, 2014; Fairclough, 1995) and writing as a disembedding mechanism (Giddens, 1990), choice of language in organisational texts may be due to the need for objectifying knowledge for sharing within the relations of ruling (Smith, 1990a; Campbell and Gregor, 2004), abstract, intangible social connections predominantly involved in the social organisation of knowledge societies within a global inter-state system (Hopkins and Wallerstein, 1982). The analysis suggests that language choice in institutional texts may depend on knowledge exchange systems designed for frontstage and backstage performativity. Furthermore, these language patterns imply that the environment within which these language practices occur needs to be accounted for in terms of polycentric social space (Lefebvre, 1991; Soja, 1985; Blommaert, 2007). Such variation, as well as the apparent stability of such language differentiation, may be better understood when looking beyond the borders of the nation- state and taking the world analysis system (WSA) as one influential model to understand language choice. i Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Declaration ......................................................................................................................... vi Dedication ........................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ viii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... ix List of Tables ................................................................................................................... xii Chapter ONE: Language and textually-mediated social organisation in a bilingual nation-state ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction: reconsidering bilingual practices in institutional settings .................... 1 1.2 Language policy in Malta: an issue of formal and non-formal regulation ................. 3 1.3 The reality of language regulation in a nation-state ................................................... 8 1.4 Questions regarding bilingual patterns of behaviour ............................................... 11 1.5 Theoretical framework: redefining concepts of language, literacy and texts........... 13 1.5.1 Defining the formal institution .............................................................................. 17 1.6 The data collection ................................................................................................... 18 1.7 Outline of the study .................................................................................................. 19 Chapter TWO: Societal bilingualism in Malta: systems of institutionalised knowledge ............................................................................................................................................ 21 2.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 21 2.2 The origins of the Maltese language ........................................................................ 22 2.3 From multiculturism to the expulsion of Muslim Arabs .......................................... 24 2.4 The rise of institutional life in Medieval Malta ........................................................ 26 2.5 The urbanisation of early modern Malta .................................................................. 33 2.6 The Language Question and the rise of nationhood ................................................. 38 2.7 Post-Colonial Malta and institutional language use ................................................. 44 2.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 48 ii Chapter THREE: Societal bilingualism, knowledge organisation and language choice ............................................................................................................................................ 50 3.1 Researching language choice in institutional settings .............................................. 50 3.2 Language choice as a means of knowledge organisation ......................................... 53 3.3 Social space, presence-availability and disembedding mechanisms ........................ 58 3.4 Social action and the rise of mediated relationships ................................................ 65 3.5 The rise of the knowledge society: synoptic knowledge and knowledge systems ... 69 3.6 The bureaucratic apparatus, rationalization and language ....................................... 75 3.7 The nation-state, institutions and societal bilingualism .......................................... 78 3.8 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 87 Chapter FOUR: Research Questions, Rationale and Methodological Concerns....... 89 4.1 The conceptual background: the rationale for a social practice approach ............... 89 4.2 The social practice: ontological and epistemological considerations ...................... 92 4.3 Methodological framework: the social practice approach towards the study of writing ........................................................................................................................... 96 4.4 The concept of the local: its limits and further developments ............................... 100 4.5 Selection of case studies, methods of data collection and analysis ........................ 103 4.5.1 Study One: selection, methods and analysis .................................................... 104 4.5.2 Study Two: selection, methods and analysis ................................................... 107 4.6 Researcher issues: positionality, issues and challenges ......................................... 109 4.6.1 Becoming a researcher, researcher identity and positionality ....................... 109 4.6.2 The bilingual researcher as interpreter, transcriber and translator .................. 114 4.6.3 Preparing data for analysis: transcription and translation of bilingual data .... 116 4.7 What this study does not attempt to cover ............................................................. 119 4.8 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 119 Chapter FIVE: Texts, language and a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) ............. 120 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 120 5.2 Profile and background .......................................................................................... 121 iii 5.3 The work domain ................................................................................................... 122 5.3.1 The premises: workshop and office ................................................................. 123 5.4 Learning and sense-making: learning the trade and certification........................... 131 5.5 Communicating with the public: using texts for advertising ................................. 137 5.6 Organizing work life: texts for record keeping and financial management ........... 140 5.7 Working with clients .............................................................................................. 146 5.8 A case of textually-mediated social organisation ................................................... 151 5.9 Languages, literacies and texts for knowledge exchange ...................................... 154 5.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 157 Chapter SIX: Language and objectified relations in a government agency ............. 159 6.1 Organisations for governance: a government organisation ................................... 159 6.2 The government agency: social welfare services ................................................... 162 6.3 Prevention services:
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