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When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk University of Southampton Research Repository ePrints Soton Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination http://eprints.soton.ac.uk UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON FACULTY OF HUMANITIES Centre for Transnational Studies Exploring translocality: negotiating space through the language practices of migrant communities by Linda M. Cadier Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2013 i ii UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF HUMANITIES CENTRE FOR TRANSNATIONAL STUDIES Doctor of Philosophy EXPLORING TRANSLOCALITY: NEGOTIATING SPACE THROUGH THE LANGUAGE PRACTICES OF MIGRANT COMMUNITIES by Linda M. Cadier This thesis aims to explore the spaces created by migrant communities as they make their place in a new homeland. Theoretically conceived of as translocality, these place-making practices are constructed through vibrant relationships between countries, mainly across national borders. I set out to understand the impact of the global on the local in these negotiations between and within migrant groups and the receiving population through the lens of language practices. Previous studies of translocality have focussed on larger, global cities and this research aims to shed some light on the phenomenon in the super-diverse urban environment of a smaller city. A migrant’s first encounter with a dominant institution in the host country is often in the health domain. My case study is located in a hospital maternity department where large numbers of migrants require language support and is considered to offer a rich site of translocal interactions. I use a qualitative ethnographic methodology and interpretation through induction from contextualised subjective data and a theme-oriented discourse data analysis. This approach is suitable for a study, which requires an understanding of how individuals and groups perceive and construct their worlds, difference, agency and power relations. My findings reveal the control of languages by local governance framed by dominant monolingualism. The reality of in situ multilingualism of the interpreters and patients accessing healthcare in the city is challenging this monolingual dominance. I suggest the vertical top-down to grass roots relationship of the control of languages is becoming increasingly non-hierarchical as the hospital responds to this linguistic reality. The light shed on the negotiation of translocality may inform effective professional practice in the health domain. This knowledge can be of use to other public sectors, language policy makers and planners that engage with members of migrant communities. iii iv DEDICATION To the bravery and courage of all transnational migrants - your descendants succeed because you dared And, To Paul, Louis, Camilla and Rémy as an affirmation that anything is possible. v vi CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................... iii! DEDICATION ................................................................................................... v! CONTENTS .................................................................................................... vii! LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ xv! DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP .................................................................... xvii! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. xix! DEFINITIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................... xxi! Chapter 1: Introduction and rationale ................................................................ 1! 1.1.! Thesis themes ........................................................................................ 2! 1.2.! Aims of the study ................................................................................... 3! 1.3.! Rationale for case study .......................................................................... 4! 1.4.! Research questions ................................................................................. 5! 1.5.! Overview of chapter plan ........................................................................ 6! Chapter 2: Theoretical approaches .................................................................... 9! 2.2.! Transnationalism and super-diversity: features of globalisation ............ 12! 2.2.1. Globalisation contested .................................................................... 12! 2.2.2. Transnational migration ................................................................... 13! 2.2.3. Cross-border activities: transnationalism .......................................... 14! 2.2.4. Transnational networks reciprocally linked across borders ............... 16! 2.2.5. Super-diversity, a new name for transnationalism? ........................... 17! 2.2.6. Linguistic super-diversity ................................................................. 19! 2.3.! The importance of the global and non-global city as a site of linguistic diversity ............................................................................................... 21! 2.3.1. Communities spatially differentiated in the city ................................ 22! 2.3.2. Contact zones in the city .................................................................. 24! 2.3.3. Linguistic landscapes in the city ....................................................... 25! vii 2.4.! Translocal space ................................................................................... 27! 2.4.1. Translocal place-making ................................................................... 27! 2.4.2. Translocal spaces ............................................................................. 28! 2.5. Negotiating translocality through language practices ............................. 30! 2.5.1. Linguistic heteroglossia and hybridity .............................................. 32! 2.5.2. Metrolingualism, transidiomatic practices ........................................ 33! 2.6.! Markers of difference ............................................................................ 36! 2.6.1. The stranger or the Other ................................................................ 36! 2.6.2. Language as a marker of difference ................................................. 39! 2.7.! The link between the global (macro) and the local (micro) ..................... 41! 2.7.1. Language ideologies ........................................................................ 43! 2.7.2. Supranational and national language policies informed by ideologies .......................................................................................................... 43! 2.7.3. The contestation of ideologies: top-down and from the grass roots . 45! 2.7.4. Language as a powerful resource of control ..................................... 47! 2.8.! Summary .............................................................................................. 48! Chapter 3: Research methodology ................................................................... 51! 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................... 51! 3.2. Research aims and questions ................................................................. 53! 3.3. Research methods ................................................................................. 53! 3.3.1. Linguistic ethnography ..................................................................... 53! 3.3.2. Use of linguistic ethnography in language, cultural and medical encounters ......................................................................................... 56! 3.3.3. Case study methodology .................................................................. 57! 3.3.4. Selecting data, contacting and information about the informants ..... 58! 3.3.5. Brief overview of the data