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11 - The Political Underbelly of Translingual Practices in English-Medium Higher Education

from Part III - Critical Pedagogy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2024

By
Sarah Hopkyns  and
Shaila Sultana
Edited by
Sender Dovchin ,
Rhonda Oliver  and
Li Wei
Sender Dovchin
Affiliation:
Curtin University, Perth
Rhonda Oliver
Affiliation:
Curtin University, Perth
Li Wei
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London
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Summary

While much attention has been paid to the creativity surrounding translingual practice, there has been little focus on the underlying politics behind such practice in periphery or precarious contexts. This chapter explores the political underbelly of translingual practice in the under-researched Muslim world through two case studies in English-medium instruction (EMI) universities in the United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh. Online and offline data are analysed through the lens of critical social inquiry. Ethnographic observations and metapragmatic reflections revealed that translingual practice is a key element of students’ identities with varying ideologies attached. The chapter explores the micro and macro relations influencing ideologies, such as linguistic and symbolic distances between languages, monolingualism, linguistic imperialism, neoliberalism, secularization and sacralization. The chapter specifically investigates how translingual practice problematizes dominant monolingual biases in higher education and monolithic approaches to social, political, and religious realities. The chapter also analyses internalized mainstream monolingual ideologies in some students, leading to feelings of unworthiness and shame over translingual practices. Thus, the chapter sheds light on sociolinguistic complexities of translingual practices in two under-investigated Islamic countries. Suggestions are made as to ways in which the current gap between complex sociolinguistic realities and monolithic policies can be bridged.

Keywords

Translingual practiceprecarityMuslim worldideologieslanguage policy
Type
Chapter
Information
Translingual Practices
Playfulness and Precariousness
 , pp. 197 - 218
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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