Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:13:14.911Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Language testing and citizenship: A language ideological debate in Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2008

TOMMASO M. MILANI
Affiliation:
Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Stockholm University, SE-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden, T.Milani@leeds.ac.uk

Abstract

This article explores a public debate that took place in Sweden in 2002 in relation to the Swedish Liberal Party's proposal to introduce a language test for naturalization. On the basis of textual analysis of relevant policy documents and newspaper articles, it examines the explicit and implicit facets of an ideology of language testing. It is argued that a seemingly liberal, anti-racist, and anti-discriminatory ideology is emerging, which, in its explicit facet, calls for the introduction of a language test for citizenship as a practical way of diminishing social differentiation. However, drawing upon Bourdieu's notion of rites of institution, it is shown that such a test would actually contribute to, rather than challenge, the reproduction of social differentiation, thereby legitimizing the exclusion of certain groups from both the civic and symbolic domains of Sweden as a nation-state.I want to acknowledge that the research that resulted in the present article was conducted at the Centre for Research on Bilingualism, Stockholm University. However, my current affiliation and address for correspondence is Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, School of Modern Languages and Cultures, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK; email: T.Milani@leeds.ac.uk. I also want to take the opportunity to thank Kenneth Hyltenstam, Sally Johnson, Barbara Johnstone, Ingrid Piller, and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on previous drafts of this article.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2008 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Aftonbladet (10 September 2002). Nalin Pekgul, Invandrarkvinnor, gå inte i Leijonborgs fälla.
Aftonbladet (19 September 2002). Navid Modiri, Leijonborgs språktest – ett bra första steg.
Anderson, Benedict (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Bhabha, Homi (1990). Introduction: Narrating the nation. In Homi Bhabha (ed.), Nation and narration, 17. New York: Routledge.
Billig, Michael (1995). Banal nationalism. London: Sage.
Blackledge, Adrian (2003). Imagining a monocultural community: The racialisation of cultural practice in educational discourse. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 2:33148.Google Scholar
Blackledge, Adrian (2004). Constructions of identities in political discourse in multilingual Britain. In Aneta Pavlenko & Adrian Blackledge (eds.), Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts, 6892. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Blackledge, Adrian (2005). Discourse and power in a multilingual world. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Blackledge, Adrian (2006). The magical frontier between the dominant and the dominated: Sociolinguistics and social justice in a multilingual world. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development 27:2241.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan (1996). Language planning as a discourse on language and society: The linguistic ideology of a scholarly tradition. Language Problems and Language Planning 20:199222.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan (ed.) (1999a). Language ideological debates. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Blommaert, Jan (1999b). The debate is open. In Jan Blommaert (ed.), Language ideological debates, 138. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Blommaert, Jan (1999c). The debate is closed. In Jan Blommaert (ed.), Language ideological debates, 42538. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Blommaert, Jan (2003). Commentary: A sociolinguistics of globalisation. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7:60723.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan (2005). Discourse: A critical introduction. London: Routledge.
Blommaert, Jan, & Bulcaen, Chris (2000). Critical discourse analysis. Annual Review of Anthropology 29:44766.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan; Collins, James; & Slembrouck, Stef (2005). Spaces of multilingualism. Language and Communication 25:197216.Google Scholar
Blommaert, Jan, & Verschueren, Jef (1998a). Debating diversity: Analysing the discourse of tolerance. London: Routledge.
Blommaert, Jan, & Verschueren, Jef (1998b). The role of language in European nationalist ideologies. In Bambi B. Schieffelin Kathryn A. Woolard & Paul V. Kroskrity (eds.), Language ideologies: Practice and theory, 189225. New York: Oxford University Press.
Boreus, Kristina (2006a). Diskrimineringens retorik. En studie av svenska valrörelser 1988–2002. Rapport av Utredningen om makt, integration och strukturell diskriminering. Statens offentliga utredningar (SOU 2006:52).
Boreus, Kristina (2006b). Från rättigheter till krav i folkpartiets flykting- och invandrarpolitik. Tidsignal 5–6:7181.Google Scholar
Bourdieu, Pierre (1977). Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1990). In other words: Essays towards a reflexive sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (2000). Pascalian meditations. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Chouliaraki, Lily, & Fairclough, Norman (1999). Discourse in late modernity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Circulæreskrivelse (2002). Circulæreskrivelse 55 af 12/06/2002 om nye retningslinier for optagelse på lovforslag om indfødsrets meddelelse.
Dagens Nyheter (9 August 2002). B. Moberg, Vi måste tala samma språk.
Dean, Mitchell (1994). Critical and effective histories: Foucault's methods and historical sociology. London: Routledge.
Dir. (1997). Direktiv 1997:5. Översyn av lagen om svenskt medborgarskap.
Dir (1998). Direktiv 1998:50. Tilläggsdirektiv till 1997 års medborgarskapskommitté.
Doughty, Catherine J., & Long, Michael H. (eds.) (2003). The handbook of second language acquisition. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Dörnyei, Zoltán, & Schmidt, Richard (eds.) (2001). Motivation and second language acquisition. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Dörnyei, Zoltán, & Skehan, Peter (2003). Individual differences in second language learning. In Catherine J. Doughty & Michael H. Long (eds.), The handbook of second language acquisition, 61230. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Fairclough, Norman (1989). Language and power. London: Longman.
Fairclough, Norman (1992). Discourse and social change. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Fairclough, Norman (1995a). Media discourse. London: Arnold.
Fairclough, Norman (1995b). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.
Fairclough, Norman (2002). Language in new capitalism. Discourse and Society 13:16366.Google Scholar
Fairclough, Norman (2003). Analysing discourse: Textual analysis for social research. London: Routledge.
Folkpartiet (2003). Språkkravsreform brådskar – nya fakta och argument. http://www.folkpartiet.se/upload/Dokument/rapporter/Sprakkrav.pdf
Gal, Susan, & Woolard, Kathryn A. (eds.) (2001). Languages and publics: The making of authority. Manchester: St. Jerome.
Geertz, Clifford (1973). The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Heller, Monica (2001). Undoing the macro/micro dichotomy: Ideology and categorisation in a linguistic minority school. In Nikolas Coupland Srikant Sarangi & Christopher N. Candlin (eds.), Sociolinguistics and social theory, 21234. London: Longman.
Heller, Monica (2003). Globalization, the new economy, and the commodification of language and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics 7:47392.Google Scholar
Heller, Monica (2006). Communities, identities, processes and practices. Paper presented at Sociolinguistics Symposium 16, Limerick, Ireland.
Heller, Monica, & Duchêne, Alexandre (2007). Discourses of endangerment: Sociolinguistics, globalization and social order. In Alexandre Duchêne & Monica Heller (eds.), Discourses of endangerment: Ideology and interest in the defence of languages, 113. London: Continuum.
Hertzberg, Fredrik (2003). Gräsrotsbyråkrati och normativ svenskhet: Hur arbetsförmedlare förstår en etniskt segregerad arbetsmarknad. Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.
Hyltenstam, Kenneth (ed.) (1996). Tvåspråkighet med förhinder? Invandrar- och minoritetsundervisning i Sverige. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.
Hyltenstam, Kenneth (1999). Inledning: Ideologi, politik och minoritetsspråk. In Kenneth Hyltenstam (ed.), Sveriges sju inhemska språk – ett minoritetsspråksperspektiv, 1140. Lund, Sweden: Studentlitteratur.
Integrationsverket (2000). Utanför demokratin. Rapportserie 2000: 14.
Irvine, Judith T., & Gal, Susan (2000). Language ideology and linguistic differentiation. In Paul V. Kroskrity (ed.), Regimes of language: Ideologies, polities and identities, 3583. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press.
Jacquemet, Marco (2005). Transidiomatic practices: Language and power in the age of globalization. Language and Communication 25:25777.Google Scholar
Johnson, Sally (2005). Spelling trouble? Language, ideology and the reform of German orthography. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
Johnson, Sally, & Ensslin, Astrid (eds.) (2007). Language in the media: Representations, identities, ideologies. London: Continuum.
Joppke, Christian, & Morawska, Ewa (2003). Integrating immigrants in liberal nation-states: Policies and practices. In Christian Joppke & Ewa Morawska (eds.), Towards assimilation and citizenship: Immigrants in liberal nation-states, 136. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Kungörelse (1974). Kungörelse 1974:152 om beslutad ny regeringsform. http://www.notisum.se/rnp/sls/lag/19740152.HTM
Lag (1950). Lag om svenskt medborgarskap 1950: 382.
Lag (2001). Lag om svenskt medborgarskap 2001: 82.
Lemke, Jay L. (1995). Textual politics: Discourse and social dynamics. London: Taylor & Francis.
Leung, Constant, & Lewkowicz, Jo (2006). Expanding horizons and unresolved conundrums: Language testing and assessment. TESOL Quarterly 40:21134.Google Scholar
Lippi-Green, Rosina (1997). English with an accent: Language, ideology and discrimination in the United States. London: Routledge.
Löfgren, Orvar (1993). Nationella arenor. In Billy Ehn Jonas Fyrkman & Orvar Löfgren (eds.), Försvenskningen av Sverige: Det nationellas förvandlingar, 22118. Stockholm: Natur och Kultur.
Makoni, Sinfree, & Pennycook, Alastair (2006). Disinventing and reconstituting languages. In Sinfree Makoni & Alastair Pennycook (eds.), Disinventing and reconstituting languages, 141. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.
May, Stephen (2001). Language and minority rights: Ethnicity, nationalism, and the politics of language. London: Longman.
May, Stephen (2003). Rearticulating the case for minority language rights. Current Issues in Language Planning 4:95125.Google Scholar
Milani, Tommaso M. (2006). Language planning and national identity in Sweden: A performativity approach. In Clare Mar-Molinero & Patrick Stevenson (eds.), Language ideologies, policies and practices: Language and the future of Europe, 10417. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Milani, Tommaso M. (2007). Voices of endangerment: A language ideological debate on the Swedish language. In Alexandre Duchêne & Monica Heller (eds.), Discourses of endangerment: Ideology and interest in the defence of languages, 16996. London: Continuum.
Mills, Sara (2003). Michel Foucault. London: Routledge.
Nash, Roy (1990). Bourdieu on education and social and cultural reproduction. British Journal of Sociology of Education 11:43147.Google Scholar
Oakes, Leigh (2001). Language and national identity: Comparing France and Sweden. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Parekh, Bhikhu (2000). The future of multi-ethnic Britain: The Parekh report. London: Profile.
Pennycook, Alastair (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Piller, Ingrid (2001). Naturalization language testing and its basis in ideologies of national identity and citizenship. International Journal of Bilingualism 5:25978.Google Scholar
Prop. (1950). Proposition 1950:137. Lag om svenskt medborgarskap.
Prop (1997/1998). Proposition 1997/1998:16. Sverige, framtiden och mångfalden – från invandrarpolitik till integrationspolitik.
Prop (1998/1999). Proposition 1998/1999:143. Nationella minoriteter i Sverige.
Prop (1999/2000). Proposition 1999/2000:147. Lag om svenskt medborgarskap.
Richardson, John (2004). (Mis)representing Islam: The racism and rhetoric of British broadsheet newspapers. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Sainsbury, Diane (2006). Immigrants' social rights in comparative perspective: Welfare regimes, forms in immigration and immigration policy regimes. Journal of European Social Policy 16:22944.Google Scholar
Schieffelin, Bambi B., & Doucet, Rachelle Charlier (1998). The “real” Haitian creole: Ideology, metalinguistics, and orthographic choice. In Bambi B. Schieffelin Kathryn A. Woolard & Paul V. Kroskrity (eds.), Language ideologies: Practice and theory, 285316. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schieffelin, Bambi B.; Woolard, Kathryn A.; & Kroskrity, Paul V. (eds.) (1998). Language ideologies: Practice and theory. New York: Oxford University Press.
Schmidt, Ronald Sr. (2006). Political theory and language policy. In Thomas Ricento (ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method, 95110. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Shohamy, Elana (2001). The power of tests: A critical perspective on the uses of language tests. New York: Longman.
Shohamy, Elana (2006a). Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. London: Routledge.
Shohamy, Elana (2006b). Language testing citizenship regime: Why language? Why tests? Why citizenship? Why immigrants? What are the consequences? Paper presented at Sociolinguistics Symposium 16, Limerick, Ireland.
Silverstein, Michael (1996). Monoglot standard in America: Standardization and metaphors of linguistic hegemony. In Donald Brenneis & Ronald K. S. Macaulay (eds.), The matrix of language: Contemporary linguistic anthropology, 284306. Boulder, CO: Westview.
SOU (1977). Statens offentliga utredningar 1977:69. Invandrarna och minoriteterna. Stockholm: Liber förlag/Allmänna förlaget.
SOU (1999). Statens offentliga utredningar 1999:34. Svenskt medborgarskap. Stockholm: Fakta info direkt.
Statistiska Centralbyrån (2005). Statistisk årsbok för Sverige 2005. Örebro: Statistiska Centralbyrån.
Stevenson, Patrick (2006). ‘National’ languages in transnational contexts: Language, migration and citizenship in Europe. In Clare Mar-Molinero & Patrick Stevenson (eds.), Language ideologies, policies and practices: Language and the future of Europe, 14761. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Stroud, Christopher (1999). Portuguese as ideology and politics in Mozambique: Semiotic (re)constructions of a postcolony. In Jan Blommaert (ed.), Language ideological debates, 34380. Berlin: Mouton De Gruyter.
Stroud, Christopher (2004). Rinkeby Swedish and semilingualism in language ideological debates: A Bourdieuan perspective. Journal of Sociolinguistics 8:196214.Google Scholar
Sunderland, Jane (2004). Gendered discourses. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Svenska Dagbladet (29 August 2002). Susanna Baltscheffsky, “Jag vill inte ha mer sossepolitik”.
Svenska Dagbladet (4 August 2002). Lena Hennerl, Ann-Helén Laestadius & Lova Olsson, Svenska krav för nya svenskar.
Talbot, Mary (1995). Fictions at work. London: Routledge.
van Dijk, Teun A. (1993a). Principles of Critical Discourse Analysis. Discourse and Society 4:24983.Google Scholar
van Dijk, Teun A. (1993b). Elite discourse and racism. London: Sage.
Verschueren, Jef (1999). Understanding pragmatics. London: Arnold.
Watts, Richard (2001). Discourse theory and language planning: A critical reading of language planning reports in Switzerland. In Nikolas Coupland Srikant Sarangi & Christopher N. Candlin (eds.), Sociolinguistics and social theory, 297320. London: Longman.
Weiss, Gilbert, & Wodak, Ruth (2003). Introduction: Theory, interdisciplinarity and critical discourse analysis. In Gilbert Weiss & Ruth Wodak (eds.), Critical discourse analysis: Theory and interdisciplinarity, 132. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wodak, Ruth (2001). The discourse-historical approach. In Ruth Wodak & Michael Meyer (eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis, 6394. London: Sage.
Wodak, Ruth; de Cillia, Rudolf; Reisigl, Martin; & Liebhart, Karin (1999). The discursive construction of national identity. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Woolard, Kathryn A. (1989). Sentences in the language prison: The rhetorical structuring of an American language policy debate. American Ethnologist 16:26878.Google Scholar