Space organizes and defines sociolinguistic regimes and has effects on the function and value of people's linguistic repertoires (Blommaert, Collins and Slembrouck 2005:203). In the case of migration, the value and function... [ view full abstract ]
Space organizes and defines sociolinguistic regimes and has effects on the function and value of people's linguistic repertoires (Blommaert, Collins and Slembrouck 2005:203). In the case of migration, the value and function of an individual's linguistic resources might change radically, and how the same resource (French) is constructed discursively with reference to different spaces is the topic of this paper.
The data I examine are semi-interviews with 12 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who live Norway since the beginning of the 2000s. They have varied repertoires, speaking at least four languages. The aim of the interviews was to elicit their linguistic autobiographies and topics such as order of acquisition and practices in different periods of the lifespan were discussed. The data were transcribed and coded for topics (language et space), and here I will here focus on the parts that deal with French.
When the reference point is the DRC, French is constructed as a useful resource, as it is the one that permitted the participants to participate in political life, study and get prestigious jobs. The colonial legacy is frequently mentioned and French is presented by several as the main reason for social inequalities. In the Norwegian context, on the contrary, French is constructed as a resource without any function or symbolic value, although it is taught as a school subject. Some say that they transmit French to their children in order to enable them to communicate with relatives in the DRC, but not for their future in Europe.
I will discuss the participants' accounts and narratives in the light of the interactions with the researcher and show that the function and value of linguistic resources are constructed not only as related to space, but also to the other resources of the individual.
Blommaert, J., Collins, J. & Slembrouck, S. (2005) Spaces of multilingualism. Language & Communication 25, 197-216.
