This paper aims to contribute to current research on language attitudes in contexts of “superdiversity” (Vertovec, 2007) with a special interest in the study of monolingual ideologies which impact on language choices in public spaces. While several studies have emphasised the speakers’ agency to mobilise their repertoires in the linguistic market (Pennycook & Otsuji, 2015), immigrant do not enter empty spaces, and their language use is often curtailed by regimes of language (Blommaert, 2010). Monolingual ideologies seem to prevail even in such diverse contexts as the city of Sydney, where some speakers of the dominant language expect others to “Speak English!”, as demonstrated by media reports and reinforced by the findings of this study.
This paper presents the findings of a small-scale (N=35) qualitative inquiry into the perceived reasons of the formation of monolingual ideologies and negative attitudes to the use of languages other than English in public spaces of Sydney, Australia. The respondents were undergraduate students studying at a major Australian university. Discursive data were collected through an online discussion forum. The data were coded in Nvivo and the main themes related to monolingual ideologies were identified. This paper will provide a qualitative analysis of the findings.
The findings of this study point to the interconnections of monolingual ideology with issues of the social self, racism and xenophobia. Respondents saw a direct connection between the expectation of using English and Australia’s national image as a monolingual English-speaking country. Monolingual ideologies were construed as indicative of people’s broader cross-cultural attitudes and the discursive enactment of linguistic regimes. While Australia has moved a long way away from the assimilationist attitudes of the post-war era, monolingual ideologies continue to impact on language choices in super-diverse cities. The implications of this study point towards the need to improve attitudes to multilingualism hand-in-hand with attitudes to otherness.
References
Blommaert, J. (2010). Sociolinguistics of Globalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pennycook, A., & Otsuji, E. (2015). Metrolingualism: language in the city. New York: Routledge.
Vertovec, S. (2007). Super-diversity and its implications. Ethnic and racial Studies, 30(6), 1024-1010-1054.
