Sustaining Linguistic Diversity within the Global Cultural Eco.docx

Sustaining Linguistic Diversity within the Global Cultural
Economy: Issues of Language
Rights and Linguistic Possibilities
Author(s): Naz Rassool
Source: Comparative Education, Vol. 40, No. 2, Special Issue
(28): Postcolonialism and
Comparative Education (May, 2004), pp. 199-214
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4134649 .
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200 N. Rassool
fluid, multidimensional, multifaceted and self-defining, and
contrasts sharply with
the essentialist discourses of race/gender/nation/culture that
traditionally have un-
derpinned common conceptions of ethnic minority identity
within the metropolitan
nation-state.
Such rigid notions of cultural identity have historical roots in
the universalistic
discourse of colonialism grounded in the Eurocentric norms of
the 'Mother Coun-

try'. Within this paradigm peoples subordinated to the
colonizing power were
invariably reduced to one-dimensional cultural/ethnic/national
stereotypes, their
identities seen as mutable only in terms of their desire to
approximate the 'superior'
standards of metropolitan culture-its preferred ways of being,
its ways of seeing, its
ways of knowing. Historically the imposition of the colonial
language has played a
major part in shaping this hegemony. Writing about the colonial
Afro-Caribbean
experience, Cliff (1985) states that
one of the effects of assimilation, indoctrination, passing into
the anglocentrism of the
British West Indian culture is that you believe(d) absolutely in
the hegemony of the
King's English and in the form in which it is meant to be
expressed. (pp. 12-13)
Writing about black representation Hall (1993) similarly
highlights the power of
colonial cultural hegemony in his argument that 'not only were
we constructed as
different and other within the categories of knowledge of the
West by those regimes.
They had the power to make us see and experience ourselves as
"Other"' (p. 394).
Thus the subordinated 'Self became 'naturalized' in discourses
of 'Otherness'
structured along linear binaries of civilized/barbaric,
knowledge/ignorance, black/
white, developed/under-developed cultures; unbridgeable
divides. Within and
through these discourses of 'Otherness' the languages, cultures

and social experi-
ences of colonial peoples were marginalized, their voices
silenced and rendered
powerless.
However, the view that the suppression of colonized identities
was entirely
successful at individual/group level is a much-contested issue
amongst postcolonial
theorists (Suleri, 1992; Spivak, 1993). Such arguments, these
writers stress, do not
take account of agency. There were many ways in which the
dominant colonial
paradigm was challenged, for example, where identity
construction intersects with
the different ways in which colonial languages were used by
different groups of
subjugated people within the colonial context. This includes,
inter alia, the concept
of different 'Englishes' that evolved within various colonial
contexts (see the work of
Braj Kachru, 1984), Creolized language varieties-or in neo-
colonial contexts such
as Apartheid South Africa where the adoption of English, the
previous colonial
language, became a powerful symbolic tool in the struggle
against Apartheid hege-
mony. Canagarajah (2000) regards such actions as:
... strategies by which the marginals detach themselves from the
ideologies of the
powerful, retain a measure of critical thinking, and gain some
sense of control over their
life in an oppressive situation ... (p. 22)

Sustaining linguistic diversity 201
In the case of Apartheid South Africa, whilst they could not
change the basis of their
oppression, these actions were nevertheless, 'sufficient to
nurture oppositional
discourses and ideologies' (Canagarajah, 2000, p. 122).
Meanings then always exist
in tension and are subject to change through human action.
Focusing on ethnic minority language relations within England
and Wales, in the
rest of this paper I want to explore the dual meanings that have
surrounded the
maintenance of ethno-linguistic identities during different
historical epochs, with a
particular emphasis on current changes taking place within the
global cultural
economy. The latter refers to the complex global interplay
between economy,
culture and politics, and the power relations in which they are
constituted.
Postcolonial realities: transmigratory communities
Transferred to the post-colonial 'Motherland', transmigratory
groups from former
colonies and their languages and cultures have been, similarly,
constructed as
'Other'-the 'alien wedge within' (Hall, 1983). In Britain ethno-
linguistic and
dialect differences amongst immigrant groups were to become

key factors against
which common conceptions of British 'nationhood' were defined
during the period
of mass transmigration in the 1950s and 1960s. Within a context
in which English
as the national language represented the preferred language of
teaching and learning,
ethnic minority languages were seen in terms of levels of
deficit. Positioned at the
centre of a largely exclusionary educational discourse at the
time, the languages of
immigrant children, notably the dialects spoken by Afro-
Caribbean pupils (then
commonly referred to as 'West Indians'), and the lack of fluency
in English amongst
pupils from South Asia were seen as impeding educational
progress. Concerns about
underachievement, especially amongst children of Afro-
Caribbean origin, were
based on notions of communication failure in classrooms. 'West
Indian' Creole was
seen as the cause of problems of listening, interpreting and later
reading and writing.
Representations thus focused on the inherent 'inferiority' of
minority languages,
provided a pedagogical rationale for the imperative to learn
Standard English, and
intensive English as a Second Language (ESL) programmes
were put in place to
facilitate fluency in English. The assumption was that as they
became proficient in
English, black immigrant pupils would develop an English
identity and lose motiv-
ation to maintain contact with their own languages and cultures.

The formation of
cultural identity within this framework was seen as constituting
a one-way, top-down
process of change positioning immigrant pupils as passive
consumers of English
language and culture. It was envisaged therefore that language
shift would inevitably
take place within one generation.
Although the principles of cultural pluralism were advanced
later in the discussion
on multicultural education (Swann Report-DES, 1985), language
in education
policy retained its focus on a transitional model of bilingualism
grounded in
assimilationist ideology. In other words, although lip service
was paid to the
principles of integration and cultural pluralism, the practice
remained the same.
202 N. Rassool
Creating language possibilities
And yet, as was the case with colonial hegemony, these
meanings did not translate
unchallenged into practice. In other words, although emphasis
was on cultural
assimilation, it did not mean that language maintenance
amongst immigrant groups
did not take place either informally, or within more formal
contexts such as schools.

Despite the absence of national policy direction and guidelines
for practice, some
inner-city schools, supported by their Local Education
Authorities (LEAs) during
the early to mid-1980s, engaged in a process of self-defined
change towards
pursuing an additive bilingual education agenda within their
schools. Supported by
funding received under Section 11 of the 1966 United Kingdom
Local Government
Act for the education of immigrant children some LEAs, notably
the Inner London
Education Authority (ILEA), and several outer London
Boroughs such as Newham
and Waltham Forest, had developed a two-tier system of in-
class support provision
for pupils learning ESL. These LEAs also instituted specialist
teams to provide
'mother-tongue' teaching support in schools, and, in addition,
also incorporated
languages such as Bengali, Urdu, Panjabi and Greek into the
mainstream Modern
Languages curriculum (see Rassool, 1995, 1997). It became
evident that as their
languages were seen to be valued in schools, children from
ethno-linguistic minority
groups gradually became confident about using their languages
amongst one another
within both the classroom and playground (Rassool, 1995).
Counter discourses and re-definitions
However, there is always a tension between informal, self-
empowering, bottom-up
approaches and power/knowledge discourses that reside in
formal contexts. Educa-

tional struggles around the issue of the language rights and
educational entitlements
of ethnic minority groups ultimately became discredited in the
vociferous attack
launched against multiculturalism by neo-conservative think-
tanks such as the
Centre for Policy Studies, the Hill Gate Group and the Salisbury
Review during the
late 1980s. In a polemic called English, whose English?
emphasizing the need to
teach children 'correct' English (Marenbon, 1987)
multilingualism was seen as
posing a threat to the national interest. Existing school and LEA
initiatives were
undermined formally by the Education Reform Act (DfES,
1988), which introduced
a highly regulated National Curriculum that gave pre-eminence
to English. During
the next five years funding for teachers employed by LEAs
under Section 11 of the
Local Government Act 1966 to support the language needs of
immigrant children,
was restructured and ultimately withdrawn. As a result, formal
possibilities for
sustaining language maintenance amongst immigrant pupils in
schools were cur-
tailed.
In 1998 the Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG)
replaced Section 11
funding. EMAG is allocated to LEAs on a formula basis as part
of the wider
Standards Fund. The grant thus is aimed at raising the standards

of school-based
achievement of ethnic minority pupils, especially those whose
first language is not
English. It is argued that EMAG:
gives LEAs a central strategic role in providing specific support
and advice to secure
provision for EAL pupils and in raising standards of
achievement for minority ethnic
groups including accountability for the use of the grant; in-
service training, peripatetic
support to schools; and intervention if necessary. (DfES,
http://dfes.gov.uk/read-
writeplus/EMAG2)
Accordingly many local education authorities are allocating a
major percentage of
this money to supporting the cost of employing teachers and
bilingual classroom
attendants to teach English as an additional language (EAL) in
schools. Of
significance to our discussion here is that despite good practice
including bilingual
support in some LEAs (see Tikly et al. in DfES 2002; Ofsted,
2002), the general
emphasis on raising standards in education effectively means
that an English as a
Second Language approach to facilitate access to the National
Curriculum would be
a priority for schools under pressure to achieve their set
educational attainment

targets. Thus the grant ultimately sustains a monolingual
educational policy.
This contrasts, for example, with education in South Africa
where as a means of
redress the post-Apartheid government has opted for 11 official
languages (nine
African, English and Afrikaans) with each province choosing its
own official lan-
guages suited to its population/linguistic groupings (Department
of Education
(South Africa), 1997). Placing emphasis on reinstating
previously subjugated lan-
guages, the government has extended powers to school
governing bodies 'to deter-
mine the language policy of the school' subject to the
Constitution, the South
African Schools Act (Department of Education (South Africa),
1996) and provincial
law. Multilingualism therefore is a central element in the
implementation of educa-
tional policy within that country.
Globalization and shifting cultural and linguistic landscapes
The continued monolingual and ethnocentric approach in
education in the UK
seems to be somewhat problematic if we take account of the
complex technological,
social, cultural and economic changes that have taken place
within the global terrain
in recent years. Dynamic financial, information and cultural
flows facilitated by
microelectronics technology define an increasingly interactive
global arena. The
complex ways in which computer-based interaction such as

email and the Internet,
as well as mass communication practices, intersect with our
everyday lives highlight
the centrality of language to, amongst others, individual
functional capability,
identity formation, meaning production and cultural
development within, at least
metaphorically, the 'borderless' modemrn world. Within the
labour market, the
outsourcing of core 'knowledge' workers across countries and
continents has created
ever-changing worker demographies. Alongside this, the
development of the global
tourist industry has resulted in unprecedented high levels of
leisure travel largely
amongst people from the affluent West. Collectively, these
developments support
204 N. Rassool
increased demand for high levels of functional multilingual
skills as well as intercul-
tural communication skills, and a diverse range of sophisticated
knowledge compe-
tences (Rassool, 1999). As can be seen below, they also offer a
range of cultural
choices and possibilities, and create new language
opportunities.
Multilingualism as cultural capital
Within the metropolitan world this dynamic flow of people
contains potential for the
development of a laissez faire cosmopolitanism in which the

adoption of a multilin-
gual repertoire suited to specific contexts and purposes plays a
central role in
shaping the concept of the global 'citizen'. Within a
commodified leisure culture
multilingualism represents a strategic lifestyle choice for the
unbounded global
tourist (Rassool, 2000). For multi-skilled international 'core'
workers, being multi-
lingual in the languages of trade, industry and business is seen
as a necessary
pre-requisite to successful competition within the ever-shifting
markets globally.
This means that although they may rely on English as lingua
franca for interaction
within the international terrain, 'core' workers also need to have
a working knowl-
edge of local languages, appropriate discourse styles as well as
an informed cultural
knowledge base to facilitate effective intercultural
communication. Multilingualism
located within this organic global context clearly represents
important cultural
capital, that is to say, the range of linguistic skills, discourse
styles, and discursive
knowledges that people must have in order to function
effectively as workers and
consumers within the global cultural economy. These factors
support the view that
language lies at the heart of the technological development
paradigm (Rassool,
1999).
Transmigratory peoples and language problems
The past two decades have also witnessed unprecedented levels

of mass trans-
migration in consequence to civil wars, increased levels of
poverty, and political
destabilization within nation states, predominantly within the
'transitional' and
'developing' worlds. Within the present epoch these shifting
groups of people
regarded as constituting the 'peripheral peoples', the 'neo-
nomads' or the 'social
pariahs' (Arendt, 1978) within the postcolonial metropolitan
nation state, raise the
potential for social disequilibrium with its inherent threat to
social stability. In
contrast to the free flow of human capital and international
leisure tourists outlined
above, globalization in this construction is marked by social
displacement, social
fragmentation and seemingly irreconcilable differences, and
thus it is fraught with
tension. This lends credence to the view that the globalization
discourse is consti-
tuted in contradictions favouring inclusion and choice for some,
whilst for other, less
powerful groups, it serves to intensify uncertainties, and
reinforce inequalities.
How we theorize the experiences of these groups of socially
displaced people is
important in terms of the view that we present of them. There is
a risk in
representing them as victims caught in a maelstrom of
circumstance. My argument

therefore is that whilst the cultural and political rights of ethno-
linguistic minority
groups remain a central principle in the struggle for human
rights and social justice,
we need to take care not to adopt, unproblematically, the
metaphor of transmigra-
tory groups as marginals. Situating them as docile subjects we
objectify them, and
reify their experiences-creating thus a hegemony of 'Otherness'.
In practice, as we
could see in the discussion above, and again in the case study
below, the rigid
meanings constructed historically around ethno-linguistic
minority groups in domi-
nant discourses, do not always exist unchallenged. Counter-
discourses and counter-
hegemonic practices invariably emerge as people engage
critically with issues within
their daily lives. In other words, there is a dialectical process in
which individuals
and social groups engage critically with historical discourses,
constructed social
meanings and power institutions, not only to challenge
sociocultural/political pro-
cesses of domination but also to re-define their experiences,
expectations and
aspirations within everyday life and, ultimately, their position
within society.
What I am arguing then is that whilst issues related to
'peripheral peoples' within
the nation-state largely remain unresolved in policy terms,
changes are already
taking place within the life of society. In the next section, the
argument that

transmigratory peoples are engaged in a process of self-
definition2 and self-
identification, born out of the need to belong, will be explored
in the linguistic
narratives of pupils belonging to second generation settler, and
migrant communi-
ties.
Questions of policy and practice
In the absence of policies in education to support the
maintenance of ethnic
minority languages, there is a series of questions to be answered
related to levels of
language maintenance and identity formation amongst pupils
from ethnic minority
groups. For example, within an educational context that does
not support the
maintenance of ethnic minority languages, why do some
children from transmigra-
tory groups and not others maintain their first languages? What
are the structures in
school, culture and society that have enabled this to take place?
What has been the
impact on the shaping of pupils' cultural identity? What value
do they attach to their
own languages? How, when and where do they use their
languages? How, when and
where do they use English? What value do they attach to being
fluent in English?
How do they identify culturally in relation to the society in
which they live? What
categories of language use and identity classification related to
ethno-linguistic
minority groups prevail in contemporary British society?

The pupils
The 12-14-year-olds who participated in the research are from
six comprehensive
schools within inner city and suburban areas in South-east
England. Each school,
historically, has had large intakes of children from different
parts of the world whose
parents have either settled here, or who hope to find asylum in
their flight from
206 N. Rassool
tyrannical regimes, poverty, and/or ethnic conflict. Seeking to
address some of the
questions raised above, the data discussed here derive from 360
survey question-
naires sent to the case-study schools as the first stage of the
research project. The
aim is first to obtain a general view of the range of linguistic
diversity in schools, and
how young people interpret and engage with their linguistic
heritage. The second
stage (still ongoing) involves a series of discussions with a self-
selected group of
pupils in each of the schools. This would enable some of the
complexities that
currently surround the shaping of the ethno-linguistic identities
within some British
schools to be explored. An underlying motif is the view that
issues of identity and
belonging are ever evolving processes characterized by complex
negotiations be-
tween past lives and present realities. Bhabha (1994) describes

the dialogical nature
of this process of self-definition:
living on the borderlines of the 'present' (....) we find ourselves
in the moment of
transit where space and time cross to produce complex figures
of difference and
identity, past and present, inside and outside, inclusion and
exclusion ... (p. 1)
As can be seen below, this research provides evidence of rich
cultural and linguistic
tapestries interwoven with complex histories grounded in
colonialism, multiple
transmigrations, postcolonial immigrant and migratory
settlement.
Multilingual realities and multi-identities
The range of first languages spoken in the case-study schools
includes Somali, Urdu,
Gujerati, Panjabi, Tamil, Swahili, Zimbabwean, Chichewa,
Bengali, Croatian, Farsi,
Hindi, Dutch, Yoruba, and Jamaican English. All of these pupils
were functionally
bilingual which means that they were able to communicate in
both their 'mother
tongues' and in English. Six classified themselves as
monolingual English speakers.
Of these, four were born in the UK of Panjabi speaking
families, one was born in
Grenada, and the other, in Jamaica. Table 1 shows the range of
languages spoken
including those speakers who were bilingual or multilingual
from birth.

First generation multilingual speakers include children of
refugees or migrants
who have arrived in the UK during the past ten years from
countries such as India,
Zimbabwe, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Pakistan, Croatia,
Nigeria and Afghanistan.
Second generation multilingual speakers are those whose
parents settled in the UK
during the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Amongst all three groups there
are families who have
transmigrated across more than one country and/or continent
and therefore include
both recent arrivals and settled groups. The range of countries
across which multiple
transmigration took place is provided in Table 2.
Of these, a pupil who registered Dutch as her first language (she
refers to it as her
'mother tongue') was born in Holland to Indian parents who are
Tamil speakers.
Having family who had transmigrated from India to Germany,
means that she also
has learned to speak some German in order to communicate with
her cousins when
they visit, and vice versa.
Table 1. Multilingual realities in inner city schools
Multi/bilingual First Multi/bilingual Second

Generation Generation Multi/Bilingual from Birth
Panjabi/ Hindi/English Urdu/English/Hindi/Panjabi
Panjabi/English
Somali/Finnish/English Urdu/Panjabi/English Urdu/English
Tamil/English Urdu/English Tamil/English
Zimbabwean/English Gujerati/Hindi/English
Urdu/Panjabi/English
Urdu/Panjabi/English Bengali/Arabic/English
Urdu/Hindi/Panjabi/English Gujerati/English
Croatian/Hungarian/English Gujerati/Urdu/English
Dutch/German/Tamil/English Gujerati/Panjabi/English
Panjabi/Farsi/Hindi/English Gujerati/Panjabi/Urdu/English
Urdu/Farsi/English Tamil/English
Gujerati/English Panjabi/Hindi/Urdu
Somali/Arabic/English Panjabi/Hindi/English
Urdu/Arabic/English Yoruba/English
Moreover, as a result of their complex transmigratory
experiences many parents
have rich linguistic repertoires to which their children are
exposed. For example, the
language repertoire of the family who transmigrated from
Nigeria includes a variety
of local languages such as Moyo Oni, Tolu Oni, Titi Oni,
Yoruba and English.
Similarly, one of the pupils who is multilingual in Gujerati,
Urdu and English has
parents who also speak Swahili. Another family speaks Hindi,
Swahili, English, and
Italian, whilst yet another has parents who speak Sindi,
Gujerati, Bengali, Urdu and
English. The parents of the eastern European language users in
the sample have a
repertoire that includes Croatian, Russian, Hungarian, German
and English.

These linguistic repertoires show evidence of vibrant cultural
experiences across
time and space; they contain memory traces of past migrations,
colonialism and, in
many instances, also reflect the multilingual ethos of the
societies from which they
had transmigrated. These linguistic narratives problematize the
notions of a fixed
'homeland' and 'belonging', inserting not only 'provisionality'
but also uncertainty,
and 'temporary-ness' into the construction and ongoing
maintenance of their
cultural identities. One of the pupils interviewed expressed it
thus:
Table 2. Multiple transmigrations
* Somalia-Finland-England (Languages: Somali, Finnish,
English)
* Somalia-Saudi Arabia-England (Languages: Somali, English)
* Somalia-Saudi Arabia-South Africa-England (Languages:
Somali, English)
* India-Canada-England (Languages: English, Panjabi)
* India-Kenya-England (Languages: Gujerati, Swahili, English)
* India-Holland-England (Languages: Dutch, Tamil, German,
English)
* India-Malawi-England (Languages: Urdu, Chichewa, English)
* Pakistan-Iran-England (Languages: Urdu, Panjabi, Farsi,
English)
208 N. Rassool
I've not lived in one country for more than a few years ... maybe

this time we'll stay but
I don't know. I don't remember my country, I was born in
Germany, but my parents
came from Somalia. We left Germany before I was two years
old so I can't speak
German. I can speak Somali because my parents speak to me ...
but I cannot read and
write it. My parents talk a lot about home but for me Somalia is
very far away, I can
only imagine it when I listen to my parents talk about it ... when
I look at the family
photographs. For me home is where I am ... I have lived here
now for 12 years and I
think of London as my home ... I have to ... I live here. I'd like
to visit Somalia one
day ...
Another stated that:
I wish that we didn't have to leave my country, I now feel
strange when we go there
for holiday. I think different to them ... and I don't always
understand what they say,
they speak different to me although we speak the same
language.
Yet another stated that:
Sometimes I feel just so sad that we cannot go home ... but then
again I remember
what it was like before we left. I lost many people in my family.
But I'd like to keep
my language and my culture ... it is who I am.
There is a sense here of ineffable loss of cultural belonging, of
an irretrievable past,

and a future defined by fissured identities. And yet, it also
speaks of pragmatic
choices and reconciliation with their present situation. It also
provides insight into
the dynamic nature of change; that languages change over time
incorporating
vocabulary and meanings within the various sociocultural
contexts that they are
used.
Most of the pupils who are biliterate in their first language and
English were
relatively new arrivals who had attended schools in their
country of origin. Others
were born in a second country where they had attended school
for a number of years
and therefore were fluent in the languages of these countries.
Second generation
biliterates in the sample, on the whole, had benefited from
having their languages
taught as part of the Modern Languages curriculum. Languages
such as Urdu and
Arabic received literacy support mainly in their places of
worship and community
clubs. In the case of Arabic, although pupils were able to read
and write the
language, they could not understand it. Somali, Croatian,
Bengali, Tamil, Farsi,
Gujerati received no literacy support and are used mainly in
informal family and
community contexts. One of the respondents bemoaned the loss
of his 'mother
tongue' stating that:

My family speak Tamil. Although I spoke it when I was small,
I've lost it now and want
to speak to my family and friends in India on the phone, or
when I visit them.
Another stated that:
I want to learn to speak Chichewa so that I can communicate
with my Dad's side of
the family. If I don't I will never get to know them properly, I'll
always be different.
There is therefore evidence of language shift having taken place
amongst certain
groups, mainly where their languages are not supported within
the communities
where they live, or in school as is the case with Panjabi and
Urdu. This pupil's
comment though tells a more complex story in which her
father's parents/grandpar-
ents had transmigrated to Malawi from India-and within this
family some degree
of language shift had already taken place in that context-hence
the desire to learn
to speak Chichewa.
Most of them attached great importance to their first language,
which
many referred to as 'my mother tongue', citing the 'need to
preserve my cultural

identity', 'to communicate with my family', 'to take part in my
religion' as significant
factors. This was particularly evident in the responses from
second-generation
settled groups. Some of them expressed the wish to learn other
ethnic minority
languages so that they would be able to communicate better
with their friends. For
example, an Urdu speaker stated that 'I want to learn Bengali
because I've got lots
of friends who speak it'. Another, a Panjabi speaker of mixed
cultural heritage, said
that 'I'd like to learn Portuguese so that I can communicate with
my grandparents.
Urdu to communicate with the guy of my dreams!' A Farsi
speaker from
Afghanistan who has been in the country for three and a half
years stated that he
would like to learn German because he has relatives living in
Germany and would
like to understand them when they come and visit. A Gujerati
speaker aspired to
learning 'Italian and Spanish or any other different languages,
you can find pen-pals
on the Internet'.
These linguistic narratives speak of diasporic identities that
have not developed in
a 'straight unbroken line, from one fixed origin; ... they are
marked by discontinuity,
differences and social displacement' (Hall, 1993, pp. 394-395).
They also speak of
adaptation and accommodation of different languages and
cultures within their
communities. They aspire to being able to communicate
effectively with one another

across communities, speaking one another's languages. Here
then we have evolving
language repertoires having a vitality and expressiveness that
contrasts sharply with
the dominant assimilationist ideology and the unproblematic
acceptance of language
shift taking place within one generation.
How does this vitality relate to English as the national language
as well as its status
as a world language? When asked about the significance that
they attached to
English, and where, when and how they used the language, all
of them accepted its
importance to everyday communication needs within society. In
particular they
recognized its importance in terms of their future job prospects
as well as the
opportunity that English as an international language offers
them to communicate
across cultures. All of them attached great importance to the
means that English
provides them in accessing knowledge about the world. One
stated that 'most of the
things on the Internet are in English, and most books are in
English so it's good to
know it well'. Another expressed the view that:
Well, my language is very important to me because it is a part
of who I am. But you've
also got to know English very well in today's world ... to get a
good job, get pro-
motion ... and fit in better. If you don't know English today
you'll have a hard time
getting ahead.

210 N. Rassool
When asked about the value of English literature and culture
and the importance of
learning these in school, one respondent stated that:
Yeah, I know it's important to know these things to pass your
exams, and I quite like
to learn about it too. It's nice to know about the place where you
live ... its history and
that ... But I also have my own culture and I'm OK about that ...
I take a bit of theirs
and a bit of mine ...
This pupil's perspective provides an example of self-defined
cultural hybridity
articulated as a source of strength, highlighting an awareness of
the need to adapt,
whilst retaining important aspects of their own cultures. At the
same time it also
suggests a process of engagement, at least at the level of the
subconscious, with
cultural differences-and translating them into a new synthesis-
accepting both
cultures as important resources for living. Another pupil
interviewed stated that:
My friends say I speak 'posh' English. I know I have to be able
to communicate well
in English, if I want a good job, so I don't really care what they
say ... I was born here
and English is also like my own language ... it is as much part
of me as (is) my own
language.

When asked whether, when, where and why they code-switched
many of the pupils
responded that they tend to do this when they're with their
family and friends, and
especially when they were excited talking about something-but
never outside their
communities. Some stated that they code-switched all the time
in their families; one
stated that she did it 'when I don't know a word in English or
Bengali'. Some used
their languages also as a means of excluding those who could
not speak their
languages, from parts of their conversation. For example, 'when
I don't want some
of my mates to know what I'm saying'; 'when I'm gossiping'.
Some stated that they
use their languages amongst themselves 'when we're mucking
about ... the teachers
get very mad because they can't understand what we're saying. I
know it's rude but
we're just mucking about really'. They therefore use their
languages also as a
screening out device; a means of creating 'Otherness', and as
can be seen in the last
example, also as a form of 'talking back' (hooks, 1989) to
undermine the authority
of class teachers.
Whilst they acknowledged the importance of English in their
language repertoire,
most of them spent much of their time communicating in the
languages used in their
homes and communities. Most of them also learnt French or
Spanish in school as
part of the Modern Language curriculum and, in particular,

attached a high level of
importance to French as an international language. Some also
expressed the am-
bition to learn to communicate in Italian, Chinese and Japanese
'because it would
be important to get jobs abroad'. Others stated that they would
learn the language
of any country in which they lived.
Conclusion
The picture that is emerging thus far in the research is that
multilingualism is an
integral part of the communities in which these pupils live, and
their parents work.
In this sense we can therefore say that the stability of the
'monocultural', 'monolin-
gual' metropolitan nation-state has been fractured by the
polyglot (different lan-
guages), and polyphony (different voices) of transmigratory
groups. Although there
is no clear indication of the nature of the dilemmatic choices
that transmigratory
groups engage in on an everyday level, there is evidence that
some of them
experience dilemmas around the issue of 'belonging'-not around
language per se.
They are very comfortable about their languages and their
different identities, and
are aware of the language requirements of the Internet as well
as the international

labour market. They aspire to be part of that milieu, and thus
they wish to be fully
integrated citizens. They use their languages within the cultural
spaces that have
evolved within their families and communities. Where they
could not access texts
such as books, and newspapers in their languages because they
lacked the necessary
literacy skills, watching film/videos and listening to music in
their languages were
important aspects of their ethno-linguistic cultural maintenance.
They demonstrated
positive engagement with aspects of British culture, and were
able to incorporate
these into their own conceptual frameworks. Thus it could be
argued that they were
actively engaged in a process of self-definition. The complexity
of this process lends
credence to Trinh Minh-ha's (1991) notion of the indeterminacy
of identity dis-
cussed earlier, especially, the ambiguity and 'temporary-ness' in
which it is consti-
tuted. The study so far also highlights the multifaceted and
multidimensional nature
of identity-or rather, that we inhabit different identities within
various contexts,
and that each of these needs the necessary cultural resources (in
their case, including
multilingualism) to live meaningful lives. The discussions with
the pupils provided
evidence that they aspired to becoming an integrated part of the
international global
cultural economy. The extent to which they will be enabled to
do so is integrally
related to their position within society, the cultural resources
available, and the

'power/knowledge discourses' (Foucault, 1980) that construct
their social experi-
ences.
The study also raises important questions about common
understandings that
prevail in social discourse about ethno-linguistic minorities,
who they are and where
they belong. As we saw earlier, ethno-linguistic minority group
children in the UK
have historically been represented in official discourses as
having cultural/linguistic
deficits, or problems to be solved. The pupils who participated
in this study so far
have shown that they are already flexible language users with
regard not only to their
own languages as well as English, but also a variety of other
languages. They have
also shown that they are engaged in an ongoing dialogue with
themselves in relation
to their social world; that they are involved in a reflexive
process of self-definition
(Giddens, 1991).
At meta-level this study also raises important questions about
essentializing
theorizations of ethno-linguistic minority groups locked into
discourses of 'endan-
gered authenticities' (Chow, 1993) focused on preserving
authentic languages and
ethnicities as against the 'adulterating' influences of the West.
The experiences
expressed in the views of these pupils show that whilst the
world has undoubtedly
become more complex, it has also become more fluid. For these
pupils cultural

212 N. Rassool
barriers are more permeable and experiences, aspirations,
dreams and desires are
negotiated and redefined within the dynamic of everyday life as
an integral part of
survival. And thus they have learned to use their linguistic
repertoire for their own
purposes.
However, this is not to argue that the struggle for the linguistic
rights of minority
groups across the world should not remain important in terms of
maintaining
endangered cultural ecologies. Issues related to language
diversity and the struggle
for linguistic rights need always to be located within the context
of historical forms
of oppression and socio-political inequalities. Moreover, the
issue of language rights
in relation to a world linguistic order in which English
dominates raises important
issues concerned with rights of access to information,
technologies and technological
knowledges for impoverished nations in the developing world.
The predominance of
English within these contexts will contribute further to the
divide between infor-
mation-rich and information-poor societies. Language thus
remains an important
site of struggle over socio-political and cultural resources, not
only within the
context of the nation state but also within the global cultural

economy. The unequal
power relations that traverse key defining sites continue to
shape and influence
minority-majority negotiations on the survival of linguistic
diversity. As we have
seen, within the UK, historically, they have generally supported
monolingualism and
cultural assimilation.
This study has shown that what is equally important is the need
also to examine
and theorize everyday struggles and negotiations in and around
language possibilities
within the metropolitan nation-state, and the relationship
between these and devel-
opments within the global cultural economy. As Said (1993)
argues:
No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman,
or Muslim, or
American are no more than starting points, which if followed
into actual experience for
only a moment are quickly left behind. Imperialism
consolidated the cultures and
identities on a global scale. But its worst and most paradoxical
gift was to allow people
to believe that they were only, mainly, exclusively white, or
black, or Western, or
Oriental. Yet just as human beings make their own history, they
also make their
cultures and identities. (p. 407)
The pupils in this study so far have provided us with a glimpse
of this experience.
Notes

1. The concept of 'postcolonialism' used in this paper is
interpreted as 'representing an
epistemological framework within which complexities around
identity formation, marginal-
ization, exclusion, displacement, difference/'Otherness', and
hybridity grounded in the
colonial experience are articulated. And thus it can be seen as
representing a counter-hege-
monic discourse interrogating the grand narratives of
colonialism' (Rassool, forthcoming).
2. Self-definition here focuses on the affective and refers to a
dialogical process of engagement,
negotiation, self-affirmation and validation between 'Self and
the social world. Self-
identification is grounded in praxis and involves the
appropriation of categories of subjuga-
tion and encoding these with empowering meanings as part of
the process of gaining control
over their lives (Rassool, 1997).
Notes on contributor
Naz Rassool is Reader in Education in the Institute of
Education, University of
Reading. She has published in the field of linguistic diversity,
identity, literacy
for development and the sociology of technology.
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Article Contentsp. [199]p. 200p. 201p. 202p. 203p. 204p. 205p.
206p. 207p. 208p. 209p. 210p. 211p. 212p. 213p. 214Issue
Table of ContentsComparative Education, Vol. 40, No. 2,
Special Issue (28): Postcolonialism and Comparative Education
(May, 2004), pp. 145-312Front Matter [pp. 145-
146]Postcolonial Perspectives and Comparative and
International Research in Education: A Critical Introduction
[pp. 147-156]Debating Globalization and Education after
September 11 [pp. 157-171]Education and the New Imperialism
[pp. 173-198]Sustaining Linguistic Diversity within the Global
Cultural Economy: Issues of Language Rights and Linguistic
Possibilities [pp. 199-214]Postcolonial Patterns and Paradoxes:
Language and Education in Hong Kong and Macao [pp. 215-
239]De-Scribing Hybridity in 'Unspoiled Cyprus': Postcolonial
Tasks for the Theory of Education [pp. 241-266]Postcolonial
Aporias, or What Does Fundamentalism Have to Do with
Globalization? The Contradictory Consequences of Education

Reform in India [pp. 267-287]South-South Collaboration:
Cuban Teachers in Jamaica and Namibia [pp. 289-311]Back
Matter

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