Researching Language in Superdiverse Urban Contexts. Группа авторов

      1 Researching Multilingual Urban Contexts

      Clare Mar-Molinero

       Introduction: Multilingual Southampton

      Almost all shopkeepers, restaurateurs and hoteliers speak English as their main and only language in Southampton, so do not expect people to be bilingual and fluent in other languages, such as French, Spanish or Italian. All signposts are shown only in English, although attractions and car parks are clearly indicated by symbols. There is a definite south county feel in the London-sounding accents of Southampton locals, although it is easy to understand and there are no unusual or colourful colloquialisms to worry about. If your English is only basic, do bring a translating dictionary or similar, so that you make the most out of your visit. (World Guides)

      This extract is from an online tourist guide available for those interested in visiting the city of Southampton in the United Kingdom. As a long-time resident of the city this guide and its instructions to visitors about the language environment of Southampton left me both shocked and yet unsurprised. It emphasised to me the gap that often exists between the imagined and real linguistic environment we live in and how it is perceived by some of its population. Despite the growing volume of research on urban linguistic superdiversity, some of which is discussed below, it is timely to remember that researchers’ observations are not always equally shared by the very populations being investigated, or at least, not by all sections of these populations.

      I am, therefore, opening this chapter with some comments on the particular example of urban multilingualism in Southampton which I experience in my daily life in order to bring to the fore some of the challenges that face anyone seeking to analyse and interpret this kind of linguistic environment. In particular, I hope with this example to raise some of the issues that a researcher of urban multilingualism needs to bear in mind as they seek to embed themselves in their chosen environment. I will then follow this with an overview of some of the key theoretical and methodological concepts that underpin the kind of research which is explored throughout this volume.

      Returning to the opening extract: firstly, it is, unsurprisingly, not true to say that English is the ‘main and only language’ of ‘shopkeepers, restaurateurs and hoteliers’ in Southampton. As with so many modern urban centres, the city has a large migrant population, who have arrived over the past century from different parts of the world bringing with them their diverse linguistic resources. Again, common to other contemporary high streets and tourist areas, the frontline personnel in restaurants, cafés, bars and shops represent a wide range of ethnicities and linguistic varieties. Indeed, very many of these people will be at least bilingual or multilingual across many languages. It is interesting too that ‘French, Spanish and Italian’, all Western European languages, are those selected as examples of the authors’ expectations in terms of bilingual competence. Why these languages?

      It is certainly true that signage is almost entirely in English, which aligns with the beliefs apparently underlying this extract: that Southampton (as with most of the United Kingdom) has an unwritten/unspoken language policy of monolingualism in the use of English in the public domain; that any other language is invisible; that language – the English language – is considered essential to any sense of British identity. All this represents a common language ideology that privileges the dominant state (national) language and encourages monolingualism. Moreover, it demonstrates also an adherence to standard language ideology (see, Lippi-Green, 1997; and in this volume: Gaiser & Matras; Karatsareas; McAuley & Carruthers) as the guide reassures the possibly concerned visitor that the ‘London-sounding accents’ are ‘easy to understand’. The English of the national capital city and affluent Southern (‘south counties’) England surrounding it is considered more likely to be accessible and comprehensible, unlike that of other varieties which might have ‘unusual and colourful colloquialisms’.

      In just this one short extract we see unfolding beliefs about and attitudes to language that represent prevalent language ideologies and might be summarised as: considering monolingualism the norm; knowledge of any other language restricted to the kind of European languages taught in UK schools; public language use limited to the dominant language; and placing non-standard forms of the dominant language in a lower status, as difficult to understand and a ‘worry’. All of these beliefs demonstrate a clear ideological positioning, and yet they are not the words of a politician or public policymaker, but of a (anonymous) member of the public attempting to ‘sell’ the city to visitors. Does the author believe that the visitor they seek to attract would prefer the safety of monolingualism and feel more comfortable with standard English? Most likely, yes. What does this really tell us about language(s) in Southampton? As researchers, what do we want to know about language in cities like Southampton? On the one hand we may find this a depressing lack of understanding of language

      in Southampton, demonstrating a blindness and deafness to its multilingualism, which begs the question of who is Southampton for the writer of this guide. At the same time, as researchers we will want to unpick the statements in this short extract to help us understand better language ideologies in Southampton (and many other UK cities besides).

      Clearly this extract does not represent the kind of source that academic researchers would normally turn to in order to acquire data about language and languages in