Language, Identity and Migration: Voices from Transnational Speakers and Communities(1 Language, Migration and Identity)

This volume presents a collection of the latest scholarly research on language, migration and identity. In a globalised world where migratory patterns are in constant flux, the traditional notion of the 'immigrant' has shifted to include more fluid perspectives of the migrant as a transnational and the language learner as a complex individual possessing a range of dynamic social and contextual identities. This book presents a variety of studies of transnational speakers and communities. It includes research conducted within both established and emerging methodological traditions and frameworks and explores a wide range of contexts and geographical locations, from the multilingual language classroom to the migrant experience, and from Ireland to Eritrea. This book was published with the generous support of the National University of Ireland Publications Scheme.

About the Author :
Vera Regan is a specialist in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition, with a particular interest in the acquisition of sociolinguistic competence, multilingualism and issues of language, migration and integration. She has been awarded the honour of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques and the Prix du Québec and has held several IRCHSS Research Fellowships and two Fulbright Research Awards. She has also been President of the European Association for Second Language Research, President of the Association of French Language Studies, Director of the Ireland Canada University Foundation and a member of the Committee of Heads and Professors of French. Chloé Diskin earned her PhD in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition at University College Dublin in 2015. Her research looks at identity and language learning from a variationist perspective. She is particularly interested in discourse-pragmatic variation and change and the relationship between language ideologies and second language acquisition in the context of migration. Jennifer Martyn is an Irish Research Council postgraduate scholar in sociolinguistics and second language acquisition at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on the role of gender in language education in Ireland from sociolinguistic and ethnographic perspectives. She is particularly interested in the role of learner identity and language ideologies in the language learning process.

Review :
«Containing fourteen chapters, this edited collection draws together a diverse range of topics and contexts, ranging from ethnographic research with the descendants of Polish immigrants in Brazil to a historical textual analysis of Irish newspapers in the United States.» (Corinne Seals, Language in Society 46/2017) «As a researcher and educator who has studied Korean immigrants and bilingual youth in the United States, I could effectively relate my research findings to the research included in this volume. Although the research sites differed, the process of transnational flows and superdiversity have common issues in the world. Not only from some familiar issues such as age, gender, and social class, but also from the latest issues such as responses to the Quebec Charter of Values in Montreal, Canada, or post-colonial Hong Kong, I could broaden and deepen my view of looking at the transnational phenomena and their impact on individuals' identity. Many other researchers in bilingualism, migration, and identity would also find the various research contexts and findings from the articles in this volume very interesting for their own research.» (Soojin Ahn, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 20/2017)