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Enablements and constraints : Inventorying affordances associated with lingua franca English

Henry, Alastair LU (2016) In International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism 19(5). p.488-510
Abstract
Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a 'contact language' in 'contact zone encounters', it is of value not only as a communication medium, but also as a resource for learning typologically similar host-country languages. Drawing on the concept of affordances, the purpose of this study is to create an inventory of the ways in which English can facilitate, but also constrain social... (More)
Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a 'contact language' in 'contact zone encounters', it is of value not only as a communication medium, but also as a resource for learning typologically similar host-country languages. Drawing on the concept of affordances, the purpose of this study is to create an inventory of the ways in which English can facilitate, but also constrain social interaction and the acquisition of Swedish. Interviews conducted with 14 recently arrived migrants with English in their repertoires revealed the presence of enabling and constraining affordances in social, classroom, material and cognitive domains. Discussing the study findings, it is suggested that the ways in which the individual attunes to an affordance associated with English, perceiving it as either enabling or constraining, is dependent on their current motivational and affective state and in-the-moment cognitive processing (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Affordances, ELF, global English, migration, Sweden, language mode theory, individual differences, Specific Languages, Studier av enskilda språk
in
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism
volume
19
issue
5
pages
23 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:84925423606
ISSN
1367-0050
DOI
10.1080/13670050.2015.1014465
language
English
LU publication?
no
additional info
2018-01-10T22:29:38.610+01:00
id
db94a643-ede9-48c7-8e56-2d27317fd39a
alternative location
http://hv.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:877627/FULLTEXT01.pdf
date added to LUP
2023-09-06 08:53:29
date last changed
2025-04-04 15:05:57
@article{db94a643-ede9-48c7-8e56-2d27317fd39a,
  abstract     = {{Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a 'contact language' in 'contact zone encounters', it is of value not only as a communication medium, but also as a resource for learning typologically similar host-country languages. Drawing on the concept of affordances, the purpose of this study is to create an inventory of the ways in which English can facilitate, but also constrain social interaction and the acquisition of Swedish. Interviews conducted with 14 recently arrived migrants with English in their repertoires revealed the presence of enabling and constraining affordances in social, classroom, material and cognitive domains. Discussing the study findings, it is suggested that the ways in which the individual attunes to an affordance associated with English, perceiving it as either enabling or constraining, is dependent on their current motivational and affective state and in-the-moment cognitive processing}},
  author       = {{Henry, Alastair}},
  issn         = {{1367-0050}},
  keywords     = {{Affordances; ELF; global English; migration; Sweden; language mode theory; individual differences; Specific Languages; Studier av enskilda språk}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{488--510}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism}},
  title        = {{Enablements and constraints : Inventorying affordances associated with lingua franca English}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2015.1014465}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/13670050.2015.1014465}},
  volume       = {{19}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}