The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia

Drawing on ethnographic interview analysis of Aboriginal participants in Australia, this study seeks to expand the critical discussions in Applied Linguistics by understanding the concept of translanguaging in relation to its “mundanity” (or ordinariness). Our data shows that rather than perceiving...

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Main Authors: Tankosić, Ana, Dovchin, Sender, Oliver, Rhonda, Exell, Mike
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2022
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE180100118
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89003
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author Tankosić, Ana
Dovchin, Sender
Oliver, Rhonda
Exell, Mike
author_facet Tankosić, Ana
Dovchin, Sender
Oliver, Rhonda
Exell, Mike
author_sort Tankosić, Ana
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Drawing on ethnographic interview analysis of Aboriginal participants in Australia, this study seeks to expand the critical discussions in Applied Linguistics by understanding the concept of translanguaging in relation to its “mundanity” (or ordinariness). Our data shows that rather than perceiving translanguaging as extraordinary, for Aboriginal speakers it is more likely to be considered normal, unremarkable, mundane, and as a long-existing phenomenon. The concept of the mundanity of translanguaging is thereby expanded through three main discussions in this article: 1) negotiating identity and resisting racism, where the Aboriginal speakers choose to translanguage using their full linguistic repertoires, but with appropriate communicative adjustments made for their interlocutor; 2) a display of respect towards their land, heritage and language; and 3) as an inherent and mundane everyday practice where they constantly negotiate between heritage languages, English, Kriol, and Aboriginal English varieties. The significance of this study lies in the normalisation of translanguaging as a mundane disinvention strategy, as this urges us to perceive linguistic separateness as a colonial ideological construct that is used to exhibit control over diverse peoples and to maintain uniformity and stability of nation-states.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-890032024-02-14T07:42:00Z The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia Tankosić, Ana Dovchin, Sender Oliver, Rhonda Exell, Mike Drawing on ethnographic interview analysis of Aboriginal participants in Australia, this study seeks to expand the critical discussions in Applied Linguistics by understanding the concept of translanguaging in relation to its “mundanity” (or ordinariness). Our data shows that rather than perceiving translanguaging as extraordinary, for Aboriginal speakers it is more likely to be considered normal, unremarkable, mundane, and as a long-existing phenomenon. The concept of the mundanity of translanguaging is thereby expanded through three main discussions in this article: 1) negotiating identity and resisting racism, where the Aboriginal speakers choose to translanguage using their full linguistic repertoires, but with appropriate communicative adjustments made for their interlocutor; 2) a display of respect towards their land, heritage and language; and 3) as an inherent and mundane everyday practice where they constantly negotiate between heritage languages, English, Kriol, and Aboriginal English varieties. The significance of this study lies in the normalisation of translanguaging as a mundane disinvention strategy, as this urges us to perceive linguistic separateness as a colonial ideological construct that is used to exhibit control over diverse peoples and to maintain uniformity and stability of nation-states. 2022 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89003 10.1515/applirev-2022-0064 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE180100118 fulltext
spellingShingle Tankosić, Ana
Dovchin, Sender
Oliver, Rhonda
Exell, Mike
The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title_full The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title_fullStr The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title_full_unstemmed The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title_short The mundanity of translanguaging and Aboriginal identity in Australia
title_sort mundanity of translanguaging and aboriginal identity in australia
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE180100118
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/89003