Theories of Representation in French and English Scholarship on Multilingualism

Abstract

Researchers have examined language learning and intercultural contact in multilingual contexts from diverse epistemological and ontological stances. In some cases, the contrasts or incompatibilities in approaches leave little room for joint initiatives and in other cases, the underlying theoretical assumptions converge in several ways, allowing researchers to explore possibilities for interdisciplinary and intercontextual collaboration. In some instances, studies undertaken in different areas share commonalities but they are not explored because of linguistic, disciplinary or geographic barriers. Although only a handful of researchers reference French and English work undertaken in multilingual contexts, there is much to be gained by taking into account what has been written in both languages as it can reveal where there are differences and commonalities in constructs often cited in the literature. We attempt to bridge this gap by highlighting theoretical links that have heretofore been underexplored. We begin by reviewing definitions of social representation and then describe how Francophone sociolinguists drew on this construct to propose the notion of linguistic representation in their studies of multilingual practices. Following this, we discuss related concepts of representation, discourse and identity that have been taken up in English language work.

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