Monolingual or translingual? Chinese–English bilinguals shifting orientations to English in the workplace

Abstract

Recent work has reconceptualized language and interaction in terms that blur lines between languages, modalities, and material resources, and much of this work has taken up terms such as translingual and translanguaging. These perspectives understand that bi/multilinguals draw on a variety of semiotic resources in interaction and prioritize communicative effectiveness over grammatical accuracy and standard pronunciation. While work drawing on these perspectives has been ground-breaking in rethinking language and language users, few studies explore the messiness of bi/multilinguals’ language ideologies. In this case study, we draw on the concepts of monolingual orientations and translingual orientations to analyse five Chinese–English bilinguals’ perceptions of their language practice and ideologies in their workplace from a dynamic perspective. Our study contributes to the understanding of language ideologies by viewing translingual and monolingual orientations as dynamic and not mutually exclusive, and highlights the impacts of translingual experience on language ideologies.

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