Posh Talk: Language and Identity in Higher Education

226 Pages·2009·0.805 MB·

by  Siân Preece (auth.)

Posh Talk
Language and Identity in Higher Education
Siân Preece
Posh Talk
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Posh Talk
Language and Identity in Higher Education
Siân Preece
EducationInitiativeCentre,UniversityofWestminster,UK
©SiânPreece2009
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-57398-7
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Firstpublished2009by
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
For Cesario
Born in Santas, Galicia in 1882, my grandfather, Cesario Conde, spent
his childhood as a cowherd. At the dawn of the twentieth century, he
leftSpaininsearchofabetterlife.Atthesameageasmanyoftheyoung
peopleinthisbook,heworkedhispassagefirsttoLiverpool,thenNew-
foundland and finally to Cardiff. On landing in Wales, he found work
inMerthyrTydfil,firstasanavvy,buildingroads,andthenstokingthe
furnacesinthelocalIronWorks,whereheworkedbeforeandafterthe
Great Depression of the 1930s. So he came to settle in South Wales,
where he married my grandmother, Florence Dean, a baker’s daughter,
andraisedtwochildren,myuncleJoséandmymother,Gloria.Having
received no formal education, or English language lessons, my grand-
father was limited to the manual labouring jobs available at the time.
DuringtheDepression,alongwithmanythousandsofworkersinSouth
Wales, he was made redundant and was unemployed for eleven years
before resuming work at the Iron Works. During these years, he sup-
portedthefamilywithproducefromhisallotmentsandbypickingcoal,
alife-threateningactivityduetotheprecariousstructureofthetunnels
thatthecoal-pickersduginthemountainside.Hisexperiencesgavehim
thehopethateducationcouldimprovetheprospectsofhischildrenand
freethemfrompoverty.Thisbookisdedicatedtohissacrificeandefforts
toimprovethelotofhisfamily,tothemillionsofmigrantsaroundthe
worldwhoseekabetterlifeforthemselvesandtheirfamilies,andtothe
powerofeducationtorealisesomeoftheirdreams.
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Contents
ListofTables ix
Acknowledgements x
TranscriptionConventions xi
Introduction 1
Researchethos 6
Thestructureofthebook 8
1 WideningParticipation 11
Introduction 11
Expansionoftertiaryeducation 11
Inequalitiesinaccess 13
Blackandminorityethnicstudents 14
Linguisticdiversityandwideningparticipation 18
Thelocalcontext:MillenniumUniversity 20
AsnapshotoflinguisticdiversityatMillennium 22
Conclusion 25
2 TheorisingandAnalysingIdentity 27
Introduction 27
Discourse 28
Discoursingsubjects 29
Positioning 30
Thetheory/practiceinterface 33
Spokeninteractions 35
Communitiesofpractice 37
Conclusion 38
3 ApproachestoAcademicWriting 40
Introduction 40
Skills 41
Socialisation 44
Literacies 49
Conclusion 52
vii
viii Contents
4 MultilingualMasculinitiesintheClassroom 55
Introduction 55
Presentationsofselfandfellowundergraduates 56
Representationsofacademiclanguageandliteracypractices 68
Identificationswithlanguage 77
Conclusion 82
5 MultilingualFemininitiesintheClassroom 84
Introduction 84
Presentationsofselfandfellowundergraduates 85
Representationsofacademiclanguageandliteracypractices 94
Identificationswithlanguage 99
Conclusion 107
6 MultilingualMasculinitiesinLecturer/Student
Interactions 109
Introduction 109
Identificationwithlanguage 110
Identificationwithreading 123
Conclusion 138
7 MultilingualFemininitiesinLecturer/Student
Interactions 140
Introduction 140
Identificationwithlanguage 141
Identificationwithreading 155
Conclusion 168
8 TowardsInclusion 170
Introduction 170
Performancesofgender 171
Orientationtotheacademiccommunity 173
Towardsinclusion 176
Approachestostudentwriting 181
Attitudestotheperspectivesandlinguisticrepertoiresof
multilinguallearners 185
Finalthoughts 191
Notes 193
Bibliography 196
Index 209
List of Tables
1 Languagesusedathomeandwithpeersamong
British-bornmales 110
2 Malestudentsbornoverseas 117
3 Languagesusedathomeandwithpeersamongmale
studentsbornoverseas 118
4 Readingofchoiceathomeformalestudents 123
5 Languagesusedathomeandwithpeersamong
British-bornfemales 141
6 Femalestudentsbornoverseas 144
7 Languagesusedathomeandwithpeersamongfemales
bornoverseas 145
8 Readingofchoiceathomeforfemalestudents 156
ix