Práticas translíngues na paisagem linguística de Juiz de Fora/MG

Abstract

This qualitative study (DENZIN & LINCOLN, 1994) aims to collect examples of lookalike English (BLOMMAERT, 2012) from the linguistic landscape of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, and treat them from a translingual orientation (CANAGARAJAH, 2013) to language, which we believe to foster a deeper discussion of the complex processes underlying such language practices. We reexamine the most important theoretical models developed during the second half of the 20th century, such as World Englishes (KACHRU, 1991), English as Global Language (CRYSTAL, 2003), English as Lingua Franca (JENKINS, 2006; MAURANEN, 2017) and English a Local Language (HIGGINS, 2009), which have been used to describe the global expansion and diversification of English through its contact with other languages, in order to reveal the inherent dynamics of this process and build the conceptual foundations to the understanding of the multilingual turn (MAY, 2014), with which we expect to align our considerations. We discuss how the mobility (BLOMMAERT, 2010) brought about by the latest events of globalization has originated new forms of urban multilingualism in a society frequently described as super-diverse (VERTOVEC, 2005; BUDACH & SAINT-GEORGES, 2017). By drawing on more recent theoretical constructs in Sociolinguistics and Applied Linguistics, such as an understanding of language as a local practice (PENNYCOOK, 2010), as well as methodological contributions both from the ethnographic tradition (BLOMMAERT, 2013; BLOMMAERT & JIE, 2010) and narrative analysis (DE FINA, 2009, 2015; DE FINA & JOHNSTONE, 2015), we examine the accounts (SCOTT & LYMAN, 1968) produced during our fieldwork in order to unveil the translingual nature of such language practices, which are further discussed through the lenses of multivocality (HIGGINS, 2009) and inscrutability (LEE, 2017) in order to address identity and legitimacy issues embedded in these practices.