Understanding ‘Community’ in the Globalised, Urban Diaspora: Arabic Language Practices, Maintenance and Provisions in Manchester, UK

Abstract

This thesis sheds light on two of the most heavily contested concepts in social sciences and sociolinguistics: ‘community’, in its inter-relation with ‘language’. I draw on the example of Arabic in Manchester, UK, to develop a comprehensive ethnographic approach to studying ‘language’ and ‘community’ in the diverse urban diaspora, focusing on four settings: family, supplementary schools, businesses, and public service interpreting and translation. The thesis explores language practices and accounts of practices, beliefs about language, and forms of language policy, to ask how these affect and shape formations and experiences of ‘communities’. The sociolinguistic complexity and variation of Arabic, the pan-Arab dimension of the Modern Standard variety, and the religious significance of Classical Arabic across Muslim populations make Arabic a compelling case to explore language users’ understandings of ‘language’ and ‘community’ in the global city. This thesis shows how beliefs and ideologies about language held at wider global scales play out locally, shaping imagined hierarchies of language resources. Drawing on previous scholarship on ‘community’ I explore how the use and maintenance of, as well as alignment with forms of language relate to doings and imaginings of communities. I propose an ethnographic approach that is based on five methodological pillars: plurality of (inter- related) settings, plurality of types of data and data collection methods, plurality of researcher roles and modes of engagement, flexibility and versatility, and researcher reflexivity. I explore spoken and written language practices (offline and online) through longitudinal observation and participation, in-depth immersion and engagement across settings. Informal interviews and focus group interviews offer insights into actors’ perceptions and self-categorisations, ideologies, understandings of language policy and assessments of language resources. I explore Linguistic Landscapes as integral component of everyday communication practices and make a case for the study of ‘private’ Linguistic Landscapes as a form of practised language policy. My various researcher positions and positionings combine in a unique approach: I engage with my participants from the perspective of language learner, in addition to my roles as doctoral researcher, placement student and Multilingual Manchester (The University of Manchester) research assistant. This thesis shows how imagined language boundaries and linguistic hierarchies are constructed dynamically through discourses and practices, as actors challenge others’ evaluations of repertoires or categorisations of ‘language’. I highlight the tensions arising when language ideologies are re-produced and re-defined in the global city, which in turn play a role in actors’ positionings and social identification. A key argument is that policies are developed not simply on the basis of the expectations created by ‘members’ of a practice community who are in regular contact and negotiate their norms in interaction. Instead, people’s mutual identification with Arabic and shared practices create ‘imagined communities’ where norms and expectations are shaped by local and translocal factors. I propose an understanding of language policy and family language policy that emerge and operate within wider ‘interactional regimes’, encompassing declared and practised policies, actors’ dynamic understandings of their language resources, and ‘community’ dimensions. I identify two opposing trends of community experiences and alliances in relation to language in the diaspora: a greater valorisation of linguistic forms associated with speakers’ places of origin on the one hand, and an orientation towards ‘universalisation’ and the diverse diaspora through flagging Modern Standard Arabic, on the other. Transnationalism, and within that pan-Arabism, is held together by ‘UK

Date of Award	31 Dec 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Yaron Matras (Supervisor) & Rebecca Tipton (Supervisor)