1、Language Learning Cherland, 1994; Cushman, 1998; Heath, 1983; Scollon Street,1993). Literacy is not a neutral medium for achieving individual cognitive growth or societaldevelopment, but is thoroughly embedded in the power structures of society and functions in differentways according to the specifi
2、c ideological contexts of its use (Lemke, 1995; Luke, 1996; Street 1984,1993). Language and literacy education, in the form of instilling “proper“ reading and writing practicesand canonical interpretation, is found to be historically related to the disciplining of the work force andthe political and
3、 moral regulation of diverse citizenry for nation-building purposes (Cook-Gumperz, 1986;Graff, 1979, 1982; Lankshear, 1987). Recent critique of second language (L2) education has raisedquestions about the dominant ideology behind the linguistic norm and academic genres into whichstudents are schoole
4、d (e.g., Benesch, 1993, 2001; Cope Hammond McKay 1993; Pennycook, 1995). It has noted that learning a second language, especiallyin a context where the L2 is the language of power in society, involves a process of assimilation into thelinguistic conventions and cultural practices of the L2 discourse
5、 communities. In short, language learning,be it for native or second language speakers, is an important social practice through which a societyconstructs and reproduces its dominant beliefs, values, and social relations.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage L
6、earning Gupta Hannerz, 1996). Working from a transnational perspective on cultural flows and social networks,these theorists argue that we may better understand the construction of identity and life trajectories byexamining the affiliations that people make as they engage in social practices that of
7、ten stretch acrossnational boundaries. For example, Grossberg (1997, 2000) notes that, with the multiplicity of socialnetworks and cultural groups across national borders, the global could be a place invested with a deepsense of personal interest and attachment. In his words (1997),All of this entai
8、ls asking what it means to be situated in particular places, what it means tobelong, and what different ways (or modalities) of belonging are possible in the contemporarymilieu. It is no longer a question of globality (as homelessness) and place (as the identification ofthe local territory and ident
9、ity), but of the various ways people are attached and attachedthemselves (affectively) into the world. (n.p.)For some people, the imagination has become an important site where they find their mode of culturalbelonging (Appadurai, 1996). This is increasingly apparent in the uses of electronic media,
10、 for example,for the organization of virtual communities of social and political interest groups and the transnationalpopular culture of music, film, and fashion (Wilson forms thatpromote particular uses of English among young immigrants who are in the process of learning English asa second language
11、. It examines the social and discursive practices in one such networked environment,and seeks to understand how the use of English in this global context of the Internet may relate to thelocal context of immigrants acquiring English in the United States.To this end, I present a case study of two you
12、ng Chinese immigrants, Yu Qing and Tsu Ying,1who hadturned to a bilingual Chinese/English chat room to develop their fluency in English. I examine thelanguage practices of this virtual community and how it provides an additional context of languagesocialization for the two teenage girls. Whereas at
13、school the two girls had difficulty interacting with theirEnglish-speaking peers, on the Internet they were able to use English to create social and ethnicidentifications with other young people of Chinese origin in different parts of the world. It was in the chatroom environment that they participa
14、ted in the verbal culture of teenagers (in English) and socialized to acollective identity related to the kind of English that they were acquiring. In analyzing the exchanges inthe bilingual chat room, I demonstrate and argue that a mixed-code variety of English that includeswriting in romanized Can
15、tonese was adopted and developed among the girls and their peers to constructtheir relationships as bilingual speakers of English and Cantonese. This language variety served to createa collective ethnic identity for these young people and specifically allowed the two girls in this study toassume a n
16、ew identity through language. This new identity follows neither the social categories ofEnglish-speaking Americans nor those of Cantonese-speaking Chinese.In the following section, I first provide a conceptual background for researching language socialization inmultiple contexts and its application
17、to understanding language practices in computer-mediatedenvironments. I then turn to the research methodology and discussion of the case study, and end withsome implications for examining English on the Internet from the perspective of intersecting socializationprocesses across global and local/nati
18、onal space.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning Heath, 1983; Jordan, Au, Phillips, 1972; Schieffelin Scollon Valdez, 1996) have examined thepatterns of communication between adults and children, same-age and cross-age peers, and interactions ininsti
19、tutional and community settings across different ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and have shownthat language learning is intricately related to the construction of social roles, cultural affiliations, beliefs,values, and behavioral practices among participants in a community. Synthesizing a range o
20、f cross-cultural research, Schieffelin also see Ochs Jordan,Au, Phillips, 1972; Scollon Valdez, 1996) in that majority(predominantly middle- and upper-class white), and minority children are socialized to adopt differentsets of language behaviors that pre-dispose them to success or failure in school
21、ing. In other words, schoolliteracy practices exist in closer complementarity with white middle-class language socialization practicesand greater disjunction with the language and cultural norms of minority groups. This set of relationshipsis governed by the power structure of society that privilege
22、s those who are socialized with particularlinguistic and cultural dispositions (Bourdieu, 1991), and who have developed familiarity with particulargenres and discourses (Cope Gee, 1996), as well as ways of interacting with print(Cushman, 1998; Heath, 1983; McDermott Jones 1995, 1997; Poster, 1997),
23、we see theemergence of particular forms of linguistic and interactional patterns, genres (jokes, FAQ, narrativedisclosure of self, etc.), and discourses (working together for the common good, the discourse ofwizardry, etc.) as a means for creating group culture and socializing new members to group n
24、orms. Whilethese practices tend to set the limits on how culture is represented and relationships are organized, someWeb users are also forming alliances online to challenge dominant representations and effect socialchange.For example, Kitalong Marcus, 1995), I carried out fieldwork in both the scho
25、ol site where the focalyouth were learning English in the American school system and the electronic social spaces on the WWWwhere they were networking through English and other languages with young people around the globe. Inaddition, I used discourse analysis to study how the participants language
26、practices are related to theconstruction of beliefs and identities within their social networks and relationships online.From a methodological perspective, the case studies in this project make up a purposive sample thatbuilds in variety and opportunities for intensive study (Stake, 1995, 2000). Giv
27、en that this is anexploratory investigation of the new and emerging contexts of L2 literacy practices on the Internet, acontextualized study of the experiences of the focal students would serve to illuminate some aspects ofthe organization of online literacy practices from an insiders perspective, t
28、he students processes ofparticipation in these online practices, and how these practices relate to their use of English.ProcedureOver an eight-month period from January to August, 2001, I used participant observation, in-depthinterviews, and textual documentation to gather data on Yu Qings and Tsu Y
29、ings computer experiencesand activities, their personal backgrounds, and their schooling experiences. I visited their classrooms,“hung out“ with them in the cafeteria and other places in the school, and observed them doing classassignments and chatting online in the computer lab. The computer lab be
30、came a place where I frequentlysat beside the girls to observe their participation in the bilingual chat room. In addition, I gathered datafrom my own exploration of the technical set-up, demographics, and social dynamics of the chat room.Field notes were taken during my participant observation in b
31、oth the school site and on the Internet.I conducted eight tape-recorded interviews with the girls that lasted approximately one and a half hourseach, to learn about their computer use, progress and reflection on their Internet activities, experiences atschool, experiences learning English, and other
32、 relevant background information such as immigration,family, and living situation. Records of the public exchanges in the Hong Kong chat room were madethrough a computer program that captured the screen display of the chat room. Approximately 20 hours ofchat room exchanges were recorded and used for
33、 analysis.Besides using inductive thematic analysis to identify patterns in the field notes, interview transcripts, andchat room data, I adopted the analytical tools of interactional sociolinguistics to examine the discursiveand rhetorical elements of the chat room dialogues. Developed from the pion
34、eering work of scholars suchas Goffman (e.g., 1975, 1981) and Gumperz (e.g., 1982a, 1982b), interactional sociolinguistics is anapproach to discourse that seeks to uncover the cultural assumptions and social differentiation producedand reproduced in peoples everyday conduct through the microanalysis
35、 of verbal interactions.Specifically, I analyzed how code-switching between English and romanized Cantonese in the chat roomis used to index the social alignments and cultural assumptions of the participants in their onlineexchanges, and the role of code-switching in the construction of a collective
36、 ethnic identity.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning May 17, 2001)(B) “hate 4 nei“ (hate you forever; March 3, 2001)Besides producing a humorous effect with a jumble of linguistic and numerical signs, these mixed-codeexpressions are used to signify
37、 the idiomatic ways of speaking in the Cantonese language and, thereby,tend to reflect how social relations are conducted in the Cantonese-speaking culture. This latter functionof code-switching to introduce an alternative framework for conducting social relations is also seen in theuse of a Cantone
38、se honorific suffix for addressing ones interlocutors in the girls chat room conversations.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning May 21, 2001). Note: the asterisks around “sek sek“ (kiss kiss) denote an action; 88 is ashort-hand for “bye-bye“ derived
39、 from the homophony between “bye“ in English and theCantonese pronunciation of the numeral 8.(D) “icon jai“ (familiar or affectionate address for young boys or men; May 28, 2001)(E) “Hong lo“ (casual address for boys or men who appear older or eccentric; June 22, 2001).Note: “brb“ is short for “be r
40、ight back“; “sin“ is a Cantonese particle signaling the initiation of astate or action; “hai ar“ means yes in Cantonese.(F) “Mark gor“ (familiar and respectful address that is used with a male friend, relative, oracquaintance who is sometimes, but not necessarily, older than oneself; June 20, 2001)B
41、y using Cantonese honorifics to address each other, the girls and their peers are introducing a set ofcultural practices signified in the Cantonese language into the way they construct social relationships withone another, for example, in expressing politeness or affection and highlighting the gende
42、r and relativeage of ones interlocutor. The honorific suffixes might also be used for other rhetorical purposes, such asadding descriptive modifier to ones addressee (e.g., eccentricity as in example E), and accentuating thegender status (as in example C where CHoCoLaTe might be using che che to avo
43、id being mistaken for ahomosexual indication in kissing sure goodbye, and example F where gor is attached to the addresseesname to emphasize the male/macho talk that is going on at the time).8Hence, Cantonese honorifics serveas a rhetorical device in code-switching both to signal an alternative syst
44、em of social relational practicesand for the additional semantic features that they provide.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning Zentella, 1997), which includes, for example, indicationsof group affiliation and degrees of familiarity or social dista
45、nce. In the chat extract below (May 30, 2001),LoVeLy (alternative nick of CHoCoLaTe) and DICK TRACY (a girl in Australia) are both Chineseteenagers who were either born in or emigrated at a young age to a Western country. Here, LoVeLy, whoseems to be more fluent in Cantonese than DICK TRACY, is givi
46、ng a little tutoring lesson to DICKTRACY on the meanings of some romanized Cantonese words. Hence, when LoVeLy code-switches toromanization in calling DICK TRACY a “kwai mui jai“ (little Western girl), she is juxtaposing thecategories of Chinese and Western from the standpoint of a Cantonese speaker
47、.The next extract (May 30, 2001) shows sAtAn (a boy in Australia) and LAMBORGHINI (a boy in the US)chiding spring for feeling embarrassed when they brought up the subject of French kiss. Given that sAtAndoesnt use romanized Cantonese and the preceding conversation has been carried out primarily inEn
48、glish, LAMBORGHINIs switch to romanization when telling spring “ma blush lor“ (its okay to blush)serves to indicate his insider knowledge of spring through the common code they share.Wan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning Phillipson, 1992) to deconstr
49、uct the popular discourse of the spread ofEnglish as politically neutral, inevitable, and ultimately benevolent (Crystal, 1997) - the analysis andexposure of which is of critical importance - it also behooves us to devote attention to the ethnographicstudy of the ways in which English is practiced in different global media. When considered in relation toWan Shun Eva LamSecond Language Socialization in a Bilingual Chat RoomLanguage Learning Vietnamese government exclusion and non-recognition of its diasporic community andeventual call for Viet Kieu overseas Vietnamese i
