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ERIC Number: EJ1102587
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 23
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1367-0050
EISSN: N/A
Enablements and Constraints: Inventorying Affordances Associated with Lingua Franca English
Henry, Alastair
International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, v19 n5 p488-510 2016
Transcultural flows of capital, culture and communication have created conditions for the widespread movement of people around the globe, leading to increasing diversity in countries of destination. In contexts of global migration lingua franca English is indispensable in initial and survival communication. For migrants to northern European countries where lingua franca English functions as a "contact language" in "contact zone encounters", it is of value not only as a communication medium, but also as a resource for learning typologically similar host-country languages. Drawing on the concept of affordances, the purpose of this study is to create an inventory of the ways in which English can facilitate, but also constrain social interaction and the acquisition of Swedish. Interviews conducted with 14 recently arrived migrants with English in their repertoires revealed the presence of enabling and constraining affordances in "social", "classroom", "material" and "cognitive" domains. Discussing the study findings, it is suggested that the ways in which the individual attunes to an affordance associated with English, perceiving it as either enabling or constraining, is dependent on their current motivational and affective state and in-the-moment cognitive processing.
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A