Critical sociolinguistics has demonstrated that the social construct of the ‘native speaker’ has a strong impact on people's lives, but research on ‘native speaker effects’ in the workplace remains rare. This article examines such effects from the perspective of four ‘native English speaker’ trainees on temporary contracts in a multilingual European Union institution in Luxembourg. Applying the framework of sociolinguistic stance to interview data and drawings, we examine how the participants position themselves towards the ‘native English speaker’ construct at work, and how they think others position them. According to our participants, ‘native English speaker’ positioning confers privilege but restricts opportunities, demonstrating that the interest of a multilingual organisation in using the ‘native English speaker’ as a resource does not automatically provide a powerful position to ‘native English speaking’ workers. Our results featuring trainees in precarious labour conditions raise broader issues regarding the precaritisation of language work in the EU.
This article uses reflective drawing to explore representations of multilingualism by Anglophone migrants in Luxembourg. Analysing twelve interviews in which participants drew and described their language experiences, we examine the language ideologies Anglophone migrants adopt in response to the ideologies of English they encounter. Participants adopt various ideologies, sometimes aligning with the ideology of global English, sometimes with counterideologies of resistance to it, and sometimes a mix of the two. Visual features indexing affective states include colour, gesture, facial expression, and composition. Monolingual cringeexpressed as shame, embarrassment and being 'bad at languages'performs several functions for the participants. Sometimes it serves as an affective disclaimer, allowing them to lean on their privilege in a more socially acceptable way. Sometimes it appears to express genuine distress, in the form of searing linguistic insecurity. Sometimes it performs a distancing function, enabling them to oppose themselves to the stereotype of the monolingual English speaker. The affective intensity of the drawings suggests the ideology of global English does have costs for Anglophone migrants. Fundamentally, though, monolingual cringe reinforces privilege, allowing participants to apologise for their monolingualism even as they continue to benefit from it.
In order to explore the social effects of the differentiation between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ varieties of English, the present qualitative study followed six Anglophone trainees in an EU institution in Luxembourg. Data were gathered in 2018/19 and 2020/21, combining on-site observations with longitudinal and one-off interviews. Research incited participants’ reflections on language practices at work and mapped their discursive positioning. Conclusions drawn from a sociolinguistic analysis of stances show that, despite the vagueness and lack of clearly definable linguistic characteristics for the category, being labelled as ‘native English’ brought distinct negative effects to the experience of the ‘native English’ participants. The contribution highlights the social constructivist character of the native/non-native dichotomy and draws attention to its adverse effects in the multilingual workplace and beyond.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.