The sociolinguistic life of Bahraini youth: A scalar-chronotopic approach

Alawi, Wafa S.

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121367 Copy

Description

Title

The sociolinguistic life of Bahraini youth: A scalar-chronotopic approach

Author(s)

Alawi, Wafa S.

Issue Date

2023-07-13

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Bhatt, Rakesh

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Bhatt, Rakesh

Committee Member(s)

• Koven, Michele
• Smalls, Krystal
• Sadler, Randall

Department of Study

Linguistics

Discipline

Linguistics

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• World Englishes
• Arabic
• Bahrain
• Sociolinguistics
• Chronotopes
• Scales

Abstract

This dissertation was developed to provide an account of the sociolinguistic life of bilingual Bahraini youth, and its links with several theoretical constructs within sociolinguistic research on mobility. It investigates the impact of English spread and its interactions with Arabic in the sociolinguistic practices and identities of Bahraini youth. One outcome of this spread is the ‘chicken nugget’ identity category describing English-dominant and typically private school educated youth, which is negotiated and (re-)constructed in youth identification practices. This, among other complex identification processes, thus informs our understanding of several sociolinguistic theoretical constructs, such as identity categories like the ‘chicken nugget’ (Chapter 5), the (in)discreteness of languages in the repertoire (Chapter 6), and the notions of speech style and accent within larger understandings of linguistic prestige and gender (Chapter 7). Using a scalar-chronotopic framework, I demonstrate the complexities and low pre-supposability of such constructs in the discourse, further discussing how their theoretical scope can be developed. This project is thus also informed by the concept of indeterminacy in its approach and is in dialogue with world Englishes and Arabic sociolinguistic scholarships. The data in this ethnographic project come from the metapragmatic commentaries of bilingual (English and Arabic) and multidialectal (Arabic dialects) Bahraini youth. In approximately sixty hours of casual conversations and minimally-structured interviews, the participants present a range of bilingual (in terms of English and/or Arabic proficiency), social (in terms of Westernization), and educational (in terms of having attended state or private schools) characteristics. The negotiation of and identification with these characteristics is investigated through scalar-chronotopic tools to inform our understandings of this understudied context as well as some of the sociolinguistic theoretical categories relevant to the discourse. Particularly, Chapter 5 discusses the indeterminacies associated with ideological and identity constructs, such as ‘chicken nugget’ in the discourse of bilingual Bahraini youth. The analysis shows ‘chicken nugget’ to be fractally scaled to support various discursive claims and identity constructions. Additionally, while previous studies on world Englishes have predominantly focused on broader national differentiations (e.g., Indian English, Nigerian English), this chapter examines micro-discursive manifestations of English use within globalized contexts. I argue that both exogenous and endogenous models of English can account for different identity positionings with regard to the ‘chicken nugget’ construct. From an empirical perspective, this chapter informs our understanding of the ‘chicken nugget’ label which is commonly utilized in the discursive practices of youth in Bahrain. Chapter 6 offers an alternative approach to a debate in applied linguistics on the understanding of language as a linguistic reality or social invention. Whereas Arabic linguistic scholarship also focuses on geographically-labeled varieties, this chapter focuses on how several larger- and smaller-scale Arabic varieties are scaled vis-à-vis English in the discourse. At times, Arabic is idealized as a large-scale code against English hegemony. At other times, the hegemony of English is minimized to show affiliation for a particular Arabic variety over another. Contributing to the aforementioned debate, I argue that scalar-chronotopic tools that approach language boundedness as shifting and indeterminate can provide richer understandings of bi/multilingual practices and subjectivities. This chapter further argues that embodied knowledge of the indexical meanings associated with various codes cannot be abstracted from the repertoire. The analysis in Chapter 7 reveals that expanding-circle varieties of English are not solely dependent on inner-circle norms, expanding our understanding of language, prestige, and gender in contexts of mobility. From an empirical standpoint, it presents an intriguing case where the social capital of English is affected by (gendered) sociolinguistic ideologies, leading to its ideological devaluation as ‘emasculating’ in certain chronotopic contexts. This unsettles the notion of linguistic prestige with regard to English and its (gendered) overt and covert manifestations in various global and local distinctions. This chapter further demonstrates that the linguistic constructs of ‘style’ and ‘accent’ are intersected in globalized contexts, as accents may be stylized across different timespaces. Overall, I argue that a scalar-chronotopic analysis of English and Arabic along with their varieties, related ideologies, and practices can provide a better understanding of the sociolinguistic life of Bahraini youth as well as the theoretical categories relevant to it. My project thus provides not only a much-needed account of the sociolinguistic realities of Bahraini youth, but theoretical contributions that have implications for contemporary sociolinguistic research on mobility. Additionally, I discuss theoretical contributions for our understandings of scalar-chronotopic tools that have analytical and methodological implications for future contextually-grounded efforts in sociolinguistic research.

Graduation Semester

2023-08

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Wafa Alawi

Owning Collections