Resisting the monolingual hegemony in super-diverse urban contexts: collective autonomy and interlingual spaces [abstract only]

This paper builds on the exploration of relationships between learner/teacher autonomy and space/place that took place in the AILA 2014 symposium (Brisbane, Australia) organised by the first author and Garold Murray. It contributes to the field by taking an interdisciplinary perspective on the construct of autonomy in relation to theories of place/space, which involves a shift from personal autonomy that has been a major orientation in research in the field in recent decades to a collective, political autonomy that considers how groups/communities can empower themselves. Data will be drawn from three research projects conducted by the authors in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. These projects have employed ethnographic research methods e.g. classroom observations, structured discussions, policy and documentary analysis, and analysis of artefacts, to explore the spaces in which different languages are included and excluded in the linguistically super-diverse urban contexts of formal and informal educational and public spaces. In particular, they have focused on ways in which both educational communities and urban linguistic communities have resisted such exclusion by finding spaces in which they are able not only to maintain linguistic diversity, but also to develop strategies to challenge the monolingual hegemony that suppresses other languages, repositioning multilingualism as a resource for all rather than a problem. Data from both a national research project in England and a European project will illustrate ways in which, despite policy constraints, school communities have developed structural and curricular interlingual spaces that include diverse languages as well as preparing all learners to value multilingualism. We will also draw on our research into ways in which linguistic communities themselves produce interlingual spaces, ensuring that their languages continue to be learnt, used and valued both in informal educational spaces and in local neighbourhood spaces.