Social class and the inequality of English speakers in a globalized world

Abstract

Abstract Responding to observations in ELF research that Anglophone-centric attitudes towards English are eroding among speakers of a younger generation, this paper demonstrates that attitudes towards English can in fact vary among youth of different social class backgrounds. Drawing on a case study of immigrant Filipino adolescents in Vancouver, this paper examines how class differences of these youth impinge on their lived experiences and the material conditions of their migration, shaping how they negotiate their linguistic capital, particularly their use of English. Data illustrate how such conditions shape their dispositions, their sense of agency, and feelings of linguistic confidence and insecurity. Using Darvin and Norton’s (2015. Identity and a model of investment in applied linguistics. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 35. 36–56) model of investment as a lens to investigate the interplay of identity, capital, and ideology in communicative contexts, this paper asserts how contrasting language attitudes are constructed by asymmetrical relations of power between speakers. In the spirit of accommodation and adaptation that characterizes ELF communication, this paper calls for a critical pedagogy that enables speakers to reflect on how they position themselves and others in these contexts, and assert their place as legitimate speakers of English.