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Page 1 of 3

  • Tracing change through different text types and genres: successes and challenges

  • Wendy Ayres-Bennett
  • Journal:
    Journal of French Language Studies / Volume 35 / 2025
    Published online by Cambridge University Press:
    26 March 2025, e5
    • Article
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  • In this article I begin by presenting some examples from Early-Modern French of how, using a large multi-genre database (Frantext), it is possible to track the spread of change and how it embeds across different genres (the genres in Frantext ranging from correspondence and first-person travel narratives to essays and poetry). These case studies allow us to explore a number of questions, including which changes seem to diffuse “from above” and which rather come “from below”; and which textual sources best reflect “authentic” usage or indeed are closest to reflecting spoken usage. They also raise questions as to whether it is possible to create a continuum of genres with those that are more “progressive” or are early adopters of change at one end, and those which are more resistant to change at the other. I then discuss some of the challenges surrounding this work, including the theorization (or lack of theorization) of text types and genres in various corpora and the privileging of other factors when they are elaborated. Consequently, there is currently a lack of comparability between different corpora in the way they categorize and calibrate different text types and genres.

  • 1 - Towards Interdisciplinarity in Multilingual Identity Research

  • Edited by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, University of Cambridge, Linda Fisher, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    Multilingualism and Identity
    Published online:
    22 July 2022
    Print publication:
    04 August 2022, pp 1-18

  • Summary

    This introductory chapter reviews how researchers across a range of disciplines have critically reassessed their conceptions of language and of the relationship between language and identity, especially in multilingual or superdiverse contexts. Key elements of the ‘multilingual turn’ are elaborated, including the focus on the construction and negotiation of identity and the view of languages as part of a multimodal repertoire, thereby broadening and problematizing the definition of multilingualism. In a second section, the terminology used to describe multilingual speakers and practices is analysed, and its relation to the values and identities ascribed to them is assessed. The chapter then presents the three major themes around which the volume is structured: situated multilingualism and identity, multilingual identity practices and multilingual identity and investment. The final section explores the extent to which interdisciplinarity is represented both within the chapters and across the volume, and how far ‘integration’ and ‘common ground’, considered key aims for successful interdisciplinary work, have been possible.

Multilingualism and Identity
  • Interdisciplinary Perspectives
  • Edited by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, Linda Fisher
  • Published online:
    22 July 2022
    Print publication:
    04 August 2022
  • The analysis and understanding of multilingualism, and its relationship to identity in the face of globalization, migration and the increasing dominance of English as a lingua franca, makes it a complex and challenging problem that requires insights from a range of disciplines. With reference to a variety of languages and contexts, this book offers fascinating insights into multilingual identity from a team of world-renowned scholars, working from a range of different theoretical and methodological perspectives. Three overarching themes are explored – situatedness, identity practices, and investment – and detailed case studies from different linguistic and cultural contexts are included throughout. The chapter authors' consideration of 'multilingualism-as-resource' challenges the conception of 'multilingualism-as-problem', which has dogged so much political thinking in late modernity. The studies offer a critical lens on the types of linguistic repertoire that are celebrated and valued, and introduce the policy implications of their findings for education and wider social issues.

  • 1 - Modelling Language Standardization

  • from Part I - Revisiting Models and Theories of Language Standardization
  • Edited by Wendy Ayres-Bennett, University of Cambridge, John Bellamy, University of Cambridge
  • Book:
    The Cambridge Handbook of Language Standardization
    Published online:
    01 July 2021
    Print publication:
    22 July 2021, pp 27-64

  • Summary

    In this chapter, I outline the development of some of the most widely used models of standardization and consider the extent to which they are able to account for the complexities of the standardization process and its different manifestations in diverse linguistic, historical and sociocultural contexts. I begin by discussing some of the ‘classic’ texts by Haugen, Garvin, Kloss, Ferguson and Stewart. I trace the establishment of certain key notions, as well as the publication of important texts in the 1980s and 1990s, including those by Milroy and Milroy, Le Page, Joseph and Cooper. I then outline some of the emerging and important themes in the work on standardization since 2000 which have proved challenging for the classic models of standardization. These include the standardization of minority and non-European languages and the consideration of standardization ‘from below’. Other developments concern an increasing focus on the agents of standardization and research on destandarization and restandardization, both of which need to be accommodated in standardization models. I conclude by revisiting Haugen’s model of standardization, which continues to be used in many studies and descriptions of standardization, despite its well-known limitations. I evaluate how far it is still valid and propose some possible modifications.

Page 1 of 3