English and Ethnicity by Brutt-Griffler & Davies (2007)

Brutt-Griffler, J., & Davies, C. E. (Eds.). (2007). English and ethnicity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

           This compilation of studies takes on the interaction of English with and across ethnicities. The majority of research in this collection comprises essays that employ ethnographic dimensions.

            Parts of the volume are definitive of their content and intent. Headings include Framework (pp. 19-106), Representation (pp. 107-158), Contexts (pp. 159-216), and Connections (pp. 217-300) for parts 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. An interesting feature in this collection is the deliberate manifestation of attempts to respond to the challenges of certain traditional assumptions and frameworks. That is to say, conceptualizations of the notions of identity, ethnicity and language, though intricate, must be exclusively identifiable in methods and analysis. In addition, the studies suggest that such conceptualizations must transcend “race” and show perspectives on current ideological struggles in different areas.

The reported dynamism in incorporating new variables is shaping a better understanding in the field. It has been recognized in this volume that trends on analyses considered conversation analysis, or discourse, as some studies took a “sociolinguistic turn”. Social organization is also considered to have links to ethnicity and language use. This has brought out ‘creative’ aspects of language use by speakers in their respective speech community and community of practice. Sadly, studies that considered possible acculturation on ethnicities in an English dominant, i.e., workplace, setting are unavailable. This perspective can be justified with the globalization of English use across borders and setting.

These developments show a dominant picture of diversity. The editors, however, felt that diversity, of individuals and groups, does not necessary equal to hybridity. They safely placed the volume by saying that English “serves in many complex ways as a resource for the representation of ethnicity as an aspect of sociocultural identity” (p.11). Furthermore, the language in study is “simultaneously both a unifying and diversifying force” (p. 11).