1. Researching multilingually at borders:
Researchers’ linguistic resources in their
research projects
EUROMEC, 13 July 2017
Prue Holmes (Durham University)
with
Richard Fay (The University of Manchester)
Jane Andrews (The University of the West of England)
Susan Dawson (The University of Manchester)

2. Preview The research - “Researching multilingually@borders”
A “researching multilingually” approach
- researchers and the location of language
Methodology
Some emergent findings
(Tentative) conclusions

3. (AHRC network grant, 2011-12; AH/J005037/1)
(AHRC large grant under the “Translating cultures” theme, ; AH/L006936/1)
(AHRC network grant, ; AH/J005037/1)
Our over-arching focus:
How do researchers draw on their linguistic resources in the research process (when researching multilingually)?

4. The project: Five case studies
CS1 – Psychology (global mental health) CS2 – Law (asylum) CS3 – Anthropology (Bulgaria) – Political Science (Romania) CS4 – Applied linguistics (Arizona) CS5 – TASOL (Islamic University of Gaza)

5. What is “researching multilingually” (a definition)
How researchers draw on their own, and others’ multilingual resources in the researching, reporting, and representation of people where multiple languages are at play
“The process and practice of using, or accounting for the use of, more than one language in the research process, e.g. from the initial design of the project, to engaging with different literatures, to developing the methodology and considering all possible ethical issues, to generating and analysing the data, to issues of representation and reflexivity when writing up and publishing” (Holmes, Fay, Andrews, Attia, 2016, p. 101).

6. Our project context: Languages under pressure and pain (at borders)
Forced migration, inter-state conflict, siege, resettlement
People’s evolving translingual and multilingual practices coalesce with and / or confront language practices of the state
For researchers (the location of language?)
A linguistic space of in-betweenness, hybridity, liminality
A space of opportunities, affordances, challenges, and complexities
A space to (re)negotiate the disciplinary “home”
A space to explore multilinguality, multidisciplinarity, multimodality

7. Ethical practice and languages
‘There is a need to recognise the role of languages and how they are brought into being by all concerned as researchers “join with,” and “learn from” rather than “speak for” or “intervene into” others’ lives’
(Cannella & Lincoln, 2011, p. 83).
Researchers need to be creative in how they handle and harness their linguistic resources in this space

8. Our aim
With language(s) foregrounded, what are the shaping influences on researcher being (ontology), knowing (epistemology), thinking and practice (praxis)?
How can we build “researching multilingually” theory that seeks to identify and locate a space for researcher praxis?

9. 2. A “researching multilingually” approach
Purposefulness
Making informed and intentional researcher decisions
Researcher reflexivity & sensitivity, identity
Relationships
Researcher, supervisor, participants, funder, mediators / translators / interpreters / transcribers
Trust, ethics, power
Researching multilingually spaces
Research phenomenon - e.g., developing an online TASOL pedagogy for teachers of Arabic in Gaza
Research context (where?)- e.g., the institutional cultures and research locations (universities of Glasgow, Islamic University of Gaza), online virtual space
Researcher resources - e.g., which languages researchers, and researched, have useful levels of competency in (ELF, Arabic, Italian)
Representational possibilities (for where, for whom?)- i.e., dissemination in English and Arabic.

10. Extending the framework (through the project)
The foregrounding and problematisation of “language”
languaging
translanguaging
translingual and monolingual practices - using multiple languages (cf. when to translate from one language to another)
and …
ethics and researching multilingually
multilingual / intercultural relationships and intercultural capabilities
reflective practice
multidisciplinarity
multimodality

11. 3. Methodology “Ways of of working” document
“Ways of of working” document
Exploratory practice (linked to exploratory practitioner / teacher research (Allwright)
Reflective practice - reflection in, on, and for action
Researcher reflections (13)
 Could you please tell us three (or more) key things about your RMly thinking and practice:
i) before it commenced (i.e. planning stage)
ii) during it (so far), (i.e. operationalization stage)
iii) taking stock on it (i.e. reflection on experience)
iv) plans for future practice
Guiding question:
What are the shaping influences on researcher thinking and practice regarding the use (theirs and that of those they are researching with) of language in their studies?

12. 4. Emergent findings The shaping influences of… the project
the research disciplinary (epistemological, ontological) and methodological spaces
the macro and micro research spaces (institutional, local, national, global)
linguistic resources (on RMly thinking and practice)

13. Shaping influence of a multidisciplinary project space that intentionally foregrounds language on researcher RMly thinking and practice

14. Shaping influence of research disciplinary and methodological spaces on RMly thinking and practice and vice versa as RMly praxis challenges traditional disciplinary practices, ontologies and epistemologies

15. Shaping influence of (macro and micro) research spaces on RMly thinking and practice and vice versa as RMly praxis challenges institutional, local, national, and global ontologies and epistemologies

16. Shaping influence of researcher linguistic resources on on RMly thinking and practice and vice versa as Rmly praxis challenges personal research ontologies and epistemologies

17. 5. Some (tentative) conclusions
For the researcher, “researching multilingually” involves …
Negotiating multiple languages
languaging; translanguaging; monolingual, multimodal, arts-based practices
Being purposeful (in making decisions and choices)
Being open to (critical) theoretical and methodological approaches (multidisciplinarity)
Negotiating research contexts & spaces (in the academy, in the field, in the community)
interculturality
relational work

18. Where to next?
How do/might these researcher experiences inform researcher multilingual praxis, especially in conditions of language precarity, marginalisation, and discrimination, and silence?
What do they suggest about researcher ontology, epistemology, methodology?
What opportunities / challenges do they offer for the in-between, unexplored spaces in researcher praxis?
How can the outcomes support change in attitudes to language in: institutions and the academy (research and publication), education (pedagogy), society (policy)