Metrolingualism

Alastair Pennycook is Professor of Language in Education at the University of Technology Sydney. He is the author of many titles, including Language as a Local Practice (2010) and Global Englishes and Transcultural Flows (2007). Emi Otsuji is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney. She is the co-editor of the book Languages and Identities in a Transitional Japan: From Internationalization to Globalization (2015) and the Japanese editor for The Japan Journal of Multilingualism and Multicultuarlism.

"The authors end their exploratory journey into the variegated world of urban space with a discussion of some policy and pedagogical implications of their findings and a reflection on how the themes addressed in their book emerged from the research process and the writing and re-writing, the shaping and re-shaping of a text that, in my view, makes for fascinating reading." - Translation and Translanguaging in Multilingual Contexts 1:2 (2015) "Alastair Pennycook and Emi Otsuji have produced a compelling and sophisticated account of everyday metrolingualism in action. This immensely readable book is crammed with examples which demonstrate how people communicate in increasingly diverse urban settings. Metrolingualism must be read by anyone who is interested in how we communicate in our changing towns and cities." Adrian Blackledge, University of Birmingham, UK"The notion of Metrolingualism vividly captures the dynamic communicative practices in late modernity. In this new book, Pennycook and Otsuji further theorize the concept and enhance it with rich, everyday examples from diverse settings, making it ever more relevant to our understanding of the sociolinguistics of contemporary urban life. It is a landmark publication and will be read by a wide spectrum of researchers for many years to come." Li Wei, UCL Institute of Education, UK"Metrolingualism is among the most provocative and intelligent books on multilingualism we will encounter for many years and will appeal to a wide range of readers interested in the study of language in all its aspects." Jerry Won Lee, Asian Englishes"A fascinating and important book about the interrelationship between people, mobility, language and urban space." Janus Møller, Journal of Sociolinguistics

• Chapter 1 Morning markets and metrolingual multitaskingThe Produce Market: Salamu alaykum mateLanguages of the market: lingo-ing in their own languageMultilingualism from belowMetrolingual multitasking in a restaurantBeyond monolingualism: Niemand ist EinsprachigResearch notes and emergent themesChapter 2: Constructing affiliations and growing foreign vegetablesGwai Lou Coi: Growing foreign vegetablesMetrolingualism, the rural and the urban‘People are basically from everywhere’: Ethnicity and language at workEthnic business and ethnolinguistic repertoiresEthnography as processChapter 3: Mobility, rhythms and the cityCatching a train in SydneyThe breathing city Metrolingualism, space and mobility: ‘chef, iedi efu iki kishu’Research: Languages and the unexpectedChapter 4 Kitchen talk and spatial repertoiresThe Pizzeria: ‘it’s all part of the Greek culture’Kitchen repertoiresSpatial repertoires: "Pizza mo two minutes coming"Location and locutionResearching language, mobility and practices in placeChapter 5: Convivial and contested cities ‘It’s too many languages’: Suburban diversitiesConviviality and the city"I’ll fix you up, ya Lebs!": Everyday contestationThe contested city Aussies and ‘the worst general Asian ever’Research and stories: The chicken mimeChapter 6: Talking food: Commensality and the cityThe Fanta is always greener back homeTalking food‘Makanai des pauvres’"Ma fi fruit bi nom? (There’s no fruit at all?)"Red celery and the negotiation of meaningRelocalizationMultitasking and participatory researchChapter 7: Layers, spaces, signs, networksOut-of-place textsThe historical layers of citiesPort citiesLayered languagesResearching networks: The multilingual cucumberChapter 8 Metrolingua francasLanguages and the market"乜language都有㗎!": From niche to metrolingua francasMetrolingual pedagogies and policiesConclusion: Writing it all together