Randi Reppen
Multilingual writers and writing as an ecological system
The conference theme of “Ecologies of Multilingual Writing” was very innovative and thought provoking to me. In my presentation I will develop the concept of writing as an ecological system especially as it applies to multilingual writers. The term language ecology was first used by Einar Haugen in 1972 in response to the emphasis on language as a structural system (e.g., lexis, phonology, grammar). However, in Haugen’s desire to look at language more contextually he disregarded the systematic nature of language. My goal in this presentation is to use ecological systems as an analogy to explore how multilingual writers navigate and adapt to the different ‘ecological zones’ in which they operate. I will accomplish this through the use of texts from multilingual writers that range from elementary school students to professional academic writers. My hope is that by the end of my presentation we can see how the use of ecology as an analogy for multilingual writers, and even for monolingual writers, helps us to have a more robust picture of the various systems that interact to influence our language choices.
Haugen, E. 1972. The Ecology of Language, in Dil, A. S. (Ed.) The Ecology of Language: Essays by Einar Haugen, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Randi Reppen is Professor Emerita of Applied Linguistics at Northern Arizona University. She has a keen interest in using corpus research to inform language teaching and to develop better language teaching materials. Randi is the lead author of the multi-level ELT textbook series Grammar and Beyond with Academic Writing (2021) and her recent publications have appeared in the Journal of English for Academic Purposes, English Language and Linguistics, and the International Journal of Learner Corpus Linguistics. Randi enjoys many outdoor activities, especially, biking, hiking, rock climbing, and photography.
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