Kurdish Language Class in New York: A Platform for Social, Political and (Inter)personal Engagement

Autors/ores

  • Renata Archanjo Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte
  • Demet Arpacik

Resum

Tots els països que abasta el Kurdistan s'enfronta a intents d'extermini, el que significa que la llengua kurda ha trobat refugi principalment a l'exili i per tant es veu associada cada vegada més amb la identitat kurda i amb la lluita política del poble kurd. El present estudi se centra en un cas molt especial; una classe de llengua kurda sense ànims de lucre, situada al centre de Manhattan, Nova York, en una universitat pública de prestigi. S'ha dut a terme entrevistes amb tres estudiants i el professor de la classe per intentar comprendre la dinàmica dins i fora de la classe de llengua kurda, i entendre millor la interacció de les ideologies polítiques, així com l'intricat procés d'ajust de la identitat a través de les pràctiques lingüístiques. Els resultats indiquen que a través de la classe de llengua, la gent exerceix el dret a mantenir i utilitzar una llengua, el dret de mantenir i sentir part d'una cultura i el dret de ser un poble. Els participants qüestionen i resisteixen les relacions de poder establertes i transformen l'espai educatiu en un espai de llibertat.

Paraules clau

Kurdish, diaspora, agency, language class, identity

Biografies de l'autor/a

Renata Archanjo, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte

Renata Archanjo is an Associate Professor of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literature and the Post-Graduate Program of Language Studies (PPgEL) of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. She has a PhD in Applied Linguistics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (2008). Recently she has been an Associate Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication at Birkbeck College, University of London (2014) and a Visiting Research Scholar in the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society at the City University of New York (2015). She is professor of French and Applied Linguistics at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte since 2000 where she teaches undergraduate French Teaching Degrees and Post-Graduate Students at the Language Studies Program. Her research interests include Additional Language Learning and Teaching; Language and Identities: Linguistic Ideologies in Language Teaching and Learning; and Language Policy and Mobility in Global Scenario.

Demet Arpacik

Demet Arpacik is currently a PhD student in the Urban Education Department at the Graduate Center of CUNY, New York with a concentration in Language, Context, and Culture in Education. She received her M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Administration from Boston College in 2013. She is currently a member of the teaching staff at Hunter College, New York. She is interested in the Kurdish language policy in Turkey around the issues of nationalism and modernization. Her research interests include multilingual education, minority language rights, critique of national education as well as the Kurdish language movement.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/jtl3.676

Publicades

20-06-2016

Com citar

Archanjo, R., & Arpacik, D. (2016). Kurdish Language Class in New York: A Platform for Social, Political and (Inter)personal Engagement. Bellaterra: Journal of Teaching and Learning Language and Literature, 9(2), 14–31. https://doi.org/10.5565/rev/jtl3.676

Descàrregues

Les dades de descàrrega encara no estan disponibles.

Drets d'autor (c) 2016 Bellaterra: Journal of Teaching and Learning Language and Literature

Creative Commons License

Aquesta obra està sota una llicència internacional Creative Commons Reconeixement 4.0.