Summary of activities of the theme group 3 “Transcultural and translingual approaches to digital study”
Facilitators
- Sender Dovchin, Curtin University
- Emanuela Patti, Royal Holloway, University of London
Members
- Tatiana Bogachenko, Curtin University
- Nayana Dhavan, King's College London
- Toni Dobinson, Curtin University
- Qian Gong, Curtin University
- Saskia Huc-Hepher, University of Westminster
- Paul Mercieca, Curtin University
- Mila Milani, University of Warwick
- Gioia Panzarella, University of Warwick
- Elisa Segnini, University of Glasgow
- Gigliola Sulis, University of Leeds
- Ana Tankosić, Curtin University
The digital turn in the humanities has inevitably raised a number of questions about how digital technologies have transformed research, teaching and dissemination in the fields of Modern Languages and applied sociolinguistics. Hybridity and diversity still tend to dominate our teaching, research methods and objects of study – we mix traditional/analogue and new/digital practices to acquire and disseminate knowledge, as well as develop skills – digital technologies are significantly changing the way we understand literacies and pedagogy; publishing, research materials, our objects of study, and the notion of “culture”. As part of the workshop Disrupting Monolingualism, our themed group ‘Transcultural approaches to the digital’ has reflected on challenges and new possibilities digital media offer for studying translingual and transcultural dynamics. Our group brought together scholars in Modern Languages, especially Italian Studies, specialised in digital culture, transnational and translation studies, and Sociolinguistics, specialised in digital linguistic diversity and translanguaging, based in different parts of the world, in order to discuss how we can effectively study intercultural, plurilingual or transborder perspectives using digital tools.
In the first part of the discussion, participants shared their experience of using digital tools in their research and a number of challenges emerged. Online catalogues and the digitisation of archives have proven to be still rather inadequate when it comes to resources related to minority languages. In some cases, the lack of funding has prevented local institutions and communities from digitising their resources and therefore making them fully accessible and researchable with the most advanced digital tools. In other cases, scholars have noticed discrepancies in archival infrastructures across countries, making comparative researches difficult and sometimes impossible to pursue online. Arguably, these challenges reveal a problematic relation between the politics of information and politics of representation of minor cultures and languages, demonstrating the powerful interconnection between digital infrastructures and agency.
All members of our group highlighted the recent emergence of digital practitioners across businesses and why it is important to create collaboration between digital practitioners and language experts. Many sociolinguists note that they still lack decent and efficient software to transcribe and analyse sophisticated and complex conversations and interviews. Many conversation analysts use software such as NIVO or Trint but these softwares are still not able to fully capture the complex data created by the mixture of multiple different linguistic resources and codes. It is therefore essential for digital practitioners to move from an IT functional world to one where digital practitioners are embedded in every part of the demand that the vast majority of language experts might raise.