One of the advantages of the Poststructuralist-Language Socialization approach taken in this study is that it considers the language learning process to be a social one. That is, language learning is not simply a cognitive process, but a process of “socialization into specific
communities of practice”. Norton and Toohey (2004) draw on Schieffelin and Ochs (1986) who states that “language socialization” consists of two parts – “acquisition of the appropriate uses of language as part of acquiring social competence,” and understanding “how language is a medium or tool in the socialization process” (p.167). They have identified that both these processes are intertwined and do not exist separately. Hence, the language socialization process would require the learner to use the language with an expert to gain “the knowledge, orientations, and practices that enable him or her to participate effectively and appropriately in the social life of a particular community” (Garrett and Baquedano- López, 2002:339). The process of socialization is not unidirectional but bidirectional because it involves negotiation on the parts of both the “learner” and the “expert.” According to Garrett and Baquedano-López (2002) language is “the primary symbolic medium through which cultural knowledge is communicated, negotiated and contested, reproduced and transformed” (p. 339). Within the scope of transformation, in certain contexts the position of the ‘novice’ and ‘expert’ can be interchanged because these categories or identities are not fixed, but rather fluid, and shift depending on the dialogic interaction.
The present study has shown that second language learning is far more complex and is instead constant negotiation and re-negotiation of access, agencies, subject positions and identities between learners (my participants) and more experienced users of English.
Speaking of ‘language socialisation’ Naru says:
“We can’t mix with them (the white people), our children can… we just can’t mix with English people, at the most we can say hello, how are you etc.. I mean we can speak , like now when I go shopping and all.. the women know me now.. so we have a few exchanges, some right, some wrong...I don’t know…even I try to watch the news programme… I don’t understand it fully, so I can’t enjoy it fully… like my children do.. I just guess…(what’s going on)”
She further narrates about her workplace experiences and explains owing to the lack of fluency in English, she suffered at work.
“Someone else made some mistakes , or took my turn, and I can’t explain this properly to my supervisor, they take the credit of good job and I get telling off, that your job is not done properly… all I can do is go home and cry…”
Whereas Urmi tries to analyse the distance between ‘them’ and ‘us’:
“Sometimes I think, language is the reason why we are distanced…but then I think… may be they are like this.. they don’t like us being here…how can I travel alone? Even when I was new and I asked some boys for directions, they always sent me to a wrong place.
Smita: It happened to you?
Urmi: Many times, when I was new, I approached young school going children, you know like we do in India… you trust them, they know things.. but here.. they send you to a wrong place..
Smita : You think that they did this on purpose?
Urmi: I am sure.. at first I didn’t know.. but it happened once again.. but that time…this white lady.. she saw me from a distance… and then she …a good lady.. walked some distance and said something like.. -boys.. your leg pulling-.. at that time… I didn’t know what it means.. (laughs)… so there are good people too..
The research participants were questioned about the impact of learning English on their sense of self. The data reveals that observing the British way of life has changed their perceptions about independence and freedom. Changes in self-perception were revealed by participants, who expressed increased level of confidence as a direct result of an ability to speak English, which allows them to undertake various responsibilities above personal expectations. Some participants expressed pride at their ability to communicate with confidence upon visits to hometowns in India. For some, it was a sense of pride borne of a fulfilment of their educational and employment potential, which might have been entirely denied had they remained resident in their respective home countries.
Hira thinks that coming to the UK has enabled her to fulfil her aspirations and live life on her own terms. She feels that she had no place in the social life while she was in India. Although she is still learning English and struggling to get ahead in her career as a nurse, she imagines her identity as a fully integrated British citizen providing health care.
Hira: When I first came here, I didn’t know anything, how to speak, what to wear and go out.. how to get ready and go to the shop.. then I went there, talked to everyone…and my life changed.... here we can study whenever we want, whatever we want.. In India they will say, why do you want to study now, you are so big.. do this.. do that. .make babies.. (laughs)
Meena’s husband derides his wife learning English and improving her skills but Meena works out ways to continue learning English without creating an imbalance within family life. Discussions of the interrelationship of the Western world with third-world countries often rest on a notion of ‘traditional’ society versus ‘modern’ (or ‘Westernized’) society. As Thakar (2003: 224) argues, some women may conform to transform, so that their agency is not an overt manifestation of resistance but is subversive and transformative in more covert ways. Contrary to Bhopal’s (1997) binary of ‘traditional’ or ‘modern’, Thakar’s position on agency in many ways captures aspects of the lives described by my research participants.
I considered the impact of constructions of gender in key family relationships and the specific influence of migration involving language change. I have shown here, with the help of various examples, how the women negotiate their place within the family, with their children or their marital partners. I have also considered cultural issues and imbalances of power within the family owing to linguistic abilities or inabilities. By looking at the gendered nature of this process I explored how women negotiate power, subjectivity, and family relationships. The narratives illustrate how women negotiate changes and develop a voice. I explored the participants’ investment in English with greater emphasis on their maternal identities. I also stressed that social inclusion has been an ongoing issue that continues and which leads to racialization and marginality. In the next chapter I map how these women perform gender roles prescribed by their culture.