A RACIO-LINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE OF LANGUAGE DISCRIMINATORY INSTANCES IN SCOTLAND

Moshood Zakariyah, Kareemah Badmus-Lawal

Abstract


Racism has evolved to include not only skin colour but also linguistic discrimination, specifically targeting the use of the English language. Hence, educators and scholars have started acknowledging the language encounters of immigrants in Western society. This study intends to broaden the understanding of language discrimination experienced by immigrants in Scotland by examining the concepts of 'Linguistic strategy of resistance', 'ethnic accent bullying', and 'linguistic stereotyping'. The study uses questionnaires to elicit responses from 40 respondents and adopts a quantitative analytical approach for its analysis. Findings reveal that a significant proportion of migrants have encountered linguistic racism in many forms, including both explicit and implicit instances and in both formal and informal contexts. Some individuals can devise strategies to fight being abused or discriminated against linguistically, while others admit to allowing it to go unchallenged, resulting in psychological consequences. In conclusion, the study postulates that racism has indeed extended to the use of language, and despite the Western world's assertion of being post-racial, migrants in Scotland still face language-related discriminatory experiences daily.

 

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racism, resistance, bullying, linguistic stereotyping, psychological impacts, bilingual

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v9i3.5511

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