Plurilingual reading practices in a global context: Circulation of books and linguistic inequalities
Plurilingual reading practices in a global context: Circulation of books and linguistic inequalities

Summary/Abstract: Media consumption is commonly seen as a major way of appropriating languagesand cultures. Availability and accessibility of material are essential conditions for developing plurilingual cultural practices. Transnational circulation of cultural goods has reached a particular intensity in today’s world butis still marked by deep language inequalities. Combining sociolinguistic, language education, cultural sociology, and multiliteracy approaches, this studyexamines how plurilingual readers access books in their different languages. This qualitative analysis is based on 24 in-depth interviews with both migrantand non-migrant adults living in Western Europe. The findings indicate that printed and digital books in dominant languages circulate more easily, andthrough more visible and formal channels than books in dominated languages. In addition, the local and online book supply in dominant languagesis generally cheaper and more varied, thus being more attractive. However, awider range of means of access to books, and the active participation of thereaders themselves in the circulation of cultural goods enable book-reading practices in less disseminated languages. Pedagogical recommendations for language teachers to encourage autonomous cultural practices among learnersaccording to global evolutions and local specificities are provided.

• Details
• Contents