國際語言的在地想像：論英文在台灣社會語境的意識形態化

Abstract

透過分析英語相關的言談是如何由說話者視為既有的語言觀念和對其現有觀念的評價堆疊而成，本研究旨在描繪英語在臺灣社會語境中被意識形態化的過程。約定俗成的語言使用讓說話者過度概括語言複雜的意義構建過程。本文討論如何由言談分析窺知錯縱的意識形態過程和互動。檢視英文在三種公眾言談情境中所被賦予的角色和意義，本文探究下列五個問題。 1. 英文在臺灣語境中如何被評論？ 2. 由媒體言談中的幽默英語表演，投射臺灣社會如何定義英文與英文能力？ 3. 在當前的語言政策辯論中，英語和臺灣的語言如何在意識形態上互動？ 4. 在喧騰一時的注音及羅馬拼音爭議中，說話者對於英語的語言認知和價值如何形塑與詮釋非英語的語言使用？ 5. 鑑於三種公種言談情境中所勾勒出的意識形態化過程，本文所提出的「語言意識形態網絡」（the ideologization web）如何呈現出意識形態化的動態？ 本研究提出了「語言意識形態網絡」以呈現意識型態在言談中持續推進的動態過程。在理論層面上，本研究嘗試將其動態過程與言談元素連結，以識別意識形態化的分層。在語境層面上，本文探討臺灣的英語的意識形態動態。進一步發現這些意識形態上的分層與立場常被視為二元且相互駁斥的。而這些看似對立的語言意識形態立場常源於相同的﹑共有的既有語言觀念。在臺灣社會語境中占主導地位的語言意識形態為「英語代表全球競爭力」和「臺灣人英語講不好」。說話者在言談中透露出仰賴這兩個語言意識形態作為建構語言意義的基礎。然而，隨著情境更動的眾多語言意識形態立場透露出英語的意識形態化過程遠比我們認知的更為生動。 本研究執行時適逢臺灣正在規劃官方雙語制。因此，本文希冀在描述英語在台灣社會情境下的意義建構過程與動態之餘，也能提供一個市場及資本導向以外的觀點討論，以呈現英文在台灣的社會的多維面向。The study aims to sketch the dynamics of the ideologizing process of English by analyzing how discourse about English is layered with what speakers take for granted and how speakers responds to what is taken for granted. The taken-for-grantedness leads us to overgeneralize the complicated meaning-making process of language. The study suggests that the complicated ideologizing process is embodied in discourse elements. Through examining how English is presented in 3 public discourses, the present study answers five questions. (1) How do speakers talk about English in Taiwan? (2) What norms about English are observed in conversational joking about English in media discourse? (3) How does English interact with local languages at ideological level in the current language planning debate? (4) In the debate of phonetic systems for Taiwan Mandarin, what role does speakers’ knowledge about English play in the meaning-making of both English and non-English linguistic practice? (5) In light of the ideologization process of English in the three public discourses in the Taiwanese context, how does the layered ideologizing process connect to discourse structure, summarized in the ideologization web? The study proposes ‘the ideologization web’ to depict the complex ideologizing process in linguistic practice. When speakers respond to others’ discourse, the speakers’ discourse reveals their values and beliefs concerning not others’ prior discourse, but the ideological understanding of such discourse. The study terms the outperformed evaluations ‘ideological stances.’ The study terms the backgrounded and implicit social experiences about languages ‘established language ideologies’ because they are pieces of available knowledge with which speakers make sense of others’ discourse. Theoretically the study contributes to identifying the ideologizing process by linking it with discursive elements. Empirically, the study recognizes the ideological dynamics in English in the Taiwanese context. These ideological distinctions are further found to be discursively constructed as binary and conflicting. However, they background a limited number of shared established language ideologies. The dominant language ideologies “English represents global competitiveness” and “Taiwanese speak bad English” are the decontextualized norms that speakers take for granted in discursive practice related to English. The various ideological stances reveal the ideologizing process of English as dynamic and ongoing. This study is completed during the time when Taiwan is in the process of planning official bilingualism. The dissertation thus has the humble goal to contextualize English in Taiwan. The study hopes to advocate the necessity to acknowledge multi-dimensional aspects of English in addition to a capitalized, marked-oriented perspective.