Professor Bee Chin NG is Associate Professor in Linguistics and Psychology and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Her main research areas are bilingual acquisition, language identity and attitudes in multilingual contexts as well as digital intangible heritage for languages spoken in Singapore such as Hokkien. Apart from her numerous publications and grants on these same topics, she is currently jointly editing a Handbook on Language and Emotion for De Gruyter Mouton and is co-author of Bilingualism : An advanced resource book (Routledge 2007).

NG Bee-Chin will take part of the Visiting Professors Program designed by EHESS, on proposal of Hilary Chappell (CRLAO) from May 20th to June 20th 2019.

Multilayered Multilingualism: Understanding the ecologies driving multilingual communities

Dans le cadre du séminaire de Hilary Chappell "Typologie aréale de l’Asie orientale continentale"

Using Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia as examples, we will discuss how living in a community where growing up with multiple languages is the norm is essentially and vastly different from the bilingualism or multilingualism reported in standard textbook written in English speaking worlds. This has a profound impact on language experience and worldview, translating into practice and behaviors which are vastly different from the models of English speaking worlds (e.g. North American, United Kingdom and Australia). In the main, we argue for a more measured approach to the use and proliferation of terminology, taking relevance into account.

• Friday 24 May 2019, 10.00-12.00 – EHESS, Room AS1_24, 54 bd Raspail, 75006, Paris

The Prejudice Against Pride in English-Chinese Bilinguals

Dans le cadre du séminaire de Alain Peyraube & Françoise Bottéro "Fondements de la langue et de l'écriture chinoises : perspectives synchronique et diachronique"

The etymology of Pride clearly reveals conflicting negative and positive contrast in the meaning of Pride, now commonly referred to as ‘authentic’ and ‘hubristic’ pride. This distinction is reported in diverse cultures, especially amongst Chinese speakers. Several studies attest to the emphasis on pride as self-aggrandizing “hubristic pride” in collectivistic cultures as opposed to individualistic. However, little is known about the conceptualization of Pride in bilinguals. This study extends these cross-cultural observations to Chinese and highlights how critical dominant home languages are in shaping our emotional expressions.

• Wednesday 5 June 2019, 11.00-13.00 – EHESS, Room 1, 105 bd Raspail, 75006, Paris

Tell-tale signs of communication snags: What we can learn from variation and accommodation in interaction

Dans le cadre du séminaire de Hilary Chappell "Typologie aréale de l’Asie orientale continentale"

This study examines accommodation and non-accommodation at the phonetic level using a Diapix Elicitation task. Previous studies looking at phonetic accommodation have been predominantly conducted by social psychologists and these studies focused primarily on the use of perception tasks to examine if phonetic accommodation has occurred, rather than examining specific linguistic features. The present study approaches the same issue by using an objective analysis of speech patterns focusing on the accommodation efforts of the English-Chinese bilingual speakers.

• Friday 7 June 2019, 10.00-12.00 – EHESS, Room AS1_24, 54 bd Raspail, 75006, Paris

‘Is Aging Easier in Age-Reverant Asia?’ - On Grey Armies, Silver Tsunamis or Golden Opportunities

Dans le cadre du séminaire de Hilary Chappell "Typologie aréale de l’Asie orientale continentale"

The world is aging and Asia is the fastest aging region in the world. We’ve been told that by 2050, one in three will be above the age of 65. In fact, the world is bracing itself for the possible upheaval this holds for our society. Our language is replete with metaphors that capture our underlying fear and loathing of old age. Perhaps, though, in Asia, we are more immune to such negative bias against age because of the more collective world-view and our respect for the old. This talk reports on four separate studies on our attitudes and assumptions of aging through the use of language in different contexts.

• Friday 14 June 2019, 10.00-12.00 – EHESS, Room AS1_08, 54 bd Raspail, 75006, Paris