Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2023, Síða 169

digital technology and “old” or more traditional media, for example, news-
papers and television.

3.2 Language terminology and theoretical frameworks
In this section I focus on Vanessa’s overall view on language and language use
and in particular the polylanguaging theory and the use of terms such as “codes”
and “languages”. In the dissertation Vanessa draws on Jørgensen’s notion of
“poly-languaging” and thereby she buys in on a critical view on language and multi-
lingualism. This view entails a focus on language as an ideological and sociohis-
torical construct and promotes an analytical focus on language use on the level of
“linguistic features” and “not the specific language”, as Vanessa writes in the dis-
sertation. For instance, on page 32, she writes:
Jørgensen’s framework starts from the latter conception, that is, language is
human behavior. It argues that any linguistic production is better described
by reference to the linguistic features it entails than by the language(s) the
production is ascribed to. (emphasis added, ACS)
On page 35 she writes:
Finally, Norman J. Jørgensen’s polylanguaging framework rejects the idea
that speakers treat languages as stable, coherent, and complete constructs,
arguing instead that “the specific linguistic feature, and not the specific
language, better characterizes a given production (Jørgensen, 2008, p. 165).”
(emphasis added, ACS)
And finally she cites Møller & Jørgensen’s definition of polylanguaging (on
p. 36):
It proceeds from the assumption that “language users employ whatever lin-
guistic features are at their disposal to achieve their communicative aims as
best they can, regardless of how much they know from the involved sets of
features (e.g. “languages”) (Møller & Jørgensen, 2009, p. 146).” (emphasis
added, ACS)
Based on these quotes, Vanessa appears to buy in on a “feature approach” rather
than a “language approach” to social interaction. In light of this, it is puzzling
when Vanessa uses the notions of “code”, “code choice”, “language” and “base lan-
guage” in the theoretical sections and the analysis. I have chosen a couple of
examples that I would like to highlight. For instance, Vanessa writes:
In sum, language choices in SNS [social network site] are not only shaped
by users’ identity construction, but also by their audiences. (p. 49; emphasis
added, ACS)
Comments and discussion points from the second opponent 169