Dissertation Research: For Spanish, Press Two -- Investigating the Mediation of Racial and Linguistic Diversity Via Language Interface Technology

论文研究：对于西班牙语，按二——通过语言接口技术调查种族和语言多样性的调解

• 批准号: 0432141
• 负责人: Elizabeth Krause
• 金额: $ 0.83万
• 依托单位: University of Massachusetts Amherst
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-09-01 至 2006-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0432141&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Spanish; Press; Two

This Science and Technology Studies Dissertation Improvement Grant investigates how alternate language interfaces to English affect struggles for linguistic diversity, racial equality, and cultural continuity via language in the U. S. Specifically, the study examines how technologies providing a Spanish language option help to construct standards for what constitutes appropriate "Spanish" and a "typical Spanish speaker," and it explores how "built-in" ideological constructions in these technologies play out in the contested domains of language choice and ethno-racial identification. With respect to the U.S. Latino population and its relationship to what we will refer to as "Spanish language interface technology," or "Spanish LIT," this study will help to clarify what assumptions regarding language and users are embedded in its design, what weight developers of LIT give to linguistic diversity and racial diversity as design criteria, how accessible Spanish LIT is to Latinos, how frequently this technology is used by this group, how Latinos themselves view this technology, and how Latinos use Spanish LIT in ways that differ from what was originally envisioned by its manufacturers. These objectives are approached through a New England regional study that traces the flow of LIT between sites of "production" and "reception." To better understand the production of LIT, interviews will be conducted with technical writers and other key "internal translators" of corporate culture at major LIT companies. These set the stage for the possibility of a more in-depth corporate ethnography of a particular target company whose LIT products will be slated to be integrated into the "reception" sites of the study. A major site of reception will be situated as a research site in a predominantly Latino city in Western Massachusetts: Holyoke, MA. Here the study will examine how urban Latino users of the targeted LIT tend to accept, modify, resist, and transform the technoscientific ideological inscriptions embodied in the design of the targeted technologies. Leveraging experience from a preliminary study, this urban site will be explored through the development and implementation of a video-taped community workshop on Latino linguistic diversity and technology issues led by the co-PI. A supporting study investigates Latino residents in a nearby, small, middle class, university-based community, Amherst MA; this group has been found often to be uniquely challenged to negotiate the ideological segregation distancing the other two sites. After initial interviews, this part of the research will develop a curriculum for a participatory action-inspired workshop on linguistic diversity and technology issues addressing the specific needs of families in this suburban community. Beneficial links will be fostered between all three sites via exchanges of expertise and material resources, taking advantage of the unique resources each site offers. To assess the way a typical "Spanish speaker" identity is constructed, the surrogate speakers represented in the software interface of some LIT products will be examined for the presence of visual tropes and linguistic standards. For example, the privileged Spanish speaker often appears as stereotypically Andalusian. A discourse-centered data analysis will be used throughout to gauge micro- and macro-linguistic features and attitudes toward language. Linguistic diversity will be assessed via the occurrence of standard and non-standard dialects of Spanish and English for real and "virtual" speakers. To understand the effects of race, the study will also examine the presence of "mock" speech and other instances of covert racializing discourses. Attention to accent or perception thereof will be a constant. This project will strengthen the relatively scarce literature in STS on race, racism, and language ideology. The project will augment the work of scholars working in the areas of language revitalization and Latino Studies by offering a close examination of how technologies and culture are co-constructed. The study will also contribute to a methodology for grounding multi-sited research theoretically and in practical terms via an identity-based and region-bound approach. This investigation furthermore will contribute to the theoretical concept of "culturally situated design" (Eglash, 2001) specifically with respect to the placing of linguistic and ethnoracial diversity as design criteria. The study advances a synergistic teaching model in which each research site can receive important feedback based on investigations in the other two. Concrete results will be provided in the form of company reports, two curriculum models, and a community web site, all reflecting lessons learned in the study. The study directly involves the participation of underrepresented Latinos of different income and educational levels. The study fosters exchanges of people and ideas where computer professionals, students, parents, and community volunteers cross geographic, ethno-racial, and linguistic borders by contributing to classes, presentations, and other activities at the different sites. The results of the study can also help to inform debates about the impact of LIT on national educational standards, international multilingual technological standards, and global markets for language interface technologies. In addition, the study can substantially contribute to ongoing and passionate debates surrounding bilingual education, Black English, English-Only legislation, and language revitalization.

这项科学技术研究论文改进拨款调查了英语的替代语言界面如何通过美国的语言影响语言多样性、种族平等和文化连续性的斗争。具体来说，该研究探讨了提供西班牙语选项的技术如何帮助构建以下内容的标准：构成了适当的“西班牙语”和“典型的西班牙语使用者”，并探讨了这些技术中“内置”的意识形态结构如何在语言选择和民族种族认同的争议领域发挥作用。 关于美国拉丁裔人口及其与我们所说的“西班牙语语言界面技术”或“西班牙语 LIT”的关系，这项研究将有助于澄清其设计中嵌入了哪些关于语言和用户的假设、什么权重LIT 的开发人员将语言多样性和种族多样性作为设计标准，拉丁美洲人对西班牙语 LIT 的了解程度，该群体使用该技术的频率，拉丁美洲人自己如何看待该技术，以及拉丁美洲人如何以不同于其他人的方式使用西班牙语 LIT原本是什么由其制造商设想。这些目标是通过一项新英格兰地区研究来实现的，该研究追踪了 LIT 在“生产”和“接收”地点之间的流动。 为了更好地了解LIT的制作，我们将对主要LIT公司的技术作家和其他关键的企业文化“内部翻译人员”进行采访。这些为对特定目标公司进行更深入的企业民族志奠定了基础，该公司的 LIT 产品将被整合到研究的“接待”地点。 主要接待地点将作为研究地点位于马萨诸塞州西部一个以拉丁裔为主的城市：马萨诸塞州霍利奥克。 在此，本研究将考察目标 LIT 的城市拉丁裔用户如何倾向于接受、修改、抵制和转变目标技术设计中体现的技术科学意识形态铭文。 利用初步研究的经验，将通过开发和实施由联合首席研究员领导的关于拉丁裔语言多样性和技术问题的录像社区研讨会来探索该城市遗址。一项支持性研究调查了马萨诸塞州阿默斯特附近一个小型中产阶级大学社区的拉丁裔居民；人们发现，这一群体经常面临着独特的挑战，需要就与其他两个地点保持距离的意识形态隔离进行谈判。经过初步访谈后，这部分研究将为参与式行动启发的研讨会制定课程，该研讨会涉及语言多样性和技术问题，以满足该郊区社区家庭的具体需求。 通过专业知识和物质资源的交流，利用每个站点提供的独特资源，所有三个站点之间将建立有益的联系。为了评估典型的“西班牙语使用者”身份的构建方式，将检查某些 LIT 产品的软件界面中代表的替代使用者是否存在视觉比喻和语言标准。 例如，享有特权的讲西班牙语的人常常表现为典型的安达卢西亚人。将以话语为中心的数据分析将始终用于衡量微观和宏观语言特征以及对语言的态度。 将通过真实和“虚拟”使用者的西班牙语和英语标准和非标准方言的出现来评估语言多样性。 为了了解种族的影响，该研究还将检查“嘲笑”言论和其他隐蔽种族化言论的存在情况。 对口音或口音感知的关注将是一个持续的过程。该项目将加强 STS 中相对稀缺的关于种族、种族主义和语言意识形态的文献。该项目将通过仔细研究技术和文化如何共建，加强语言复兴和拉丁裔研究领域学者的工作。该研究还将通过基于身份和区域限制的方法，为在理论上和实践中奠定多地点研究的方法做出贡献。此外，这项研究还将有助于“文化定位设计”的理论概念（Eglash，2001），特别是将语言和民族多样性作为设计标准。该研究提出了一种协同教学模式，每个研究中心都可以根据其他两个研究中心的调查获得重要的反馈。 具体结果将以公司报告、两种课程模型和社区网站的形式提供，所有这些都反映了研究中学到的经验教训。该研究直接涉及不同收入和教育水平的代表性不足的拉丁裔的参与。该研究通过在不同地点为课程、演示和其他活动做出贡献，促进计算机专业人员、学生、家长和社区志愿者跨越地理、种族和语言边界的人员和思想交流。研究结果还有助于为有关 LIT 对国家教育标准、国际多语言技术标准和全球语言接口技术市场影响的辩论提供信息。此外，这项研究还可以为围绕双语教育、黑人英语、纯英语立法和语言复兴正在进行的激烈辩论做出重大贡献。