The Multilingual Turn Quotes

“Example 6. (T: Male teacher in his early thirties. B1 and B2 are boys about 13 years old.) B1: Are the Chinese still fighting? T: No, why? B1: So why are you always talking about 统一? unite B2: It’s about Taiwan and China. They are two countries, and they want to be united. T: No. 不是两个国家。台湾是中国的一部分。 Not two countries. Taiwan is part of China. B2: No, they are not. T: They are. B2: They are not. In the Olympics, there were separate teams. I saw it. T: It’s like Scotland or Northern Ireland. 都是英国, 但是世界杯 football 还有rugby也 是分开的了。 All part of the UK. But for the World Cup football and rugby, they can be separately represented. B1: Scotland is a different country. T: No it is not. B2: It is. XXX (a girl in the class) is from Scotland. She was born in … where were you born again? B1: Dundee. T: 但它是统一的了。不是两个国家. The UNITED Kingdom 知不知道?! But it is united. Not two separate countries. The United Kingdom, don’t you understand?!”
― Stephen May, The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education

“Example 3. (T: Male Mandarin teacher in his late twenties. B1 and B2 boys about 13 years old; G1: a 12-year-old girl.) T: (Speaking slowly as he writes on the whiteboard) 摆-乌-龙 (bai wulong). Mess up. 乌龙 (wulong), black dragon. 乌龙茶 知道吗? Wulong Tea, do you know? Black Dragon tea. 乌龙 (wulong)? means /mI ∫eIp/. (Silence) T: 乌龙 (wulong) /mI ∫eIp/. 摆乌龙 (bai wulong). Mess up. B1: What? T: Made a mistake. Accident. /mI ∫eIp/. G1: /mIshǽp/, you mean? B1: Oh I see. T: What? B2: /mIshǽp/. It’s /mIshǽp/. B1: Not /mI ∫eIp/. T: /mIshǽp/. B1: Yes.”
― Stephen May, The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education

“Example 3. (T: Male Mandarin teacher in his late twenties. B1 and B2 boys about 13 years old; G1: a 12-year-old girl.) T: (Speaking slowly as he writes on the whiteboard) 摆-乌-龙 (bai wulong). Mess up. 乌龙 (wulong), black dragon. 乌龙茶 知道吗? Wulong Tea, do you know? Black Dragon tea. 乌龙 (wulong)? means /mI ∫eIp/.”
― Stephen May, The Multilingual Turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and Bilingual Education