The narrative of language choice: Writers from ethnolinguistic minorities

Abstract

Language acquisition, language maintenance, and language instruction among ethnolinguistic minorities are widely researched issues. This paper considers them through the unique perspective of writers who belong to ethnolinguistic minorities and write in a language other than their mother tongue. This stance is particularly interesting because writers build their professional identity around language, and their confrontation with linguistic issues could prove an insightful source for new understandings. The paper focuses on the works of two such writers: Tahar Ben Jelloun and Sayed Qashu. Their writings and their linguistic choices are discussed in terms of political and psychological motives as reflected in the style and the contents of their work, seeking to draw conclusions about the potential implications of these questions for applied linguistics.