Linguistic norms and adult roles in play and serious frames

This paper deals with the ways in which minority students in the Danish public school system bring mono-lingually based norms into their poly-lingual peer group interaction. In sequential micro-analyses of interaction we show how the students use the voice of an authority in their reproduction and negotiation of linguistic norms. We base our analyses on the Bakhtinian concept of double-voicing, the Goffmanian concept of keying and Tholander's concept of subteaching. We discuss in detail the relation between the local practices of the students and the linguistic norms expressed in broader society, for instance in newspaper editorials and government papers.

Research highlights▶ We examine how minority pupils in Denmark employ voices of authorities in peer group interaction. ▶ We draw on the concepts of doublevoicing and sub-teaching in our analyses. ▶ The pupils’ employment of doublevoicing can be viewed as a way to handle the linguistic norms imposed on them by the Danish majority.