TESOL QUARTERLY Vol. 43, No. 1, March 2009 161

BOOK REVIEWS TESOL Quarterly welcomes evaluative reviews of publications relevant to TESOL professionals.

Edited by MARGARET HAWKINS University of Wisconsin, Madison

Disinventing and Reconstituting Languages Sinfree Makoni and Alastair Pennycook (Eds.). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters, 2006. Pp. xv + 249.

� Every once in a while we come across a book that stirs a strong reaction within us because it forces us to think about beliefs that have solidifi ed without much questioning over time. This collection, edited by Makoni and Pennycook, does exactly that because it provokes us into thinking about how languages have been conceptualized following the strong struc-turalist infl uence of Saussure and subsequent linguists over the past cen-tury. In doing so, the contributors embark on a bold process of disinventing languages as they challenge key basic assumptions such as the existence of discrete languages and explore new ways to reconstitute them.

In the opening chapter, the editors address the history of the construc-tion of languages. Central to their discussion is the illustration of how languages are invented in certain ways as a result of language ideologies, because it is through languages that power is mediated. Colonialism, in particular, has resulted in the representation of languages as separate and enumerable entities. Additionally, the editors argue for the need to inter-rogate the real and material effects of such an invention and abandon a static view of language. Instead of focusing on these issues in isolation, the editors maintain that the book examines the complex interrelationships among them, exploring new ways of understanding language.

Having laid the groundwork, the next four chapters analyze the insidi-ous effects of Western linguistic imperialism. In Chapter 2, Heryanto examines how the adoption of Western standardized models for languages fails to express and represent the vernacular worlds of Javanese and Malay, and Makoni and Mashiri in Chapter 3 observe how the perspectives of users of African languages are muted as a result of a system of classifi ca-tions used by colonialists in naming these languages. The result of such a coding enterprise is a Western conceptualization of African languages.

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The authors suggest that this situation may be combated by paying close attention to how local speakers construct their languages and use rich ver-bal repertoires of urban mixtures to negotiate current realities. The need to study how language is used in contemporary situations is also picked up by Pennycook in Chapter 4, where he explores the exclusionary effects of English as a result of globalization. He argues for a change in the way we view language by recommending that language use be seen as “a semiotic restructuring as a claim to a particular identity” (p. 110), because lan-guage to him bears an emergent quality. The impact of Western linguistic imperialism takes on a different form in Chapter 5, where Branson and Miller maintain that the codifi cation of spoken and written languages has resulted in the devaluation of sign language. Using Kata Kolok, a Balinese sign language which does not have a singular and distinct grammar, they argue for a dynamic practice-based approach to language.

In Chapters 6 and 7, the reader will notice the resonance of certain issues and concepts addressed in earlier chapters. For example, in Chapter 6, de Souza investigates how indigenous writing in Brazil is infan-tilized in the face of a Eurocentric approach to language. Whereas de Souza turns to third world scholars to counter colonial representations, Thorne and Lantolf (Chapter 7) invoke Western scholars to bolster their bid for a cultural-historical approach to language and development. Viewing language as an interactive phenomenon, they echo Makoni and Mashiri’s and Brandon and Miller’s calls to acknowledge the communica-tive repertoires of speakers. Language to them represents “communica-tive resources that are formed and reformed in the very activity in which they are used” (p. 177).

The book changes tack in the next two chapters, as the authors dem-onstrate how a disinvention of languages may actually be realized. Richardson, in Chapter 8, analyzes a hip-hop recording and video by a rap duo to demonstrate how rappers disinvent languages and recast them on their own terms. In Chapter 9, Busch and Schick analyze how ethno-linguistic differences in Bosnia-Herzegovina are disinvented through the use of educational materials that refl ect heteroglossia. In the concluding chapter (Chapter 10), Canagarajah proposes that we look to precolonial and premodern societies for linguistic impetus, explaining how we can learn from such multilingual societies whose communities lived in close proximity to each other. In keeping with the other contributors in the collection, he also underlines the need to develop a repertoire of codes among students so that they can shuttle between communities.

Although I was titillated by the prospect of disinventing languages and can grasp the implications of languages as inventions, I was less swayed by the arguments for reconstituting languages. I am sure that some readers would strongly disagree with the notion of language as being entirely con-tingent in composition. The contributors seem to be suggesting that a

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different form of regularity should be considered, one that is derived from repeated habitual practice rather than rules dictated by codifi ed gram-mar. Pennycook (Chapter 4) and Thorne and Lantolf (Chapter 7), for instance, cite Hopper’s (1998) work on emergent grammar as a basis for the reconstitution of languages by way of performative acts and activities, respectively. Admittedly, Hopper’s notion of emergent grammar provides an innovative way of thinking about the stabilities in language, but it appears that this notion would be better served within the domain of inter-active speech and may not necessarily transfer to writing. What is signifi -cant about this notion, though, is that it invites us to think beyond the existence of one variety of language. By extending such an understanding of language to written English, readers may want to interrogate how the structured, limited, and accepted set of codes that defi ne written English ends up sorting different users of the language. Those who observe the practices associated with the written code are positioned as writers and scholars , whereas those who do not may be denied such recognition.

Next, although I thought that the contributors did a commendable job in putting forward different theories, I felt that the theoretical density of the chapters could have been complemented by empirical data. With the notable exception of Chapters 8 and 9, which offered real examples of how languages can be disinvented, I would like to have seen the theories backed up by instances of supporting data, especially since a number of the contributors allude to the need to disinvent and reconstitute lan-guages as they relate to contemporary realities. This addition would have enhanced understandings of the critical project that they are advancing.

Despite these drawbacks, I found this book a compelling read because it invites us to question the very notion of language. Such questioning needs to be done by teachers, teacher educators, materials developers, and policy makers, as together they drive understandings of languages and language practices. When we begin to understand the ramifi cations of what we do, we can fi nd new, more equitable ways to move forward.

PETER I. DE COSTA University of Wisconsin–Madison Madison, Wisconsin, United States