Spain in Asia and Asia in Spain: A migration linguistic analysis of the sociolinguistic situation of female Filipino domestic workers in Spain

• Applicant: Dr. Sandra Issel-Dombert
• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; Applied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 465412443

Migration is female: but despite half of all the migrants worldwide for the past 70 years being women and their experiences differing from those of migrating men, they are less considered in linguistic or general academic research. A symbol of international migration of women in the globalized working world are so called domestic workers, who work in the worldwide healthcare and cleaning sector. The Philippines are leading in this branch. Their linguistic heritage goes back 300 years to the Spanish and 50 years to the US-American colonialization and is productive especially in times of the New Economy. Filipino working migrants are being marketed as linguistically well-educated and adaptable workforces. One of the leading countries receiving Filipina domestic workers is Spain, despite being a traditional country of emigration itself. Only since the turn of the millennium, Spain accomplished a radical transformation and became the currently most important immigration country of the EU. The challenges related to migration for the destination society as well as for the migrants regarding language acquisition, participation in society, and integration in the work environment is of highest social, public, and political importance. For Spain, this is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century.This project combines colonial and migration linguistics in a cross-sectional study and explores the origin and destination societies as well as the migrants. The following central questions are based on interviews and a triangulation of ethnographic, socio- and discourse linguistic methods with approaches of gender linguistics and Postcolonial Language Studies, and will be answered pertaining the triad society of origin – migrants – destination society: 1. (regarding the society of origin): Which attitudes do the speakers have towards Spanish, the former colonial language of their society of origin? In how far do these attitudes vary in terms of generation, level of education, and gender? 2. (regarding the migrants): How do the Filipinas experience their personal development regarding language, identity, and integration into the destination society? 3. (regarding the destination society): How are Filipinas perceived by Spaniards, especially regarding language and integration? Hence, this proposal aims to examine the vitality of Spanish on the Philippines as well as the commercialization of the Philippines’ colonial linguistic heritage using the example of the sociolinguistic integration of Filipina domestic workers in Spain.The project contributes to a better understanding of the progression of Spanish, the former colonial language in the South East Asian region, as well as its commercialization in the globalized working world. Furthermore, it raises awareness of the reality of migrated Filipina domestic workers and thereby can give them a voice.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Spain
• Cooperation Partner: Professor Dr. Florentino Paredes García