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- Exploring the micro-politics of place: lifestyle migrants, collective identities and modes of belongingPublication . Torkington, KateTaking up Hopkins and Dixon’s (2006) call to attend to the micro-politics of everyday constructions of space and place, which necessarily involves psychological concepts such as identity, belonging and attachment, this paper aims to show how a critical socio-cognitive approach to discourse analysis is an effective means of unpacking the ways in which versions of place are (re)produced and negotiated through discursive practices, and in particular the ways in which ‘legitimate’ collective identities are constructed in relation to place. I focus on the contemporary social phenomenon of lifestyle migration. Within Europe, this typically involves relatively affluent northern Europeans moving to destinations in southern Europe that are strongly linked to tourism. Although lifestyle migrants are generally viewed by their hosts as ‘desirable’ migrants due to their perceived economic and socio-cultural capital, their integration into destination communities is often minimal. The question arises as to how these migrants construct modes of belonging in relation to their adopted home-place and how they relate to the other social groups with whom they share it. Using texts from a variety of sources, including in-depth interviews with British migrants in Portugal, I explore not only how migrants position themselves (and others) discursively in relation to places, but also how they are already positioned by discursive practices in the public sphere. I also examine to what extent the construction of a ‘legitimate’ mode of belonging involves the construction of intergroup cooperation within that place.
- The effect of task type on the assessment of grammatical competence in oral proficiency tests.Publication . Torkington, KateThe aim of this study is to investigate the effect of task type on the linguistic output produced in an oral proficiency test situation, with particular reference to grammatical forms and the functions/meanings they realise. Two tasks were designed for use with paired test candidates. Although both tasks can be said to fall within the communicative paradigm as they are interactive in nature and, to some extent, reflect real-world communicative situations, they differ in that one is an information/opinion gap activity with a focused communicative goal, whereas the other is an open-ended discussion task. The tasks were aimed at students of upper-intermediate/advanced level. Language proficiency at this level is often measured by means of a criterion-referenced scale which consists of statements (band descriptors) about performance. The top end of the scale usually corresponds with what test developers consider to be an ‘educated’ native speaker performance. The two tasks were therefore given to a sample of both native and non-native speakers of English under simulated test conditions. The subsequently transcribed data was then analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively to determine if and why certain grammatical structures are more likely to be elicited from one task or the other. The results suggest that there does appear to be a difference in linguistic output between the two tasks, and that this may well have implications for both the testing and the teaching of spoken English.
- Standard English: the language of equal opportunities and national unity or discrimination and inclusion/exclusion?Publication . Torkington, KateMost languages have a variety of dialects, both in geographical and socio-cultural terms. At the same time, there is a standard form of the language which is recognised, if not necessarily spoken (and/or written) by the majority of users of that language. This article aims to provide a critical analysis of the concept of standard English in the discourse of language policy in British education, with particular reference to Bourdieu's framework of symbolic power.
- Dissemination report on preliminary findings of the T-rELMA research project july 2023Publication . Torkington, Kate; Ribeiro, Filipa Perdigão; Rebelo, Sandra; Conceição, SusanaThis report follows the seminar on Algarve Tourism: Sustainability, Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship, jointly organised by the T-rELMA and IMPACTUR Algarve research project teams at the School of Management, Hospitality &Tourism, University of the Algarve, on 22June 2023.
- Exploring the linguistic landscape: the case of the ‘Golden Triangle’ in the Algarve, PortugalPublication . Torkington, KateStudies of the linguistic landscape (LL) are concerned with language in its written form, in the public sphere; language that is visible to all through texts such as billboards and other public signs. The LL is such a taken-for-granted part of our everyday experience that its importance as a form of social practice is often overlooked. Taking a mixed methods approach to the case of the linguistic landscape of the ‘Golden Triangle’, an area of tourist resorts which is gradually becoming a residential area in the Algarve, Portugal, I suggest that the discursive construction of a place is partly achieved through the highly visible texts of the LL which may also impact upon the discursive construction of the collective identities of those who inhabit the place.
- Defining lifestyle migrationPublication . Torkington, KateThis paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework for studying migration to the Algarve by Northern Europeans. ‘Lifestyle migration’ is suggested as a generic term for this trend, which is part of a recent but flourishing global social phenomenon. I also point to the glaring gap in the literature as far as empirical studies based in the Algarve are concerned, and make suggestions for a research agenda.
- ‘A true feeling of authentic portuguese golf'? The discursive construction of the Algarve region in portuguese golf websitesPublication . Pereira, Rosária; Ribeiro, Filipa Perdigão; Torkington, Kate; Dias, Joana AfonsoIn an increasingly competitive global marketplace, the need for golf destinations to differentiate themselves from competitors has become more critical than ever. This paper raises questions about the promotional strategies employed by the golf sector in the Algarve, focusing on internet communication strategies, since this medium has become the biggest driving force towards the commoditisation of all aspects of the tourism experience. By offering a complementary perspective to the field of (critical) tourism studies, and drawing on a qualitative, multi-modal discourse analysis, this work-in-progress looks at the particular ways that representations and images presented on the Algarve golf websites constitute and frame identities (of people and places) and socio-spatial relationships. This paper analyses a corpus of 45 texts collected from official websites of the 40 Algarve golf courses and from five entities which promote the Algarve as a golf destination, along with the golf images that are displayed alongside them. Findings point to salient discursive and visual representations of a global setting enjoyed by the global elite. Whereas the courses‟ positioning in relation to their regional competitors draws on similar discursive strategies which reflect those used in tourism advertising discourses in general – e.g. reiteration of explicit comparisons, superlatives and hyperbolic statements -, representations of local emplacedness are not salient; in some cases local place seems to have been almost intentionally suppressed.
- O domínio de línguas estrangeiras no turismo e hotelariaPublication . Torkington, Kate; Perdigão, F.Este artigo apresenta de forma sumária os resultados obtidos a partir de um "Estudo Preliminar de Análise de Necessidades na área de prendizagem e aplicação de Línguas Estrangeiras para o Turismo" desenvolvido entre Abril e Junho de 2001. Os resultados obtiveram-se através da aplicaçao de inquéritos por questionário dirigidos, essencialmente, aos profissionais com formação no ensino superior a desenvolver a sua actividade nos sectores do turismo e hotelaria.
- Faro National Capital of Culture (FCNC 2005) and Tourism - reflections on the profile of tourists who attended the eventsPublication . Ferreira, Ana Maria; Martins, Ana Isabel; Gonçalves, A. R.; Perdigão, F.; Torkington, Kate; Pereira, Luis Nobre; Martins, Paula VenturaThis paper presents and reflects on some of the results obtained from a study conducted 0ver a 6 month period. The study focused on the tourists who visited the Faro National Capital of Culture. Between March and December 2005, a total of 154 events and attractions (with a total of 2513 sessions) including art exhibitions theatre, concerts, dance and cinema, took place in Faro and other towns throughout the Algarvian region, Although FCNC 2005 was not specifically project as a tourist related event, the fact that the Algarve is the most important tourist region of Portugal together with the concentration of most of the session over the summer months, which constitute the tourism high season, meant that many of events were well attended by tourist.
- Place and lifestyle migration: the discursive construction of ‘glocal’ place-identityPublication . Torkington, KateInternational lifestyle migration is a rapidly growing worldwide phenomenon. Within Europe, increasingly large numbers of northern Europeans are moving south in search of what they perceive as a better quality of life. The typical representation of this form of migration suggests that it is consumption-led, tourism-related and leisure-based; it is to be located within late modern, global, elitist, borderless and highly mobile social practices. The question arises as to the role of local place in this type of migration process and in the construction of individual and collective social identities. Using data from advertising texts produced by a residential-tourism resort and from in-depth interviews with British residents in the Golden Triangle area of the Algarve, Portugal, this article explores the relationships between discourse, identity, g/local place and lifestyle migration.