On Transidentitying

Abstract

The concepts of identity and translanguaging have been a focus of considerable theorizing and research in recent years, and have clarified important dimensions of how people interact in both monolingual and multilingual settings (Barkhuizen, 2016; Creese and Blackledge, 2015; Darvin and Norton, 2018; Otheguy et al., 2018). In this article we would like to extend the discussion of these two constructs through the notion of transidentitying. We use this term to refer to how different identities or identity characteristics are often created and negotiated within a single or series of related interactions. Our goal is to explore whether this is a useful new concept and to seek to identify the features of transidentitying. First, we provide a brief overview of current conceptions of identity and translanguaging and then present our understanding of transidentitying, to suggest when, why, and how it takes place, and to describe the role sociocultural and other factors play in initiating or necessitating a change of identity within an interaction. We will also suggest that transidentitying is a common feature of normal social interaction as well as teacher behaviour.