Language Identity Research Articles

Language and Cultural Identity: Cross-Cultural Communications Among the Vernacular Communities in the West Kalimantan-Sarawak Border Region in Indonesia

In border areas, multi-ethnic communities may experience both positive and negative impacts of being in a border area. On the one hand, being in a border area has a unique beneficial effect since traveling overseas is now easy and affordable. People move across the borders. However, on the other hand, there can be negative impacts because they are prone to conflicts due to several factors, such as differences in language, culture, social aspects, politics as well as economic differences. In this context, the language identity of multiethnic communities in the Kalimantan-Sarawak border area in Indonesia can be seen in the language situation and the factors that influence it. This research examines this issue. The study uses a qualitative method. Data collection employs surveys, observations, interviews and focus group discussions. As techniques. The findings demonstrate that: multi-ethnic communities in border areas are often bilingual. They have the abilities to speak languages other than their own ethnic language; they also exhibit flexibility in cross-language interactions; and the linguistic situation in border areas, particularly regional languages is preserved in families, homogeneous environments, traditional ceremonies, and religious activities. A linguistic identity is characterized by a strong sense of ethnicity: ethnic culture, regional geography, social groups, family and surroundings, regional history, education, as well as economic activities. These are aspects that influence the linguistic identity of the multiethnic population in the West Kalimantan-Sarawak border region in Indonesia.

BAHASA, BIAS GENDER DAN IDENTITASNYA PADA BUKU AL-ARABIYAH LIL INDUNIYSIYYIN

<em>Learning Arabic is a complex process that not only involves linguistic aspects, but in the context of learning Arabic, it also requires important aspects, such as the relationship between language, gender bias, and identity. Language is important because it functions as a means of communication for people in their daily lives, so learning Arabic is closely related to gender bias and language identity. This research aims to explain language, gender bias, and identity in the book Al-Arobiyyah lil Induniysiyyin. This type of research is qualitative and uses a library research approach by obtaining data from journals, books, and other sources relevant to the research. The results of this research reveal that the function of language, apart from being a means of communication, also includes self-expression, identity, and culture, as well as education and learning. An important aspect of learning Arabic is gender bias. Forms of gender bias in the book Al-Arobiyyah lil Induniysiyyin include the role of men being more dominant in terms of work, nature, and role in Arabic texts compared to the role of women. Forms of gender bias are divided into three categories: </em><em>mudzakar </em><em>(masculine), </em><em>muanats</em><em> (feminine), and functional (neutral). Apart from gender bias, another aspect is language identity. The forms of language and identity learned in Arabic can be summarized as religious identity, cultural identity, and national identity.</em>

Формування мовленнєвої компетентності молодшого школяра: лексика війни

The article highlights the peculiarities of the formation of primary school children’s speech competence during the war. The war vocabulary is analyzed. It is noted that speech competence is an important component of the formation of a primary school children language identity. The attention is focused on the fact that children use military and war lexis actively, and this is not surprising, as Ukrainian children are children of war. It is proved that the formation of children's speech competence in the conditions of war is possible with careful work on the oral and written speech of schoolchildren. The peculiarities of the use of war words by primary schoolchildren in their oral and written speech was analyzed as well as war vocabulary in drawings and letters to the Ukrainian soldiers. The questionnaire revealed what words such children use in everyday communication, whether they know the meaning of these words, including new ones, and identified the most commonly used items and phrases. Most of them refer to Ukrainian soldiers, weapons, and equipment. The letters express appreciation and admiration for Ukrainian heroes and produce prayers for their safe lives. The children’s written speech is more controlled and restrained than their oral speech, but at the same time keeps childish emotions and spontaneity. In their oral speech, they use phrases familiar to all Ukrainians that have arisen since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, they know many songs, mostly “adult”, written during the years of 2022-23. These lexis and phraseology are a part of the vocabulary of a modern primary schoolchild and define the peculiarities of the speech of the children of war.

Sociolinguistic Study of Language, Social Identity and Behavioural Patterns of Keke Operators in Lafia Metropolis

It is safe to state that sociolinguistics is the study of the language identity and behaviour of a speaker. Such a study of sociolinguistics will normally and apparently rely on the individual’s considerable conscious or unconscious degree of choice of the linguistic variables or forms they use in their daily speech. These choices could make essential contribution to the indexing of personal stance, identity, and communicative function of language use since the belief is that language(s) do not exist outside the societies in which they are used. ‘Sociolinguistic study of language, social identity, and behavioural patterns of keke operators in Lafia metropolis is a study of how tricycle operators, called ‘keke napep’ construct their social identity through their linguistic patterns to suit their job. The study also identified the linguistic behaviours and peculiarities of the group. Being a qualitative study, a primary approach was employed with the deployment of a participant observatory method. The ethnography of communication was applied as the basis of the framework of the study, which relied on first-hand observations of the behaviour of the keke operators. The framework itself was an adaptation of the Sapir-Whorf theory of relativity hypothesis concerned with social problems that invade the field of language. The findings showed that language served the function of social identity and aspiration, while the environment in which the group operate does influence their speech, behaviour, and attitude.

Someone Like Me: A Trial of Context-Responsive Science as a Mechanism to Promote Inclusion

This paper provides evidence gathered from two suites of non-formal science activities that were intended to increase engagement in science by culturally diverse groups. Both studies involved the delivery of science activities that were designed, implemented and evaluated to show culturally contextualised science. The activities were run in two very different contexts (urban and very rural areas) and were designed to be of relevance to two distinctive cultural groups (those with links to South Asia, and those being educated through the medium of Gaelic, an indigenous minority language in Scotland), while also actively engaging with those beyond the target group. The link between language identity and culture was incorporated into the design of both sets of activities as well as the qualitative evaluation. The latter considers how the participants’ assessment of the interventions, implemented by writing or drawing on a blank postcard, was designed to provide unstructured responses and explores what the resulting data revealed about the impact of the interventions. The findings suggest that the set of activities that most strongly engaged participants on the value of diversity in the creation of scientific knowledge, as well as increasing their focus on the consequences of scientific activity, were those that facilitated a more exploratory approach to the subject matter. By contrast, activities that had to be done according to a standard scientific protocol produced growth in subject-specific knowledge. The present paper explores the principles of the inclusive pedagogies that informed the design of the activities and discusses how these were operationalised in two very contrasting cultural contexts. The key finding was that presenting science as social practice, rather than as being socially neutral, is key to promoting engagement, along with the benefits of explicitly demonstrating the relevance of science to participants’ daily lives.

The interaction between language identity, pedagogy, and the effects on indigenous languages (Urdu and Sindhi): A case study of undergraduate institutes of Sindh, Pakistan

The purpose of the article is to examine the correlation between language and identity, as well as the influence of English language instruction in Pakistan on Pakistani linguistic identities. While English language learners use a variety of teaching and learning strategies, they also come from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and have varied learning objectives. The data collection involved two hundred undergraduates from each of the two campuses of the University of Sindh, one located in Jamshoro and the other in Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan. Additionally, interviews were conducted with five English language instructors who were all affiliated with the University of Sindh. Qualitative methods were utilized by the researcher for this investigation. The researcher employed two survey questionnaires, one for teachers and one for students, as a crucial tool for data gathering. The findings of the article demonstrate that language plays a significant role in expressing one’s social or personal identity, serving as a single characteristic of language usage for identification. Moreover, the article also examined the influence of English on two Pakistani languages, Urdu and Sindhi. Following the acquisition of English language skills, individuals may perceive changes in their level of competence, communication style, and value systems. The inclination towards code-mixing in public discourse can be attributed to the English language, as Pakistanis are highly conscious of their social status and aspire to appear well-educated.

Heritage language identity matters: Tracing the trajectory of a Chinese heritage mother and contested Chinese dual language bilingual education

This article presents a narrative inquiry of a Chinese heritage mother to theorize and explicate how historical, relational, and spatial processes impacted her negotiation with power and agency in relation to her own heritage language (HL) identity development. A narrative approach enables us to draw on participant counter-stories against master narratives that erase experiences of marginalization of Asians in Asian language education in the United States. We do this through a model of HL identity development (Zhou & Liu, 2022) supplemented by an AsianCrit lens (Iftikar & Museus, 2018). We show the importance of normalizing Chinese as a HL outside of the home in terms of language maintenance as well as the impact such normalization has on the development of an affirmative Chinese HL identity. We add that spaces for such identity development are deeply associated with language programs like dual language bilingual education (DLBE), especially as the number of DLBE opportunities grow in number and in popularity. Thus, language programs, including DLBE, have a responsibility to ensure that the language education they provide address the interests and investments of families with respect to their HL in order to decenter a primary focus on the interests of ethnolinguistic majoritized families.

Языковые основы субэтнической, этнической и этнополитической идентичности

The purpose of the research is to determine the relationship between the concepts of “ethnos” and “language” in the peripheral zone of ethnic self-determination where some part of the society considers itself a separate ethnic group, but this belief is not supported by its linguistic separateness. The material is the data on the ethnic situation in a number of countries around the world which is obtained either from social surveys or based on ethnographic descriptions of the relationship between linguistic and ethnic self-identification in different countries. The study applies the method of correlation analysis to establish the relationship between linguistic and ethnic self-determination. The work also uses the method of sociolinguistic interpretation and the method of sociolinguistic reinterpretation which is based on the analysis of secondary material, that has already entered in scientific circulation, for sociolinguistic purposes. The basis for identification processes is the linguistic identification of an ethnic nation, on the basis of which ethnographic, ethnic and ethnopolitical national unity is formed. As a result the study highlighted four situations which are based on the correction of ethnic identification according to language identity. Firstly, a situation of ethnic transition, when a person, who defines himself as belonging to a nation “by blood”, according to his linguistic identity moves to another national group. Secondly, a situation of subethnic transition, when an ethnic subgroup designates itself as part of a nation, that uses the regional dialect or dialect of a given nation. Thirdly, the situation of ethno-political identity, when the nationality is determined by the political factor such as citizenship while preserving the language of the ethnic nation living in another, base state. Finally, multiethnic political identification, which is a type of ethnopolitical identity, when several ethnic nations, which are speakers of different languages, are united into one political nation. This interpretation of the “ethnos – language” relationship allows us to adjust the parameters of sociolinguistic and social stratification of society.

Evaluation of changes in the lingual situation in the Kazakhstan lingual policy

Relevance. Language policy and societal language processes are crucial in forming nation-states with distinct linguistic and cultural identities, particularly in post-Soviet countries like Kazakhstan. Purpose. This purpose of the study is to analyze language changes in Kazakhstan since independence and evaluate current language policies and their future prospects. Methodology. The research employs comparative, statistical, analytical-synthetic, and graphic methods to examine language modernization parameters and policy perspectives in Kazakhstan. Results. The study analyzed population census data from 1999, 2009, and 2021, presenting statistical information through diagrams and tables. It compared different stages of Kazakh language identity formation from the early 20th century to the present. The research focused on the educational system parameters and the implementation of the trinity of languages concept in secondary and higher education. Conclusions. The study highlights that Kazakhstan�s language policy emphasizes the trilingual concept, promoting Kazakh, Russian, and English to foster national identity and international competitiveness. The research underscores the significant progress in increasing Kazakh language usage and proficiency, alongside the need to further integrate the language into various societal sectors such as science, business, and technology to enhance its functionality and influence. Keywords: language modernization; trinity concept; national linguistic identity; multilingual education; sociolinguistics

Gender Persecution & Protest Mandate in Meena Kandasamy’s Novels: A Social Hierarchy and Instability

Meena Kandasamy’s novel,“The Gypsy Goddess,” serves as a compelling exploration of subaltern voices, specifically delving into the intersections of caste and gender in Indian society. This paper critically analyses the nuanced portrayal of Dalits, particularly women, highlighting their struggles, resilience, and resistance within a complex web of societal norms. Through a multi-narrative structure and authentic language use, Kandasamy’s work challenges readers to confront the entrenched inequalities and reflect on the urgent need for societal change. She addresses language identity, feminism, and the eradication of caste. Her book “When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife” addresses how women in well-educated households are suppressed by patriarchal culture. The narrative centres on an accomplished Indian woman from a wealthy family who marries a reputable university professor. She outlines the feelings a woman experiences as she adapts to the circumstances in the household. By talking more about the conflict in her life, she tries to elevate herself to the level of a woman. She wishes to reveal to the world the humanity of women. She has the discernment to handle difficulties and hostilities without breaking down or becoming upset.

“I Told Them I Want to Speak Chinese!” The Struggle of UK Students to Negotiate Language Identities While Studying Chinese in China

ABSTRACT This article leverages interview data from students of Chinese who enrolled at a UK university but pursued a period of study abroad in China, aiming to delve into their negotiation of language identities during their overseas experience. By employing Block’s structural model in our discourse analysis, this research reveals the dynamic interplay between agency and structure, shedding light on the intricate process of language learning and identity formation. The findings underscore that structural contexts are integral to shaping students’ agency, highlighting specific structural spheres that pose challenges to their development of Chinese language and multilingual identities. These spheres encompass the linguistic and cultural dominance of English as well as Chinese hospitality practices. Rooted in their habitus, participants’ preconceived notions of the Chinese language and cultural aspects influence their journey, yielding either positive or negative impacts. Furthermore, participants’ backgrounds and prior language learning experiences significantly contribute to their identity development. In advocating for a comprehensive approach, this study emphasises the integration of both agency and structural contexts as necessary to fully comprehend the intricate process of identity development.

Urdu-English Code-Switching in Pakistani English

This paper defines Urdu-English code switching, focusing on its classifications and on how its influence on Pakistani English has shaped the nation’s language identity. It highlights the manner in which code switching has left a mark on the communication dynamics of Pakistan. This is a qualitative form of research, more specifically, a textual analysis of the data that already exists in the realm of Pakistani English. Through it, attention has been brought to the different types of code switching that exist in language which include inter-sentential, intra-sentential and tag switching whose deeper analysis provides the reader with a better understanding of the English spoken in Pakistan. It also takes a look at the various types of Urdu phrases (noun and adjective phrases), tags and clauses utilised in Pakistani English, making communication easier and reflecting the cultural, social and linguistic aspects of Pakistani society.

The Experience of Multilingual Doctoral Students Related to Academic Success: A Descriptive Qualitative Study

When multilingual students face the challenge of writing a doctoral capstone or dissertation, delays in academic progress may occur. The aim of this study was to identify writing challenges multilingual doctoral students face and provide recommendations regarding learner-centered resources to support timely academic success, as literature regarding multilingual students and language diversity in the doctoral environment is limited.<em> </em>A qualitative descriptive design was used for this study, and six multilingual DNP and PhD alumni participated. Data were collected using semi-structured audio interviews and analyzed using iterative content analysis.<em> </em>The findings support the need for community and culture to support language identity and doctoral writing development. Findings also support that early diagnostics of writing issues and opportunities for editorial feedback help support multilingual doctoral students.<em> </em>Findings also suggest a need for faculty and academic team development regarding the impacts of language diversity and culture on academic writing. Ultimately the goal is to help all graduate students preserve and share their identity in their writing.

Methodological approaches to the development of linguistic personality: structure, formation ways, social and cultural components

Relevance. The motivation to learn a language and form a new linguistic identity is more relevant than ever since languages, more and less spread, are the means of communication in the modern globalised world. Purpose. The aim of the article was to outline the model of its formation, with the steps to achieve it, which include considering the structure of the phenomenon, recognising the ways of language identity formation, determining the approaches to its formation, and also to single out the important components. Methodology. The study used the basic methods of knowledge: analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, and general scientific methods: generalisation, abstraction, classification, modelling, structural method, and method of analytic and synthetic processing of information. Results. The notion of linguistic personality has been defined, and approaches to describing its structure have been studied. It is pointed out that the development of linguistic personality is based on the specific structure of the concept of learning and the cultural potential inherent in it. An algorithm for the formation of a certain linguocultural type of linguistic personality is outlined, which supposes the allocation of conceptual, image-perceptual, and value aspects, and the presence of an important sociocultural component. It is highlighted that the basic element of the mentioned element is filled with ethnically specific components, defined as “the cultural potential of a linguistic personality”. It's also emphasised, that the theory of evolution of Kazakh linguistic personality needs to fill in its structural system characteristics, constructed on the basis of the results of the study of Kazakh linguistics. Conclusions. The valuable content in ethnolinguistics, ethnopedagogy, history, culturology, etc., that preserves and enriches the Kazakh culture, is established, from where the material should be derived. The article is of interest to linguists, who study linguistic personality, culturologists, educators, and sociologists.

Internationalization and institutional translation at UFSC: building a university identity in the english language

Este artigo relata o processo de construção da identidade internacional da Universidade Federalde Santa Catarina (UFSC), a partir do trabalho de Tradução Institucional realizado pelo Serviço deTradução da Secretaria de Relações Institucionais (SINTER). Apresentamos as ações realizadasentre 2016 e 2022 que contribuíram para ampliar e uniformizar a comunicação institucional emlíngua inglesa e dar maior visibilidade à instituição no cenário global. Dentre elas, destacam-se: atradução de websites institucionais; a disponibilização de um glossário português-inglês, contendotermos relevantes da estrutura acadêmica e administrativa da UFSC; e a elaboração de um guia deredação em língua inglesa. Essas e outras ações complementares buscaram aproximação com acomunidade universitária, unindo-se aos esforços do processo de internacionalização transversalem curso na UFSC.

The Interplay of Identity Construction and Motivational Development in Chinese Heritage Language Learning: Confrontation between Individual Agency and Hegemonic Social Discourse

This study explores the intricate relationship between identity construction and motivational development in Chinese Heritage Language (CHL) learners. Drawing on the narratives of three CHL learners in the UK, the research employs a post-structuralist perspective and the Heritage Language Identity Development Model (HLIDM) to analyze the dynamic interplay of personal histories, spatial contexts, and relational experiences in shaping learners’ identities and motivations. The findings underscore the pivotal role of accepting one’s Chinese identity in shaping motivations to learn CHL. However, this acceptance is not passive but emerges from active societal participation and the exercise of individual agency. The study also highlights the significant influence of societal hegemonic discourses, particularly those related to authenticity, which can impact learners’ motivations negatively. The research concludes by emphasizing the need for a more inclusive understanding of Chinese identity and a challenge to dominant discourses on authenticity to support effective CHL learning.

Survey and Correlation Analysis of the Learning Motivation and Language Identity of Cambodian Chinese Learners

Survey and Correlation Analysis of the Learning Motivation and Language Identity of Cambodian Chinese Learners

Changes of the language identity of Ukrainians at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine (based on the materials from social networks and online publications of the end of February – beginning of April 2022)

Background. The military aggression of Russia against Ukraine affected the mass consciousness and made Ukrainians to review and reconsider the common values system. The language situation in the country as well as the language identity of the population have significantly changed. As for the latter, its study is an extremely topical issue.Contribution to the research field. Previous research of the language identity concept did not cover all its aspects, both theoretical and practical. In particular, the language issue, its state and quality of the language identity in Ukraine in the war conditions require a deep and comprehensive investigation. In this study, we assume that the language self-identification processes at the beginning of the war, provoked by the shock of the full-scale invasion, are a projection of further linguistic, cultural and value-based development of Ukrainian society.Purpose. To unveil the peculiarities of the language identity in the Ukrainian realities and to characterise the dynamics of the language self-identification of Ukrainians during the first weeks of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.Methods. The main research methods are discourse analysis and content analysis as well as description of factual material such as the texts from the social networks “Facebook”, “Telegram”, “Instagram” and online publications for the selected period which are testifying changes in the Ukrainians’ language identity. The comparative method and the context analysis methods are also used.Results. The language situation in Ukraine several years before the fullscale Russia’s invasion was unstable. There was a significant difference between the attitude to the Ukrainian language and choice of the communication language in various situations. A confrontation between Ukrainian-speaking and Russian-speaking identities existed. Study of the discourse of social networks and online publications during the first weeks of the Russian invasion in Ukraine has revealed significant changes in the language identity of Ukrainians. Since the first days of the war, the position of the Ukrainian language was strengthened because of the deliberate transition of many people (both famous and regular ones) to it. At that time, the language received а unifying, “friend or foe” marker, self-preservation and resistance to the enemy functionalities. Numerous social networks posts contained argumentation concerning the importance of the mother language, appeals to support it as well as arguments, including historical facts, explaining why one should start speaking Ukrainian language. Genocide of Ukrainians on the occupied territories made them more principled regarding the language and national culture, intensified de-Russification processes and rejection of Russian cultural products.Discussion. The study revealed the unity of the Ukrainian society around protection of the Ukrainian language and culture. The changes in the language identity found at the beginning of the war set the directions of the linguistic, cultural and value-based development of Ukrainian society, in particular regarding decolonization and de-Russification in various spheres. We see the prospects for further research in the study of the changes in the value-based attitude of Ukrainians to their language and the issue of choosing Ukrainian language in various communication situations in the conditions of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war using quantitative and qualitative methods.

Queer auf Deutsch

In this report, we retrospectively explore the effects of drama-based pedagogy on classroom environment and LGBTQ+ inclusion in a first-semester collegiate German course. We examined students’ self-reported perceptions of their learning experience in English, as well as gendered language production in German. Our retroactive analysis suggests that pedagogical decisions and activities rooted in drama-based pedagogy contributed to creating a safe and inclusive classroom that encouraged LGBTQ+ students to express parts of their queer identities in the target language.

БОЛАШАҚ МҰҒАЛІМНІҢ СӨЙЛЕУ МӘДЕНИЕТІН ҚАЛЫПТАСТЫРУ

Annotation. Linguistic and cultural bases of formation of linguistic personality of philological students can be used as classification signs in document classification, as semantic concepts in generating thesauruses and ontologies, as supporting concepts in media content analysis. In virtually all automatic text processing tasks, such as annotation, indexing, classification, machine translation, knowledge extraction, and more. it will be necessary to produce the terminology. This monograph calls for the description and systematization of these methods in order to determine the future and development issues of language identity formation. The importance of the identified issues is based on the phenomenon of information explosion in modern society. It is intended for research workers, specialists, university teachers, doctoral students, graduate students and students in the field of language personality formation. Key words: word culture, speech culture, linguistic personality, linguistic personality of the student, formation of linguistic personality.