Linguistic Construction Of Identity Research Articles

Acoustics and ice hockey: The sociophonetic impact of Canadian English on American-Born players

My research utilizes sociophonetic analysis to document the linguistic identity construction process that is ongoing in the sport of ice hockey. I argue that American-born players are constructing a hockey-based identity influenced by Canadian English (CE) due to the historical Canadian dominance of the sport. This identity incorporates Canadian Raising, FACE and GOAT monophthongization, both commonly attributed to CE and largely unexplainable based on players’ regional dialects, and altered vowel production in hockey-specific terminology, most notably in the word hockey itself, unique to the hockey community. To document this variation, I analyze vowel formant values taken from sociolinguistic interviews with professional hockey players. I assess F1 and F2 values throughout vowel durations to establish if players are converging in production away from regional dialectal variants towards shared hockey-based variants. I argue these variants have gained indexical value linked to an emerging hockey-based identity that, although influenced by CE, is unique to the hockey community. In ongoing research, I aim to further document that this variation is most evident in hockey-specific terminology and that lexical diffusion occurs outwardly from these terms over time leading to players developing a more prevalent hockey-based identity as the sport gains more importance in their lives.

Influence of context on identity construction after traumatic brain injury

Objective: It has been widely accepted that positive identity construction after traumatic brain injury (TBI) results in better rehabilitation outcomes. However, there is limited information available on the linguistic resources that individuals use to construct such identities, and how the context in which they are communicating may influence this construction of self. This research uses the tools of systemic functional linguistics to examine the linguistic construction of identity in an individual with moderate-severe chronic TBI. Method: The individual participated in two different conversations, one with a male stranger and the other with a female brain injury researcher, and the conversation transcripts were analyzed using tools of systemic functional linguistics. Results: The identities communicated and linguistic construction of self in both contexts had many similarities. In both conversations, the participant presented a positive perspective of his post brain injury life, and he described similar relationships. Nevertheless, there were also noteworthy differences. With the stranger, he distanced himself from the topic of the injury by not discussing his pre-injury self or his injury-related difficulties. However, with the researcher, he contrasted a negative pre-injury persona with his current, improved post-injury self. Additionally, when conveying information about his relationships to the stranger he projected a more powerful and in-charge identity than with the researcher. Discussion: An analysis of language using systemic functional linguistics can reveal important information about how individuals communicate their identity. Additionally, the identities communicated can be highly variable depending on the conversation partner, the context of the interaction, and sociocultural gender norms. Conclusion: The results suggest that contextual influences on identity construction have important clinical implications for rehabilitation.

EFL Teachers’ Spatial Construction of Linguistic Identities for Sustainable Development in Globalization

Grounded in Gidden’s space theory, this case study examines the construction of linguistic identity in Chinese English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) teachers teaching in a major Chinese city with regard to their language-learning experiences and beliefs about the roles of English as a language within the context of globalization. The data were collected from semi-structured interviews with two Chinese EFL teachers and observations of their classrooms. The narrative and thematic analyses show how two Chinese EFL teachers came to have preferences for moving from the “periphery” to the “center” of a monolingual or multilingual foreign-language community in different ways. The findings not only reveal how English as a language relates to globalization, they also broaden our understanding of the complex formation of identity of the language teachers within a global context.

Néo-bretonnants – konstruowanie tożsamości językowej przez młode pokolenie osób bretońskojęzycznych

Néo-bretonnants: The Construction of Linguistic Identity by the Young Generation of Breton-Speaking PeopleAccording to statistics there are today only about 200,000 people who know the Breton language, but 70% of them are over 60 years old. However, every year more than a thousand young Bretons learn the language in schools and another several thousand adults attend language courses. It seems that in a dozen years or so the Breton language will be known almost only as a second/learned language. This paper is based on open interviews conducted with pupils in the Diwan immersion High School, students of the Faculty of Breton at Rennes University and Breton language learners (aged 16–25). A large majority of them come from families who have not used Breton for two generations. The reason why these young people have decided to learn the language of their ancestors and their relation to the language are studied. The Breton identity of today is not based on knowledge of the language but on the strong emotional relation to it. The relation between their Breton identity and the language is interesting. Speaking Breton is their conscious choice. It is not their first language, in which they think and feel. The central question of the paper is concerned about to what extent the identity of néo-bretonnants is based on the relation with the language as a distinguishing feature of cultural membership, and to what extent the Breton language is the medium of enforcing this selected and consciously created identity.

A Collaborative Autoethnography on Raciolinguistic Experiences and the Construction of Linguistic Identities During an Intercultural Exchange

This research is a Collaborative Autoethnography based on personal experiences as Au Pairs in the United States. It aims to analyze the contributions of an intercultural exchange towards the construction of the teacher’s identity. It also seeks to analyze the current foreign language teaching practices in Colombia. We achieved more significant English teaching insights from our reflections, considering a flexible language structure, more comprehensive vocabulary, and English variety. Besides, this life-changing exposed ourselves to a target context that enriched our global notions and enhanced a new linguistic identity. Two years of living abroad made us think about a different teaching ideology founded on developing interest and sensibility for diverse cultures accepting broader linguistic features of the language. The results support the idea that educators shift those traditional strategies to more context-bound and intercultural ones to meet today’s needs and place the language as a means of co-construction of reality.

‘Your pronunciation is really good’: the construction of linguistic identities in ELF interactions among multilingual speakers

ABSTRACT Studies on the linguistic identity of multilingual speakers engaged in English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) interactions have continued to grow in the past 20 years. This paper was aimed at contributing to this line of research by studying interactional data to investigate the construction and negotiation of linguistic identities among multilingual speakers of English. Data was collected from 38 ELF interactions in a university classroom located in South Korea. The analysis shows that the students’ linguistic identity in relation to English was made relevant consequent to the interactional exploitation of the two interrelated social constructs of phonology and nationality (i.e. being foreign). The findings suggest that these multilingual students negotiate and build one's linguistic identity by evaluating different ways of speaking English which in turn influence their own linguistic use. The study helps us understand how normative expectations or beliefs are expressed at the level of interaction and underscores the need for ELF awareness and development of related pedagogical tools for empowering these group of students.

Borders and bridges

Abstract This study examines the construction of linguistic identities at a time of significant political tension in Hong Kong, with a focus on Hong Kong’s three official languages: Cantonese, the most widely spoken variety of Chinese in Hong Kong; English, the longest serving official language of Hong Kong; and Putonghua, the official language of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which became an official language in Hong Kong after the 1997 Handover of Hong Kong to PRC rule. Given the current political tensions between Hong Kong and the PRC, particularly in light of grassroots political movements such as the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the ongoing 2019 civil unrest due to the proposed introduction of an extradition treaty between Hong Kong and mainland China, the status of Hong Kong’s three languages is particularly interesting. Past research has primarily focused on the perceived value of these three languages in terms of instrumentality and integrativeness. The current study expands previous research by focusing on how the participants construct a linguistic identity of the self vs. a national language identity for Hong Kong, particularly within or in contrast to a national language identity of the PRC.

Little cutie one piece

Abstract This study investigates emerging usages in Chinese cyberspace of the numeral classifier méi that violate syntactic and semantic conventions of canonical grammar of modern Chinese. We treat these usages as constructional variants of the canonical classifier construction and show how they afford users of Weibo a device of social indexicality in the sense of Silverstein (1976, 1985, 2003) and Eckert (2000, 2003, 2008). We argue that the constructional variants facilitate the creation of a cute, chic, playful, humorous, and youthful online style and that its popularity draws on multiple indexical resources including contrast to canonical grammar, contemporary language contact with Japanese, influence of the cuteness culture and its commodification, and consumerism in the digital economy. This study contributes to research on the linguistic construction of identity and style, linguistic creativity in the new media and digital culture, and usage-based constructionist approaches to language.

Autobiografia linguística. Atitudes, creenças e reflexões para o ensino de línguas

This work is a qualitative cutting research based on linguistic autobiography as a resource for sociolinguistic analysis on linguistic beliefs, perceptions and attitudes and as a methodology of selfreflection for the teacher of second languages, with which development of one's own cultural competence and apprentices can deepen. It analyses the linguistic autobiography of a multilingual teacher, her life around the languages that have marked her life, her family and work environment: not only what languages she speaks, but how she feels about them and the community that employs them. In addition to the autobiography, an open interview and a linguistic portrait are conducted as tools of approach to the subjective, individual approach to the construction of linguistic identity.

Linguistic Construction of Identity by Bilinguals Who Stutter

This study’s aim was to investigate the self-perceptions of bilingual peoplewho stutter as uncovered by their word choices during social interaction.Specifically, the perceptions they have about themselves relative to their stuttering are examined using qualitative methods. Three bilingual males who stutter were recruited from stuttering support groups. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit participants’ perspectives on their stuttering experiences. Tools derived from Systemic Functional Linguistic (SFL) theory were used to analyse interview transcripts revealing how participants use linguistic resources to appraise, organise and convey their identities relative to their stuttering. SFL-based analyses revealed individual topics in each participant’s talk including: being prideful about stuttering out of necessity, shifting identity based on views about stuttering, and adopting various identities depending on social context. Analysis of word selections and clause structures revealed that all three participants project a positive identity relative to their stuttering, though they still struggle with negative feelings.

Linguistic Identity Construction of Shina Speakers: An Ethnographic Study

The present research intends to investigate the linguistic identity construction of Shina speakers in different contexts. The objective of the study is to study the pure Shina identity and to see how language use varies according to context. An ethnographic study was conducted to find out how Shina speakers construct their linguistic identities in different contexts. The sample for this research was purposive which included multilingual Shina speakers and the data was collected through interviews. The data was analyzed using Markedness Model by Myers- Scotton (1993). The findings of the study revealed that multilingual Shina speakers construct their linguistic identity in their interaction through code- switching and code mixing. It was found that a pure Shina identity is constructed at home and in close circles whereas a hybrid identity is constructed at the work place and formal context.

To speak or not to speak in the new Taiwanese university: class participation and identity construction in linguistically and culturally diverse graduate classrooms

ABSTRACTIn order to internationalize higher education, universities across Asia have engaged in aggressive recruitment of international students and increased provision of English-medium instruction (EMI). While many studies have examined Asian international students’ intercultural interactions during class discussions in Western/English-speaking countries, little is known about how the diverse students interact in EMI classes in the newly internationalized universities in Asia. This study analyzed interviews with 82 graduate students in a Taiwanese university to examine their classroom participation and identity construction in EMI. Findings indicate that Taiwanese and international students diverge in their frequency, manner, and content of speech in whole class discussions. Students explained the contrast in terms of cultural and linguistic identities while they also reported a dynamic two-way adjustment in their classroom behaviors over time. Previous studies emphasized the need for context-oriented analysis of students’ intercultural classroom experiences and tended to focus on the classroom contexts. This study suggests that such contextualized analysis needs to also attend to the local linguistic contexts and power relations between languages and cultures as they are intertwined with the cultural and linguistic identity construction that influence classroom behaviors in the non-Western and non-native-English-speaking settings.

‘Ceaselessly losing our identity’: Psychic Rupture in ‘King Arthur’s Tomb’

This article analyzes violence in two of William Morris’ Arthurian poems in terms of Julia Kristeva’s theories of psychic violence, especially the linguistic construction of identity and her modernist aesthetics of resistance.

Linguistic Modality and Female Identity in Chaucer’s Clerk’s Tale

AbstractWhile exploring the situated nature of conceptual knowledge, the paper investigates the linguistic construction of identity relative to the language user’s sociocultural situatedness, which is regarded as a derivative of the continuity of language and culture. In this functionally-oriented study, we examine how the situatedness of the language user affects their expression of the selves, which in the article we construe in terms of social roles performed by men and women in a specific cultural community. Importantly, we claim that, although the data are historical in nature, they nevertheless help us address the problem of the elusive nature of human identity, a theme recurring in the linguistic study of subjectivity. We seek to explore the general question of experiential motivation behind the frequency patterns of linguistic usage. We illustrate the issue by referring to the historical data taken from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Clerk’s Tale. The poet’s use of selected modal verbs is contextualized in relation to the late medieval community of his present. We account for the poet’s usage of shul, mot- (in the sense ‘must’), o(u)ght(e), as well as mouen ‘may’, and willen, indicating the need for a more nuanced approach to the way in which the key modal notions of NECESSITY/OBLIGATION are applied in the study of linguistic modality. We thus advocate the adoption of a situated view of the abstract concepts. Furthermore, we argue that the usage patterns concerning the frequency with which the selected modal verbs are used in specific contexts of Chaucer’s narrative might be indicative of the ways in which the identity of a community member was negotiated in the late medieval society of the poet’s present. In conclusion, we indicate the challenges to present-day pragmatic research into the linguistic construction of identity. Specifically, the emphasis is laid on how findings from recent research into situated and social cognition can inform a pragmatic investigation of linguistic subjectivity.

National and post-national discourses and the construction of linguistic identities by students of Albanian origin in Greece

AbstractDrawing on Critical Discourse Analysis and, more specifically, on the relationship between the macro-level of dominant discourses and the micro-level of individual positionings, we examine the way linguistic identities are constructed by immigrant students of Albanian origin in Greece. We elaborate on two ‘competitive’ discourses: the national, homogenizing one and the post-national, deconstructing one, and the way they influence the construction of immigrant students’ linguistic identities. Our data come from lyceum immigrant students’ essays which are analyzed in order to trace their positionings towards the two ‘competitive’ discourses, and in particular, towards the linguistic dimension of these discourses. For a systematic investigation of immigrant students’ linguistic identities we employ the membership categorization device

Introducing relational work in Facebook and discussion boards

This paper functions as the introduction to the special issue on ‘relational work in Facebook and discussion boards’. We position our research endeavors within interpersonal pragmatics (see Locher and Graham 2010), by reviewing literature on politeness, impoliteness and relational work in the context of computer-mediated communication. Foregrounding the relational aspect of language, we are particularly interested in establishing the connections between politeness, face and linguistic identity construction. We then position the four papers that form this special issue within this field of research. Two papers contribute to the study of relational work on discussion boards (Kleinke and Boes; Haugh, Chang and Kádár) and two deal with practices on Facebook (Theodoropoulou; Bolander and Locher).

Brand names and unconventional spelling

This article explores the creative use of unconventional spelling in brand names. Using insights from the indexical approach to the linguistic construction of identity, it demonstrates how unconventional spelling produces a myriad of effects and meanings, which in turn help construct brand identities. First, it identifies the various strategies of unconventional spelling, investigates their potential to convey distinctiveness, and examines other effects and meanings that they produce. It then presents a case study to further illustrate how unconventional spelling works with other marketing materials to create a unique brand identity. Unconventional spelling, because of its polarizing nature, can be a risky resource for constructing brand identities. Not only does this study contribute to an under-researched area in the sociolinguistics of orthography, but it also broadens the range of identities and linguistic resources examined in the sociolinguistic investigation of identity construction.

The Roma and Wall Street/CEOs: linguistic construction of identity in U.S. and Canadian crime reports

Discriminatory practices against Roma (also known as Romanies) occur on a daily basis in many countries around the world through media discourse. This paper investigates the representation of Romanies in U.S. and Canadian online newspaper crime reports and compares this representation to Wall Street/CEOs in crime reports demonstrating how identity of both groups is constructed through a variety of linguistic and non-linguistic strategies. Drawing on Mayr and Machin’s (2012) critical linguistic analysis of the language of crime, this multimodal study incorporates a variety of tools such as Critical Discourse Analysis and Cognitive Linguistics in order to dig below the surface to reveal ideological frames. Results illustrate the denaturalization (and negative representation) of Romanies and contrasting naturalization of CEOs and point to a growing need for consciousness-raising through critical linguistic analysis such as this in order to continue to fight for social change and a more just system for the Roma.

L’expérience sociale des institutions scolaires : construire son identité linguistique au fil de la transition à l’enseignement supérieur


 
 
 
 Rather than using the classical view generally embraced by the field of sociology of education – that is equity in educational chances and mechanisms of social reproduction, this article analyses the construction of linguistic identity among young adults during their school and mobility pathways. The results obtained from this qualitative research (N=33) demonstrate that the transition to higher education influences the construction of linguistic identity of young adults who previously attended a minority linguistic school in Canada – and this is mainly due to the new relationships to otherness that the transition to higher education involves. Using a micro sociological and constructivist approach, the article draws a parallel between the objective pathways (school and mobility transitions) and the subjective pathways (construction of linguistic identity) of young adults by analysing their life story with a diachronic approach. Although some researchers have evoked the decline of the school institution (Dubet, 2002), this article reveals that the social experience of school leaves a mark on life pathways.
 
 
 
 
 

Relational social deixis and the linguistic construction of identity

This study examines language attitudes, member categorisation and social distinctions among Greek-Cypriot tertiary education students in Cyprus. Specifically, focus is placed on the use of deictics by participants to examine attitudes and behaviour as regards use and variation in language. Participants’ attitudinal responses and folk theories are a central part of understanding identity construction and membership categorisation. Data were collected from three focus group interviews in tertiary education to examine language attitudes towards speakers of four broad register levels of the Greek-Cypriot Dialect, to investigate which registers receive the least favourable evaluations and where differentiation becomes an important aspect of evaluators’ group membership, and to explore which factors seem to impact on language comparisons. The results of the study illustrate that students are well aware of their social positioning in society and of the effects of employing less prestigious linguistic variables.