4.-Language-and-Identity

TESL3130LanguageandCultureByJingYixuanOffice:C532Email:[e-mail]2013–2014Semester2LanguageandIdentity23Whoareyou?IdentityTajfel(1978)definessocialidentityas‘thatpartofanindividual’sself-conceptwhichderivesfromhisknowledgeofhismembershipinasocialgroup’.45•Alinkbetweenthepersonalandthesocial;•Beingthesameassomepeopleanddifferentfromothers;•AtensionbetweenhowmuchcontrolIhaveintheconstructingofmyidentityandhowmuchcontrolisexercisedoverme.Identityinvolves:6-Raceorethnicity-Nationality-Socialclass-Gender-AgeOnedoesnotonlyhaveoneidentity,butoftenmultipleidentitiessuchas:LinguisticidentityIdentityisamultifacetedissue.Ourmajorconcernhereishowlanguagerevealsandconstructsone’sidentity.Hencewetalkaboutlinguisticidentity.Linguisticidentityreferstoone’sidentitythatisrevealedbyhowonetalks.Inotherwordsyourlanguagetellsotherswhoyouare.Identity,whetheritisonanindividual,socialorinstitutionallevel,issomethingwhichisconstantlybuildingandnegotiatingallourlivesthroughourinteractionwithothers.Peopleswitchintodifferentidentitiesforthepeopleinvolved.Oneofthewaysinwhichweaccomplishanddisplaythisshiftisthroughthelanguageweuse.7TheconstructionofpersonalidentitythroughlanguageOneoftheexamplesofpersonalidentityconstructionisthroughtheuseofnames,namingpracticesandrituals.Lookatthequestionsonthenexttwoslidesandthinkofyouridentityineachcontext.8–Howdoyounameyourself•Toyourparents?•Toyourfriends?•Toyourprofessors?•Toyourbestfriend?•Toyourboyfriend/girlfriend?–Howdothesepeoplenameyou?–Hasyournamechangedovertime?9NowconsideryourEnglishname.Howwasitgiventoyou?Didyouchooseityourself?Howdoyoufeelitisrelatedtoyouridentity?ComparehowyoufeelaboutyourChinesenameandEnglishnameintermsofyourownidentity.Howdoyoufeelwhensomeoneusesyournameinthewrongway?HowdoyoufeelwhenyouuseyourEnglishnameinsteadofyourChinesename?10OnthenextslidesyouwillreadhowanAmericanbusinessmanandaHongKongbusinessmaninteractwitheachother.Howdothesetwopeopleviewtheiridentitytoeachotherbytermsofaddress?11TwomenmeetonaplanefromTokyotoHongKong.ChuHon-faiisaHongKongexporterwhoisreturningfromabusinesstriptoJapan.AndrewRichardsonisanAmericanbuyeronhisfirstbusinesstriptoHongKong.ItisaconvenientmeetingforthembecauseMrChu’scompanysellssomeoftheproductsMrRichardsonhascometoHongKongtobuy.Afterabitofconversationtheyintroducethemselvestoeachother.12MrRichardson:Bytheway,I’mAndrewRichardson.MyfriendscallmeAndy.Thisismybusinesscard.MrChu:I’mDavidChu.Pleasedtomeetyou,MrRichardson.Thisismycard.MrRichardson:No,no.CallmeAndy.Ithinkwe’llbedoingalotofbusinesstogether.MrChu:Yes,Ihopeso.MrRichardson:(readingMrChu’scard):‘Chu,Hon-fai’.Hon-fai,I’llgiveyouacalltomorrowassoonasIgetsettledatmyhotel.MrChu(smiling):Yes.I’llexpectyourcall.13Itisnotonlythenameyouhave,butthewaythatpeopleuseitindifferentcontextswhichhelpstoestablishyouridentitywithinthatcontext.Thewaythatotherspeakersrefertoyoucandependonthedegreeofformality,ofintimacyandofrelativestatusofalltheparticipantsinvolvedintheinteraction.Thesystemsofaddressareculturallydetermined.ThinkofhowdifferentpeopleareaddressedinChineseandinEnglishwoulddisclosewhowewanttobeandwhowewantotherstobe.Inappropriateaddressformscouldcausemisunderstandingsandoffense.14TheconstructionofsocialidentitythroughlanguageAswasmentionedearlierone’sidentityinvolvespersonalandsocialaspects.Inadditiontopersonalidentity,peoplealsoconstructtheirsocialidentity,inpart,bybelongingtodifferentgroups.Forexample,wemayidentifyourselvesasbeingChinese,beingfemaleormale,beingastudentorteacher.Comparethesegroupswiththespeechcommunitieswediscussed.Eachofthesegroupshascertainlinguisticfeaturesassociatedwiththem.Weidentifyourselvesfromothersthroughtheuseoftheselinguisticfeatures.15“Usingcertainpronunciations,termsorgrammaticalconstructionscanmarkoutindividualsasbeingfromacertainclass…geographicarea…,gender…oragegroup…additionally,lookingathowgeographyandlanguageinteracthelpstoshowhowidentityisrelatedtolanguageuse.Someofthesefeaturesarethingswemaynotbeawareofinourownspeech;however,otherpeoplewillhearthemandmaymakeassumptionsaboutusandassociateuswithparticularidentities.”16In-groupsandout-groupsOursocialidentitycannotalwaysbedeterminedbyourselves;itisalsoboundupwithhowothersperceiveus.Ourperceptionofourselvesasanindividualcanonlybeinrelationtoothers,andourstatuswithinasocialgroup.Thisstatuscanbeconstructedthroughlanguageuseinvariousways.Aswithotherkindsofsocialcodeswhichpeopleusetodisplaymembershipofasocialgroup,certainkindsoflinguisticbehaviouralsosignalouridentityinrelationtoagroup.Beingabletoshowthatyoucanuselinguistictermsappropriatelyaccordingtothenormsassociatedwithaparticulargrouphelpstoestablishourmembershipofit,bothtoothermembersofthegroup,thein-group,andthoseoutsideit,theout-group.Furthermore,adheringtothelinguisticnormsonegroupmaypositionusveryclearlyasshowingwedonotbelongtoothers.17IdentityandvariationOuridentitiesarecomplexandrelatedtomultiplerelationshipsandgroups.Wemaywishtobeidentifiedwithdifferentgroupsatdifferenttimes,andourlinguisticpatternsmayproduceashift,whetherbetweendifferentv