EDITOR: Omoniyi, Tope; White, Goodith TITLE: The Sociolinguistics of Identity SERIES: Advances in Sociolinguistics PUBLISHER: Continuum YEAR: 2006
Natalie Braber, Department of Linguistics, Nottingham Trent University, UK
SUMMARY
This book is an edited collection of papers by different authors, of which the chapters examine the analytical tools employed in the sociolinguistic research of 'identity'. Its main aim is to discuss how efficient and applicable these methods have been as well as examining the place of identity in a variety of different contexts. The background to this collected work came from the seminar on 'Language and Identity' at the University of Reading, UK (5-6 July 2004) but authors who did not present at this seminar were also invited to contribute to the volume. This volume is divided into three parts: Theory and methods of identity and sociolinguistics; identity in micro-sociolinguistics; and identity in macro-sociolinguistics. The first chapter is an introduction where the editors give an overview of their purposes and methodology. This chapter also gives a brief description of each of the individual chapters in the book.
Part I
The first part of this book focuses on the analytical tools which are employed by sociolinguists to research identity.
Chapter 2: 'Hierarchy of Identities' (Tope Omoniyi) discusses the challenge of analysing individuals with multiple identities and how these identities are managed by individuals and groups. This 'hierarchy of identities' is intended to show that identity can be fluid and how the focus of identities can change in particular 'moments' where the presence of either complementing or conflicting identities may be present. Omoniyi argues that more traditional views of language and identity, such as essentialism (see Bucholtz 2003: 400), do not recognise that identity can be constructed by individuals and/or groups and cannot accommodate hybridity adequately. Omoniyi attempts to show that identity and identification are more complex than traditional sociolinguistic literature reflects. He argues these points by not only examining 'conventional' interaction, but also by examining processes of identification where the 'encoder' is not present, such as road signs and car number plates which require locating the self and the other through use of signs.
Chapter 3: 'Identity in Applied Linguistics' (David Block). This chapter focuses on the fact that many researchers have unquestioningly accepted the post-structuralist view on identity – that identity is not fixed, but unstable and fragmented. Block discusses that rather than solely focusing on social constructs such as ethnicity and gender, participation in communities of practice (family, social activities, work colleagues) are used to construct identities within relationships. Block supports the post-structuralist view that although the individual can be shaped by their sociohistory, they can also be actively involved in shaping their future identity as they progress through life. Block discusses a more psychologically informed approach to identity by discussing a study of silence in second language learning and the fact that this silence can be part of an internal identity struggle with regard to the learning of the second language. This chapter contains a case study which examines an English learner's attitudes towards her teacher and the English language.
Chapter 4: 'Constructing languages, constructing national identities' (Yasir Suleiman). This chapter discusses national identity and how a 'nation' can be made up of individuals from different ethnic, cultural, economic, territorial and linguistic groups and whether this can pose a problem for investigating 'fixed' senses of identity. As opposed to Omoniyi's sense of identity 'hierarchy', Suleiman instead uses the concept of polycentricity to describe the relationship between individuals belonging to one national group. He believes language plays an important role in creating a sense of national identity and also in the creation of nation building. When discussing linguistic identity, Suleiman states that it is important to distinguish between 'interiority', that is, the interior identity of the self, from that of 'exteriority' which deals with the social domain of professional and collective identity. He explains that this differentiation is rarely made in studies of language and identity. Suleiman then gives examples from several countries to explain his theories of language and identity. Suleiman also discusses the importance of names as part of identity -- both the names of languages, as well as those of individuals and relates this to Blommaert's (1996) concepts of language ideology, where a name can legitimise a linguistic variety, for example.
Part II
The second part of this book is entitled 'Identity in Micro-sociolinguistics' and these chapters deal with small communities and describe the role language plays in establishing and maintaining social identity. These studies all focus on features of language such as pronunciation, grammatical aspects and lexical items and discuss these in relation to social categories.
Chapter 5: 'English pronunciation and second language speaker identity' (Jennifer Jenkins). This chapter focuses on the issue of identity in language learning and whether 'native-like' pronunciation is the ideal which should be aimed at by non-native speakers who use English as a Lingua Franca (ELF). Jenkins discusses a study where she collected two sets of data over a period of four years, and this data was made up of miscommunication and accommodation data which were followed up by questionnaires and interviews where possible. Jenkins suggested following a particular programme which would allow speakers to assert their L1 identity while communicating with others using ELF. However, Jenkins' studies showed that non-native teachers and learners are on the whole strongly opposed to abandoning native-speaker pronunciation norms in order to form part of an international ELF community as many believed that this would encourage the fossilisation of errors in pronunciation.
Chapter 6: 'Shifting identities and orientations in a border town' (Carmen Llamas) examines the identity construction process of speakers in Middlesborough (in the North of England, but which has a 'border town' status). It focuses on two particular phonological features, glottalized /p/ and TH-fronting and the speakers' attitudes towards their usage. Both Tajfel (as cited in Turner 1999) and Anderson's concepts of identity are important to this study, with the sense of 'belonging' to an 'imagined' community playing an important role in linguistic choices. Other people are categorized according to perceived differences or similarities of which language can form an important part. This study uses an Affiliation Score Index (ASI) which tests speakers' sense of local affiliation and compares this to the particular linguistic features which are used by these speakers. The study shows that innovatory forms used by particular speakers in this community can signal a sense of a high level of local orientation and explains how a sense of belonging to different groups can be seen to be reflected in language usage.
Chapter 7: 'Regional variation and identity in Sunderland' (Lourdes Burbano-Elizondo) examines local identity and language in light of Silverstein's (1992) orders of indexicality relating to the links which speakers establish between linguistic form and social category (first-order indexicality) and the ways in which speakers rationalise these links (second-order indexicality). Previous studies (for example, Beal 1993) have shown that this is an area with a strong sense of local identity, in particular in opposition to Newcastle 'Geordies'. This study aims to examine whether the features which Sunderland people believe to characterise their local identity are also used by these speakers. This is seen as particularly important as 'outsiders' to these communities are rarely able to distinguish these two varieties. Participants were asked to discuss such distinguishing features and the results showed that these speakers considered themselves as an independent community from Newcastle. Burbano-Elizondo explains that the next stage in this study will be to examine these meta-linguistic statements and to examine whether they correlate with the actual linguistic data.
Part III
The final part of this book is 'Identity in Macro-sociolinguistics' and these chapters focus on situations in which participants have to choose between varieties of a language or between different languages and how this can affect the speaker's orientation of identity.
Chapter 8: 'Guernsey French, identity and language endangerment' (Julia Sallabank). This study examines attitudes towards Guernsey French, particularly as this linguistic variety is spoken by an ever-decreasing number of speakers. Sallabank points out that it is important to note that language is only one of the markers of identity which inhabitants of Guernsey can use and that language loss need not equate the end of an ethnic identity. Interviews were carried out with inhabitants of Guernsey which discussed their sense of local identity, and their use of Guernsey French. Although many inhabitants of Guernsey were found to have a strong sense of local identity, this was not always accompanied by the ability to speak Guernsey French. For many people, this linguistic variety was associated with poverty and backwardness. Even those who had a more positive attitude did not feel confident enough in their linguistic ability to pass on their knowledge to their children. This linguistic variety has the further difficulty that there is not one unified variety, so even if schools taught Guernsey French this would not necessarily relate to the individual's variety.
Chapter 9: 'Narrative constructions of gender and professional identities' (Louise Mullany). It examines work narratives and explores how the women interviewed felt that their professional identity could be constrained by their gender by those around them. Mullany explains that narratives are a suitable form for examining identity as previous studies have shown that narrative is a form through which self, identity and culture can be expressed. She examines identity within the Communities of Practice which are found in the workplace and how people 'perform' within them. The interviews carried out indicate that although women are able to work in higher functions, they can frequently be constrained by their gendered identity, in terms of their role as 'mothers' as well as their physical appearance.
Chapter 10: 'Masculine identities on an academic writing programme' (Siân Preece). This chapter examines the case study of male undergraduates at university and how their attendance at an academic writing session can cause conflict in their sense of identity. Preece illustrates how these students cope with their new environment where they may feel they are treated as not having the correct abilities and 'perform' a laddish masculinity to overcome their insecurity. This case study shows how talking 'slang' can highlight a strong sense of in-group identity which was treated as the antithesis of academic language, which is seen as 'posh'. The data exemplifies how 'witty' language, using taboo language, and making disparaging comments about others cement this sense of identity.
Chapter 11: 'Ethnolinguistic identity in a Dutch Islamic primary classroom' (Massimiliano Spotti). It examines the conflicting identities held by immigrant pupils in a Dutch primary school and explains that although for many a Dutch identity allowed for a sense of belonging to the host community (particularly inside the school), most children also felt a strong sense of affiliation to the countries they had come from which was important outside of school. For many of these children, having the ability to speak Dutch and 'belong' to the Dutch community would mean a different existence to that of their parents as they would be able to obtain positions with more status in their futures. As a result of this, many of these children reported using Dutch with younger siblings and many were aware of the low importance of their 'native' language on the linguistic market. This study appears to exemplify that individuals can belong to more than one nation and can participate in multiple social groups.
Chapter 12: 'Negotiating identities in a multilingual science class' (Roberta Vann, Katherine Richardson Bruna and Moisés Perales Escudero). This chapter also deals with immigrant children in a classroom situation and examines how identities are forged by such children. This study also highlights the fluidity of identity and how interaction can create identities in particular situations. This chapter, however, also deals with pupil-teacher interaction and how potentially face-threatening acts on behalf of the teacher are dealt with to avoid confrontation. The teacher uses dialogue, by using the children's own language (which is Spanish) to invoke solidarity and to encourage participation in the classroom. This study also examines gender identity construction and how male and female gender are 'performed' differently by the pupils of the classroom.
The final chapter, both of this section and the book as a whole, is Chapter 13: 'Standard Irish English as a marker of Irish identity' (Goodith White). This chapter aims to explore whether Irish identity can better be expressed by a variety of Irish English, rather than Irish as had been traditionally suggested. White emphasizes the role that language can play in expressing a sense of national identity, and that Irish English allows for more global communication in a way that Irish could not. Her empirical study allows examination of the emergence of this linguistic variety as well as attitudes held towards it. White shows that for many years Irish English was treated as a sub-standard variety of English and that this influenced attitudes towards it. Furthermore, White carried out a study with teachers of ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) and teachers of English as a first language in the Republic of Ireland. Although most teachers commented that they would teach British English to students, many were found to accept Irish English alternatives which varied from Standard British English norms. Particularly the teachers of English as a first language were seen to be more tolerant of Irish English alternatives than the teachers of ESOL.
EVALUATION
This book should be of great interest to students and researchers involved in language and identity. It is intended for both scholars of sociolinguistics and non-experts interested in these issues. The book is a clear analysis of the analytical tools used by linguists to examine the concepts of language and identity, as well as illustrating an impressive variety of case studies both on the macro- and micro-level.
The range of linguistic phenomena examined is fairly broad, covering a variety of issues, ranging from phonological features to discourse studies of narratives, questionnaires and interviews. Different theoretical viewpoints are illustrated which allow the reader to gain knowledge of alternative opinions and access further references if needed.
The sequencing of chapters and their internal cohesion is clear and well-structured and allows the reader to pick specific chapters of interest. Although the wide subject area is certainly interesting as it allows for a discussion of a wide variety of topics, this occasionally results in analyses which are not explained in as much depth as would be desirable. This is, however, unavoidable in an edited collection of papers of this sort, and authors have made up for this by providing extensive referencing which allow the reader to follow fields of interest.
Overall, this book is well-written, well-structured and extremely accessible. It is a valuable resource in the field of language and identity.
REFERENCES
Anderson, B (1991) Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Beal, JC (1993) The grammar of Tyneside and Northumbrian English. In Milroy & Milroy (1993), 187-213.
Blommaert, A (1996) Language and nationalism: comparing Flanders with Tanzania, Nations and Nationalism 2, 235-56.
Bucholtz, M (2003) Sociolinguistic nostalgia and the authentication of identity, Journal of Sociolinguistics 7(3), 398-416.
Ellemers, N; Spears, R & Doosje, B (1999) Social identity: Context, Commitment, Content. Oxford: Blackwell.
Milroy, J & Milroy L (1993) Real English: The grammar of English dialects in the British Isles. London: Longman.
Silverstein, M (1992) The uses and utility of ideology: some reflections, Pragmatics 2(3), 311-323.
Turner, JC (1999) Some current issues in research on social identity and self-categorization theories. In Ellemers, Spears & Doosje (1999), 6-34.
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