Literacy sponsorship, language ideologies, and identity construction of EFL learners and users

AbstractThrough the analysis of the various language ideologies that have shaped the sociolinguistic history of Pijin, the lingua franca of Solomon Islands, this article attempts to shed light on the peculiar complexity of the postcolonial linguistic situations where more prestigious and less prestigious languages coexist in the same sociological niche. These ideologies are: reciprocal multilingualism, hierarchical multilingualism, linguistic pragmatism, and linguistic nationalism. Specifically, the article focuses on the development and coalescence of linguistic ideologies that lead Pijin speakers to shift perceptions of Pijin—in a context of urban identity construction that acts as a force of its own. In the case of Pijin, linguistic legitimacy seems to be lagging behind social legitimacy. We show that the development of new ideologies can lead to the re-evaluation of the meaning of symbolic domination of one language (in this case English) over another one (Pijin), without necessarily challenging this symbolic domination. (Language ideology, youth, urbanization, pidgins and creoles, Solomon Islands)*

Download Full-text

’I don’t want to be distinguished by others’: language ideologies and identity construction among North Korean refugees in South Korea

Language Awareness ◽

10.1080/09658416.2020.1867563 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Mi Yung Park

Keyword(s):

South Korea ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

North Korean Refugees

Download Full-text

Notes on the role of metapragmatic awareness in language use

Pragmatics ◽

10.1075/prag.10.4.02ver ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 10 (4) ◽

pp. 439-456 ◽

Cited By ~ 80

Author(s):

Jef Verschueren

Keyword(s):

General Theory ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Language Use ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

Social Implications ◽

Linguistic Form ◽

The Status ◽

Specific Manifestation

Against the background of a general theory of pragmatics, reflections are formulated on the central role of metapragmatic awareness as a specific manifestation of salience, the status of processes of meaning generation in language use in relation to the cognitive apparatus. First the notions of metalanguage and metapragmatics, as used in linguistics, are discussed. Then metalinguistic and metapragmatic phenomena are presented as reflections of metapragmatic awareness. Two ways in which indicators of metapragmatic awareness function in language use are distinguished: Their functioning as anchoring devices locating linguistic form in relation to context, and their functioning as signals of the language users’ reflexive interpretations of the activities they are engaged in. Finally, some social implications of metapragmatic functioning are discussed, in particular in relation to language ideologies and identity construction.

Download Full-text

Migrant Learners of Basque as New Speakers: Language Authenticity and Belonging

Languages ◽

10.3390/languages6030116 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 116

Author(s):

Anna Augustyniak

Keyword(s):

Discourse Analysis ◽

Data Analysis ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Language Ideologies ◽

Identity Negotiation ◽

Linguistic Competence ◽

Language And Identity ◽

Diverse Population ◽

Linguistic Data ◽

New Speakers

Language issues related to identity negotiation in minoritised language contexts, including those related to the category of “new speakers”, have often been studied in relation to local language dichotomies and national populations. This paper will examine identity construction among migrant learners of Basque from outside of Spain, looking at migrants as a diverse population and as a particular group of new speakers of Basque. By analysing the ways in which migrant learners position themselves as (not) belonging to “Basqueness” as a group identity, it points to the underlying language ideologies that guide language and identity categories, such as native Basque speakers or new speakers, within the essentialising and non-essentialising ideological influences. It will aim to answer how migrants employ identity categories or contest their use in discourse and establish the extent of the relation between perceived linguistic competence in Basque, the use of Basque by migrants and the ideologies of authenticity, legitimacy and ownership. The methodology applied is ethnographically oriented and linguistic data analysis is performed through a thematic discourse analysis.

Download Full-text

Chinese MA Student Writers’ Identity Construction in Citation Practices1

Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics ◽

10.1515/cjal-2019-0022 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 365-385

Author(s):

Qingrong Liu ◽

Liming Deng

Keyword(s):

Identity Construction ◽

Academic English ◽

Student Writers ◽

Efl Learners ◽

Disciplinary Identity ◽

Authorial Identity ◽

Citation Practices ◽

Mixed Approach ◽

Ma Thesis ◽

Thesis Writing

Abstract Based on Burgess and Ivanič’s (2010) framework of the discoursal construction of writer identity, this paper explores the interaction between citation practices and identity construction in Chinese EFL learners’ MA thesis writing. A mixed approach of textual analysis and interviews was adopted to examine the citation features of MA theses and the identities Chinese EFL learners constructed through citation selection. It was found that students’ selection of citations reflects their linguistic identity, academic and disciplinary identity, as well as novice identity. Their citation practices project different discursive selves to readers. By adjusting the number and relevance of references, they intend to construct a knowledgeable and credible self. The use of ineffective citations and references not only projects an unfavorable impression on readers but reflects a lack of authorial identity. This study has significant implications for the teaching of academic English and the supervision of thesis writing.

Download Full-text

Language use in the classroom: Identity in classroom discourse

ELLITE Journal of English Language Literature and Teaching ◽

10.32528/ellite.v2i1.760 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Muhlisin Muhlisin

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

Identity Construction ◽

Classroom Discourse ◽

English Language ◽

Language Use ◽

Identity Theory ◽

Efl Learners ◽

L1 And L2 ◽

English Instruction

AbstractThis study concerned group of Indonesian EFL learners’ perceptions regarding the use of Indonesian (L1) and English language (L2) by their teachers in the classroom. In particular, the study aimed to unravel how these learners perceived the use of their L1 and L2 during the course of English instruction in the classroom and how their perceptions might have been shaped by different aspects of “identity construction” to which they were oriented. Data were gathered through administering a questionnaire to one hundred seventy-three adult Indonesian EFL learners. Analysis of the learners’ responses suggested that they maintained different perceptions with regard to the use of their L1 and L2 and that their perceptions may be subsumed into two broad categories, each of which reflects the differences in their perceptions. Factors that might have affected the learners’ perceptions were then critically discussed in the light of identity theory in the context of L2 pedagogy. In particular, the theory suggests that different aspects of identity construction to which learners are oriented affect their perceptions of the use of theirL1 and L2 in the classroom. Further, these different aspects of identity construction may also affect how learners are likely to respond to the use of an L1 and L2 in the classroom (and beyond).Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL), language use, identity theory in L2 pedagogy

Download Full-text