Perdiendo mi persona

Para estudiantes de color who participate in academic research, there is added emotional labor as they make decisions revolving around language, identity, and disclosure. La labor se mantiene invisible para los organizadores de conferencias académicas, y presenta limitaciones a los que son permitidos de participar. Dr. Rachel Herzl-Betz y Hugo Virrueta share a conversation about Hugo's experience writing for one national conference funding application, y muestran como systemic inequality limits who may participate in academic research.

МОВНА ІДЕНТИЧНІСТЬ ЕТНІЧНИХ СПІЛЬНОТ У КОНТЕКСТІ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ МОВНОЇ СИТУАЦІЇ

The article outlines the main sociolinguistic parameters of collective language identity. The role of such constructs as ethnicity, statehood, linguistic and cultural value is considered in terms of the formation of language identity. The approach to the analysis here was chosen with taking account of the post-totalitarian specifics of the language situation in Ukraine. The correlation between ethnolanguage and national language identity has been traced. Determinants such as language status, language vitality, sociolinguistic capacity of communities and institutional support are taken into consideration. The importance of language management and language planning in the country and innovative principles of European language policies (language tolerance, language integration, preservation of endangered languages and emphasis on language rights) are underlined as points of reference for focusing on the language identity of ethnic communities. Theoretical substantiation of the concepts “ethnolinguistic identity” and “national (state) language identity” is offered.

Decoloniality, Language, Identity and Communication: The Case Study of Cameroonian Pidgin

In this paper, the intersection between decoloniality, language, identity and communication is discussed in how they come together in the use or refusal to use Cameroon Pidgin (CamP). The paper draws on the concepts of coloniality and decoloniality and relates them to language as used by Cameroonians in South Africa. The argument is that it is surprising that many Cameroonian Pidgin speaking immigrants are choosing not to communicate in Pidgin, especially since usage of the language from the home country could become a locus of solidarity and reproduction of one aspect of the everydayness of home in a new country. This article relies on a qualitative framework comprised of openended interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation to explore the role of language, identity and decoloniality in communication. The idea is to explore how these issues and themes intersect, and what the intersections themselves tell us, firstly, about the nature of identity and, secondly, about the relationship between language and identity.

Family’s Role in Achieving Language Affiliation among Children: A Comparative Study Applied to Some Families

Identifying language affiliation among children for family immigrants is crucial for one’s language identity. This study aimed to determine the role played by Arab families in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Austria, and Britain to attain language affiliation among their children. It also aims to identify the challenges facing families living in these countries in achieving language affiliation among their children. The study population consisted of all the families that live in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in addition to all the Arab families that live in Austria and Britain and the study sample included (120) parents. The researcher adopted the descriptive-analytical approach and used the questionnaire as the study tool. The study reached several results; first, the role played by families in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Austria, and United Kingdom to attain language affiliation among their children got a high degree of response. Second, the challenges facing activating the family’s role in attaining language affiliation of their children in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Austria have got a high degree of response, while in Britain, they obtained a very high degree of response. The study recommended involving all family members in accessing different and creative ways of practicing their native language and activating the role of social media in developing the language affiliation of children.

Navigating complexities, exploiting shortcuts: Talking about culture as researchers and university educators

Simplistic understandings of culture as ‘national culture’ and of the relation between language, identity, and culture, have been criticized for quite some time. Today, many teachers in higher education have developed a critical awareness of the complexities of culture and interculturality, and many would no longer subscribe to a simplistic understanding of culture as ‘national culture’. Yet despite this awareness, ‘national cultural’ parlance has not disappeared. Drawing on videotaped interactions among researchers and university educators of German as a Foreign Language during a workshop in West Africa, I demonstrate how we as researchers and university educators navigate complexities when discussing ‘culture’ and when, how, and why we, then and again, revert to simplistic concepts of culture in our talk. Analyzing the practices and ‘common sense resources’ we deploy and the discourses we thereby mediate provides insights into how we configure understandings of culture in action and points at problems in the ways we talk.

Kaitiakitanga, Whai Wāhi and Alien Weaponry: indigenous frameworks for understanding language, identity and international success in the case of a Māori metal band

New Zealand Māori metal band Alien Weaponry rose from local act to international prominence over the course of 2016–2018, lauded by critics and fans for their songs involving Māori history and culture, and with lyrics in the indigenous Māori language. This article examines Alien Weaponry's participation in Māori language revitalisation efforts and explores the use of indigenous frameworks for analysing these issues. Māori principles of kaitiakitanga (protection) and whai wāhi (participation) offer an understanding of the band's contributions to both Māori cultural preservation and global metal, and of how these contributions cooperate in the band's success. In addition to unpacking the issues of identity, indigenousness and language revitalisation inherent in understanding Alien Weaponry's output, this article also expands on previous work on nationhood and identity in both global metal music and Māori popular music.

Authenticity of Identity and Second Language Learning

This article focuses on authenticity of second language identity which has been at issue. Previous research of the authenticity of second language identity has revealed that second language identity may be inauthentic due to the impact from social context and the individual’s competence and desires. The discussion in this article aims at exploring causes for the possible inauthenticity of second language identity further. The discussion is carried out in a theoretical framework consisting of Sociocultural Identity Theory of Second Language Learning and Identity Theory. It is revealed that besides individual learners’ insufficient second language proficiency to support their free expression, contributive factors include: their possible disadvantageous position in power relations in a second language context, the lack of immediate and realistic social context, and the possible imagined membership in the target language community in a foreign language context. Based on the discussion, suggestions are made for second language teaching and learning practice.