This study investigates the interwoven relationship between the metadiscourse of (im)politeness, language ideologies, and identity. It examines YouTube comments on a video recording of a controversial incident in Taiwan in which a Taiwanese American, J, insulted a bus driver in English, a marked language choice in the local context. It was found that J’s abusive language and his language choice being English were the top sources of offense as expressed in the comments, and four main strands of language ideologies are identified accordingly. We see the taking of offense in the critical comments as social actions in two senses: each comment is an individual pragmatic act sanctioning a perceived moral transgression, while, collectively, the comments serve as a discursive space where language ideologies are shaped, contested, and reinforced. We further explore how various identities, such as “foreigner”, “ABC”, and “Taiwanese” are discursively constructed in the process of impoliteness assessment and how the perceived attack on the driver’s social identity face is motivated by J’s perceived identities and presumed language proficiency. We argue that the shift in focus to the evaluativity of (im)politeness makes it possible to bring (im)politeness research and sociolinguistics closer to each other.

This paper explores the Taiwanese same-sex marriage debates from a particular analytical perspective: (1) how the identity as a mother is employed as stancetaking moves in both the supporting and opposing discourses, and (2) how stances are taken through intertextual links among the same-sex marriage-related discourses and the larger discourses concerning motherhood. It examines the online posts of two mother bloggers, focusing on how evaluative stances and parodic frames are achieved and how intertextual links help both bloggers to align or misalign themselves with particular value positions. The analysis reveals how the mother identity, traditionally situated in the private sphere, can be mobilized to advance arguments in political debates. It also exemplifies the ideological contestation about motherhood and family in Taiwan, where traditional Chinese cultural ideologies and Western influences co-exist.

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This study examines a prevalent discourse on Taiwanese politeness as part and parcel of identity and ideological work among Taiwanese residing in China. Using as data spontaneous discussions about politeness in interviews and online forum posts that evaluate politeness, this study explores how politeness is taken up as a sign to index Taiwan-China differences and how identity is simultaneously constructed throughout this ideological work, focusing on the succession of semiotic differentiations within or across talks and texts. Throughout this process, various qualitative contrasts are made and grouped by the soft/hard schema, and differentiation between Taiwan and China is constructed. The study also considers relevant historical and social conditions and explores how the complex Taiwan-China relations may give rise to the prevalence of such a discourse.