Interlude: identity in sociolinguistics

Holmes, Janet; Wilson, Nick

doi:10.4324/9780367821852-12

Cited by 3 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Different styles of communication can cause misunderstandings in situations of intercultural communication (Hua, 2013). Studies in the field of intercultural communication have shown that language is culturally bound, and the communication styles of people are affected by the norms, perceptions and values of the communities in which they have lived (Holmes, 2008). These differences in style are not always visible in interactions, as for example inadequate linguistic proficiency would be, but still cause clashes and lead to tensions in the relationship of interactants from different cultural backgrounds (Bailey, 1997; Holmes, 2008).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies in the field of intercultural communication have shown that language is culturally bound, and the communication styles of people are affected by the norms, perceptions and values of the communities in which they have lived (Holmes, 2008). These differences in style are not always visible in interactions, as for example inadequate linguistic proficiency would be, but still cause clashes and lead to tensions in the relationship of interactants from different cultural backgrounds (Bailey, 1997; Holmes, 2008). This seems to be the case in our data as well, as the participants reported concerns about being perceived as rude and causing offence to their colleagues, which can have a detrimental effect on their communication and working relationships.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Identity work in the backstage: exploring the role of expatriate bubbles in identity work of self-initiated expatriate engineers through a Goffmanian lens

Papafilippou

Efthymiadou²

2022

JGM

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PurposeWhile there is vast research on expatriate adjustment, it is still known very little on how self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) in particular might cope with identity conflicts and how they engage with identity work. What is more, although there is some literature on the existence of expatriate bubbles, this does not cover how these bubbles might impact identity work. The purpose of this paper is to explore identity work that is taking place within expatriate bubbles and thus advance our knowledge on both expatriate bubbles and expatriate adjustment.Design/methodology/approachThe study reports on the analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interview data collected from 37 self-initiated expatriate engineers from Greece, Spain and Italy, currently residing in Bristol, UK.FindingsPrevious studies have argued that expatriate bubbles impede adjustment. The study analysis, however, shows that expatriate bubbles can be not only a powerful mechanism for coping with foreignness and strengthening their sense of belonging but also act as identity workspaces where SIEs engaged with identity work and navigated identity conflicts.Originality/valueThe present study addresses two empirical gaps: the paucity of literature on the identity work that self-initiated expatriates engage with and the paucity studies on self-initiated expatriate engineers. The study also has a theoretical contribution as, drawing upon a Goffmanian dramaturgical framework sheds light on the back regions of performance taking place within expatriate bubbles. Thus, showing how SIEs relax but also rehearse their performances in order to reduce any identity gaps triggered by the new organisational and national context.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identity work in the backstage: exploring the role of expatriate bubbles in identity work of self-initiated expatriate engineers through a Goffmanian lens

Papafilippou

Efthymiadou²

2022

JGM

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“…LMS theories focus on the social aspects of linguistic balance. Countless factors in language shift have been identified, such as economic, social, political, and demographic factors; linguistic attitudes and values; and institutional support (e.g., Adversario, 2021; Holmes, 2013; Pendakur, 1990). The concept of Ethnolinguistic vitality has been introduced as a predictive power of these parameters over language longevity (Giles, 1977).…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A connection between language maintenance and identity of its speakers has been brought up in multiple studies (e.g., Tannenbaum & Peleg, 2020). However, LMS studies often involve a unidirectional linear understanding of language shift in immigration from the mother tongue to the dominant language that occurs over three generations (Holmes, 2013, p. 54). LE hypothesis highlights the individual aspects of LMS, their fluidity, and non-linear nature.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The linguistic Odyssey of Russian-speaking immigrants in Canada

Makarova

Morozovskaia

2022

International Journal of Bilingualism

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Aims and objectives/purpose/research questions: Very little is known to date about the long-term dynamics of balancing home and dominant languages by adult immigrants. Russian-speaking immigrants in Canada remain an underrepresented group with no available studies of their language development. To address these gaps, this article describes a linguistic journey experienced by Russian-speaking immigrants in Canada as they adapt to the life in the host country. The major objective of the study is to examine the importance of learning the host country’s majority languages (English and French) vis-à-vis maintenance of the home language as seen by the participants in the beginning and after a few years of immigration. Design/methodology/approach: The article reports the results of a mixed-methods study involving an online survey and written narratives about language dynamics in immigration. Data and analysis: One hundred Russian-speaking immigrants from nine countries residing in seven Canadian provinces participated in the study. The analysis involves quantitative comparisons of responses involving correlation and chi-square tests as well as qualitative descriptions of the participants’ linguistic experiences. Findings/conclusions: The results indicate that over the time since immigration, the importance of the English language learning decreases, and the importance of Russian language maintenance increases for the participants, whereas the salience of acquiring French remains unchanged. Originality: The new finding is the trajectory of the relationship between the participants’ interest in the home language and culture maintenance and host languages and cultures learning over the years of immigration. Significance/implications: These results align with the authors’ linguistic equilibrium hypothesis of language dynamics in immigration. The implications of the study involve long-term support of linguacultural needs of immigrant communities. Limitations: The research conducted during COVID-19 was limited in methods and would benefit from in-person interviews in future. Expanding the project to other immigrant groups for comparison is another direction for future research.

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“…The influence factors on Code-Switching (CS) as in (1–3) and on Language Choice of Bilinguals (LCB) as in (4) and (5) have been investigated from various perspectives, such as the structural ( Poplack, 1980 ; Cook, 1991 ; Myers-Scotton, 2002 ), social ( Schweda, 1980 ; Poplack, 1985 ; Fishman, 2000 ; Bullock and Toribio, 2009 ; Gardner-Chloros, 2009 ; Holmes and Wilson, 2013 ; Valenti, 2014 ), cognitive ( Müller, 2017 ; Kremin et al, 2021 , among others), and discourse perspectives ( Gumperz and Dell, 1972 ; Konidaris, 2004 ; Auer, 2007 ; Auer and Eastman, 2010 ). One important factor influencing CS and LCB is the relative size of speech communities ( Schweda, 1980 ; Poplack, 1985 ), alongside other factors such as age, addressee, topic of discussion, and language attitude (see Berisso Genemo, 2022 for various factors).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing sociodemographic influence on code-switching and language choice in Quebec with geolocation of tweets

Kellert

2023

Front. Psychol.

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This paper investigates the influence of the relative size of speech communities on language use in multilingual regions and cities. Due to peoples’ everyday mobility inside a city, it is still unclear whether the size of a population matters for language use on a sub-city scale. By testing the correlation between the size of a population and language use on various spatial scales, this study will contribute to a better understanding of the extent to which sociodemographic factors influence language use. The present study investigates two particular phenomena that are common to multilingual speakers, namely language mixing or Code-Switching and using multiple languages without mixing. Demographic information from a Canadian census will make predictions about the intensity of Code-Switching and language use by multilinguals in cities of Quebec and neighborhoods of Montreal. Geolocated tweets will be used to identify where these linguistic phenomena occur the most and the least. My results show that the intensity of Code-Switching and the use of English by bilinguals is influenced by the size of anglophone and francophone populations on various spatial scales such as the city level, land use level (city center vs. periphery of Montreal), and large urban zones on the sub-city level, namely the western and eastern urban zones of Montreal. However, the correlation between population figures and language use is difficult to measure and evaluate on a much smaller sub-urban scale such as the city block scale due to factors such as population figures missing from the census and people’s mobility. A qualitative evaluation of language use on a small spatial scale seems to suggest that other social influences such as the location context or topic of discussion are much more important predictors for language use than population figures. Methods will be suggested for testing this hypothesis in future research. I conclude that geographic space can provide us information about the relation between language use in multilingual cities and sociodemographic factors such as a speech community’s size and that social media is a valuable alternative data source for sociolinguistic research that offers new insights into the mechanisms of language use such as Code-Switching.

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Interlude: identity in sociolinguistics

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Identity work in the backstage: exploring the role of expatriate bubbles in identity work of self-initiated expatriate engineers through a Goffmanian lens

Identity work in the backstage: exploring the role of expatriate bubbles in identity work of self-initiated expatriate engineers through a Goffmanian lens

The linguistic Odyssey of Russian-speaking immigrants in Canada

Probing sociodemographic influence on code-switching and language choice in Quebec with geolocation of tweets

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