Transnational Youth and the Role of Social and Sociocultural Remittances in Identity Construction

Abstract

Within a framework of transnationalism, and through narrative analysis using the Labovian model, this paper offers a discussion of the role of social and sociocultural remittances in the identity construction of transnational youth pursuing tertiary education in a public university in central-north Mexico. Through the exploration of oral data from semi-structured interviews the discussion aims at providing evidence of the ties and engagement that the participants develop on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border through the exchange of goods, values, worldviews, attitudes, practices and linguistic elements, and how these impact their personal identity construction. The data presented in this paper come from a portion of qualitative corpora of a study in progress conducted by the author as a Ph.D project at Trinity College Dublin.

English has Always Been Present: Transnational Youths Illustrating Language Dynamics in Zacatecas, Mexico

“…Understanding the discursive practices of transnational youth can provide us with insights into the construction of their identity and how they view the world, which can become highly significant when investigating migration phenomena. For instance, the dynamics at the core of the culture of migration have been suggested in a previous paper exploring the link between socio-cultural remittances -language included-and identity (Núñez Asomoza, 2019). The investigation of discursive practices and translanguaging has been effectively done through the notion of moment analysis.…”

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“…Relatively recent research aims to explore the transnationalism phenomena concerning those who engage in transnational experiences and return to Mexico to become incorporated into the educational system (Borjian, Muñoz de Cote, van Dijk & Houde, 2016;Núñez Asomoza, 2019;Tacelosky, 2018a;Tacelosky, 2018b), as well as those who opt to develop as English teachers in Mexico (Frausto Hernández, 2017a;Frausto Hernández, 2017Mora Pablo, Lengeling, Rivas Rivas, Basurto Santos & Villareal Ballestros, 2015;Mora Pablo, Rivas Rivas, Lengeling & Crawford, 2015;Mora Pablo, Frausto Hernández & Rangel Gamiño, 2016;Rivas Rivas, 2013;Serna-Gutiérrez & Mora-Pablo, 2018;Sidury Christiansen, Trejo Guzmán & Mora-Pablo, 2017;Trejo Guzmán, Mora Vázquez, Mora Pablo, Lengeling & Crawford, 2016;Villegas Torres & Mora Pablo, 2015). Large part of this research has been carried out in Guanajuato, as well as collaborating contexts within the central/northern region of Mexico.…”

Transnational English Teachers in Central Mexico: Constructing a Professional Identity

“…Muñoz de Cote, van Dijk & Houde, 2016;Núñez Asomoza, 2019;Tacelosky, 2018a;Tacelosky, 2018b), as well as those who opt to develop as English teachers in Mexico (FraustoHernández, 2017a; Frausto Hernández, 2017-2018Mora Pablo, Lengeling, Rivas Rivas, Basurto Santos & Villareal Ballestros, 2015;Mora Pablo, Rivas Rivas, Lengeling & Crawford, 2015; …”