Language and Identity

摘要：語言是反映一個人身份最基本的途徑之一，反之，身份不同語言表達的方式亦不同。一個人的語言特點如音色、語調、口音、常用語等都能反映自我的身份。本文通過筆者和學生的一段對話來說明語言與身份的關系：語言可以體現身份如職業、年齡、性別、社會角色、價值觀等，身份不是與生俱來，而是通過后天語言的運用和其他表現逐漸形成和變化的。

關鍵詞：語言，身份

中圖分類號：G642文獻標識碼：A文章編號：1006-026X（2012）10-0000-02

Speakers often have a number of identities. They play different roles and shift into different identities in different moments and situations. There are many perspectives on identity， including race， ethnicity， nationality， migration， gender， social class and language (Block， 2006). One of the most basic ways to build our identities and establish our images before other people is through the use of language (Thornborrow， 1999)， and language is shaped by identities (Joseph， 2004). People may use various language to communicate with others in different communities they belong to， such as with family， with friends， and in “religious， educational and employment settings” (Paltridge， 2006， p.29). Cameron and Kulick (2003) mention that the use of language is an “act of identity” (p.11). These identities are not natural， but they are “social constructions” (Paltridge， 2006， p.31). They are not originally given but they are initiatively generated through either deliberate or unconscious practices (Kroskrity， 2000). In addition， identity is not fixed; it is constructed and reconstructed through the constant process of interacting with people in one’s life. It is a “two-way construction”， which is not only performed by speakers but also identified by other participants in the interaction (Paltridge， 2006， p.39). Similarly， according to Cameron (2001)， when we are speaking， we are telling others who we are and relating to people in some ways. The language people speak can indicate their identities such as their age， gender， social status， education， occupation， and ideology. Speakers’ unique language can be recognized from voice quality， choice of vocabulary， accent， use of idiom， and their own style of expressing ideas (Quirk， 2000).

The following conversation can show us how language reflects identity and the relationship between language and identity. It is a dialogue between Dai Wei and me. Dai Wei is my student， but we are nearly the same age. He is a Chongqing native， and I have been in Chongqing for more than 4 years， so we speak Chongqingnese out of class. He slept in my class for many times， which irritated me. I called him to my office after class.

(Transcripts of the conversation) (Y is Yang Ying， D is Dai Wei)

Y: You slept at class again， this is the third time! (In standard Mandarin， sternly)

D: Sorry， I have many things to do recent days， so I stay up late at night… (In Chongqingnese)

Y: This is your own business， but this is not an excuse for you to sleep at class. (In standard Mandarin， sternly)

D: I know I’m wrong…but I didn’t disturb other students…just had a nap.（In Chongqingnese）

Y: You did disturb the class. You affected teacher and students’ motivation in class. If other students act as you， how can the classes go on? (In standard Mandarin， sternly)

D: …it won’t happen again. (In Chongqingnese)

Y: Well， I don’t want to snap at you， as we are peers. You will understand me if you take my position. To be a teacher is not that easy， you know. (In Chongqingnese)

D: …To tell you the truth…Please don’t be angry…I played the computer games at night these days， so I want to sleep in daytime. (In Chongqingnese)

T: Then this is your fault. I can understand you if you sleep late to deal with some critical matters， but you…You should not indulge yourself as you are an adult. (In Chongqingnese， sternly)

D: It’s not like that. I play games to earn money， not for fun. (In Chongqingnese)

Y: Don’t find excuse. You will have many chances to earn money in future if you study well now. (In Chongqingnese)

D: Okay， I won’t sleep in class in future. You will see it. (In Chongqingnese)

Y: That’s good… I don’t find much fun in playing computer games. I can’t understand why you guys are so absorbed in it. (In Chongqingnese)

D: Many boys like computer games， and we can earn money if we play it well…I suppose I would not sleep in daytime， but failed… (In Chongqingnese)

Y: Then you can play it in the weekend. But don’t let it affect your study… Pay attention next time. (In Chongqingnese)

D: Alright. (In Chongqingnese)

In this conversation， my identities were reflected obviously through language including the content， word choice， accent， and voice. The choice of language was influenced by the relationship between Dai Wei and me， the goal， the context and the place of this conversation. My identities changed according to different situations in different moments. At the beginning of this conversation， I was very angry and I used strong and stern voice to express my dissatisfaction towards the student. My identity at that time was a teacher who was educating her student. I stressed the word “third” to indicate that I can not bear his wrong behavior. I used standard Mandarin to talk to him in order to show my authority and keep distance with him. When I said “this is your own business”， “this is not an excuse”， I acted as a teacher telling the student what was the right thing. When he still found excuse for himself， I interrogated him by asking sternly “If other students act as you， how can the classes go on?” After he realized his fault， I changed my attitude towards him. At this time， my identity was shifted to his friend. My voice became gentle， relaxed and slow; and the change of my accent from standard Mandarin to the dialect-Chongqingnese showed my intention to move closer to him. As Thornborrow (1999) puts it， “the importance of accent as a label of identity is evident in so far as this is the aspect of their language that speakers most frequently change， either to disguise their membership of， or distance themselves from， a particular social or regional group， or to move closer to another group they want to belong to” (p.137). I used “we are peers”， “you will understand if you take my position”…to find a mutual understanding. I even complaint to him as a friend by saying “to be a teacher is not that easy” to gain his understanding. However， when he told me that he slept at class just because he played the computer games at night， I was angered by the unexpected answer and switched my identity to a teacher again. I spoke in a serious and stern voice. When I used “you should not indulge yourself as you are an adult”， “don’t find excuse”， I was persuading him and these are the words often used by my profession. As described by Thornborrow (1999)， people belonging to a particular group or community will often use the “linguistic conventions” of that community， which is not only related to the words they choose， but also the way they express their ideas (p.136). After he made the promise for not sleeping in class in future for the second time， I changed my identity again accordingly. I was not stern anymore but speaking in a soft way.I gave him advice， “you can play it in the weekend” as a friend. At the end of the conversation， I said “pay attention next time” to remind him as a teacher.

In this conversation， I used many long sentences， which also reflected my identity as a teacher. I was prone to use long sentences to teach and lecture my students in order to guarantee their better understanding. This conversation reflected my gender identity as well. As Block (2006) mentions， it is women who do most of the bridging work to create a harmonious atmosphere between men and women. Although I was his teacher， I still tried to communicate with him in a polite way and tried to gain mutual understanding. In addition， the words “we are peers” indicated that I was a young teacher who was nearly the same age with the student.

From the above analysis， we can see that language use reflects identity such as occupation， age， gender， social status， and value; and language is decided by identity. People change identities according to the needs of different moments. As Cameron (2001) says， “identity is shifting and multiple， something people are continually constructing and reconstructing in their encounters with each other in the world” (p.170). Identities are dynamic， multifaceted and complicated (Peirce， 1995). They are not pre-given， but are constructed through the use of language and other ways of performances.

References

［1］Block， D. (2006). Second Language Identities. London: Continuum.

［2］Cameron， D. (2001). Working with Spoken Discourse. London: Sage.

［3］Cameron， D.， Kulick， D. (2003). Language and Sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge University.

［4］Joseph， J. E. (2004). Language and Identity: National， Ethnic， Religious. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

［5］Kroskrity， P. (2000). Identity. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology， 9(1-2)， 111-114.

［6］Paltridge， B. (2006). Discourse Analysis. London: Continuum.

［7］Peirce， B.N. (1995). Social identity， investment， and language learning. TESOL Quarterly， 29， 9-31.

［8］Quirk， R. (2000). Language and identity. English Academic Review， 17(1)， 2-11.

［9］Thornborrow， J. (1999). Language and identity. In L. Thomas S. Wareing (Eds.)， Language， Society and Power (pp. 135-149). London: Routledge.