The Sociolinguistics of Identity

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Across the social and behavioural sciences there has been an increased interest in identity as a subject of inquiry. Despite this, there remain questions to which researchers need to find answers and challenges to be made to older paradigms of analysis in order to continue to push the frontiers of knowledge in this research domain. Identity is a problematic concept inasmuch as we recognise it now as non-fixed, non-rigid and always being co-constructed by individuals of themselves, or by people who share certain core values or perceive another group as having such values. This volume re-examines the analytical tools employed in the sociolinguistic research of 'identity' in order to assess their efficiency, establish the roles of language in the identity claims of specific communities of people, and determine the place of identity in a variety of social contexts, including work places and language classrooms. It will be of interest to academics and students working in sociolinguistics, applied linguistics and second language learning.

Reviews

This book should be of great interest to students and researchers involved in language and identity. It is intended for both scholars of sociolinguistics and non-experts interested in these issues...The sequencing of chapters and their internal cohesion is clear and well-structured and allows the reader to pick specific chapters of interest....Overall, this book is well-written, well-structured and extremely accessible. It is a valuable resource in the field of language and identity.' Natalie Braber, Linguist List -- Natalie Braber, Linguist List
"...very few of the following chapters realize the promise of a more dynamic perspective on identity. Ironically, many emphasize the essentialism that the editors want to leave behind, in that a number of contributors offer group members' evaluations of linguistic varieties as markers of local identity...Few of the chapters are directly relevant to SLA research...In sum, SLA researchers can take from this volume a notion of identity repertoires and social identities as a dynamic that is gaining adherents among some sociolinguists and anthropologists. Categorizing research subjects in the classroom in terms of only their static identities might result in an incomplete analysis." - Carol Myers-Scotton, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Vol. 30 No. 3, September 2008 -- Carol Myers-Scotton

Author Bio

Tope Omoniyi is Professor in English Language and Linguistics at Roehampton University, London, UK. Goodith White is Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, University of Leeds, UK.