2. Language as Identity Marker

In sociolinguistic and anthropological linguistics, the relationships between identity and language have been a focus. Gibson (2004) suggests that "Language—both code and content—is a complicated dance between internal and external interpretations of our identity". The choice of language out of different languages and the choice of words, content, way of speaking are always important to the identity construction by the speaker and identity interpretation by the listeners. This confirms there is some kind of relationship, often intricate, between language and identity. 

Before entering to the discussion on the relationship, some basic ideas about identity have to be noted. Bucholtz and Hall (2004) suggest “the term identity literally refers to sameness” (p.1). This sameness is generated by sharing common features (in this case linguistic features) among the individuals. The identity can be related to race, education level, and authority and so on. By changing behaviours, the identity constructed and identified also changes. 

In regard to language as one of the sources of identity production, Bucholtz and Hall (2004) regard language as the most pervasive for the cultural production of different kinds of identity. Edward (2009) expresses a similar idea that language can be seen as an identity marker as well as an indicator of ‘groupness’. When we try to answer the question of “who we are”, we would almost automatically direct our attention to groups that we belong to. For example, if we speak a common language with someone else, the shared feature allows us to identify each other as in the same group, and meanwhile we are identified in the group. Suggested by Dieckhoff (2004), a common language can be a tool for expressing the unique character of a social group and for establishing common social ties based on a common identity. This is to say, people's linguistic behaviour, such as diction, accents, intonations and so on, can be used as an identity marker that allows the speakers to identify themselves and at the same time allow the listeners to identify them. In fact, sociologist Goffman (1963) suggests that the building up  of personal identity mainly relies on how others identify us instead of how we identify ourselves. In such a way, language becomes a tool that is manipulated by the speakers to establish (or at least influence) how others perceive them, and a marker for the hearers to identify and construct the speaker’s identity. Nonetheless, a language unites but also divides: it creates the “groupness” for those who speak the same language but can also alienate members who cannot master the selected language (Thomas, 1996, p.4). 

In regard to the links between language and identity, ethnicity and language is often a focus of study and investigation. Fishman (1991) suggests that mother language is of particular importance to (ethnic) identity given that both are immutable and inherited since birth. However, this is unlikely to be a universal fact since in some cultures other identities may be deemed to be more important or more salient (Jaspal 2009). Moreover, there is no stable relationship between language and ethnic identity. May (2012) suggests that “language may be a salient marker of ethnic identity in one instance but not in another” and “there is no direct correspondence between language and ethnicity” (p.134). These made the link between ethnic identity and language then one of the focuses of the field work as the instability of the link and the necessity for explanation become contributive to the study of the linguistic environment in O'ahu.

References

Bucholtz, M., & Hall, K. (2004). Language and identity. A companion to linguistic anthropology, 1, 369-394.

Dieckhoff, A. (2004) Hebrew, the language of national daily life. In D. Judd & T. Lacorne (Eds.), Language, nation and state: Identity politics in a multilingual age (pp.187–200). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Edward, J. (2009). Language and identity: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press

Fishman, J.A. (1991). Reversing language shift. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Gibson, K. (2004). English only court cases involving the U.S. workplace: The myths of language use and the homogenization of bilingual workers' identities. Second Language Studies, 22(2), pp. 1-60.

Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Jaspal, R. (2009). Language and social identity: A psychosocial approach. Psych-Talk, September 2009.

Le Page, R. & Tabouret-Keller, A. (1985). Acts of identity: Creole-based approaches to language and ethnicity. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press.

May, S. (2012). Language and minority rights: Ethnicity, nationalism and the politics of language. New York: Routlege.

Thomas, L. (1996). Language as power: A linguistic critique of US English. The Modern Language Journal, 80(2), 129-140.