How does the language(s) you speak reflect who you are?
We’ve discussed how language may reflect your personal identity, both as a tool of identity formation and as a significant component or sign of a personal identity. In this journal exercise, you should reflect on your language, language use and the role it plays in your identity.
As a preliminary step, try performing the following exercise to orient yourself to the issue of language and identity:
How would you complete the following sentence: “I think of myself as a _.”
How would you fill in the blank? Do you think of yourself as an Iowa Hawkeye? a business admin major? an international student? a farm kid? a guitarist? a baseball fan? a foodie? an Illinoisan? You aren’t just one thing, so think of three different responses that you feel apply to you.
Describe how you identify or affiliate yourself. What groups do you identify with? Then think about your language use and try to describe particular features of your usage that are associated with those different identities. Keep your focus on how you talk rather than what you talk about. In other words, think about pronunciation, vocabulary choices, structural patterns in sentence, or other linguistic forms rather than topics of conversation. When you are trying to identify linguistic features that mark a particular identity, it is useful to think about how your language is different with the different groups you associate with. For instance, when you are with other business admin majors, what features of language would you use that you wouldn’t use when you are talking to friends who are baseball fans?
Some points that you might include in your discussion are:
• Why and/or how do these language features act as significant markers of this group identity? Do you use these features in your language all the time, or only in special circumstances?