The French

Language: identity,
diversity and
changing
Lecture 1
environments.
Michaelmas term 2012
Introduction to Language and
Identity

An introduction to
language and identity
Aims of this course:
To illustrate the connections
between language and identity
To examine the symbolic and
marking functions of language
To examine the importance of the
contextualisation of identity and
different environments

Course outline

French identity: the individual

and the group (3 to 4 weeks)
Personal and social identity
Construction and maintenance of
group identity
Speech mobility in France
Individual, regional and migrant
identities in France

French language, ethnicity and

nationalism (3 to 4 weeks)
French language and ethnic identity
French language and nationalism
New French identities
The language of French identity
negotiation

French identity and computermediated communication. ( 3 to 4

weeks)
Language and the construction of
online identity
The construction of new French
identities online
The effects of digital media on the
French language

Lecture 1
French identity:
the individual and
the group

Reading for this week

Edwards, J. (2009) Language and

Identity. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press.: Introduction and
Chapter 2

Introducing the concept of

identity
Paradoxical term:
Latin root idem the same
However, the term implies both
similarity and difference. How?

Introducing the concept of

identity
(1) Identity is unique to us
(2) Identity also implies relationship(s)
Examples?

Introducing the concept of

identity

Much of the debate around identity

derives from the tension between
these two aspects:
self vs (multiple) identifications with
others.
Who I am or who I think I am also
varies according to a number of
factors:

Concept of identity

Concern with questions of identity is

not a new development.
It has taken on a new urgency in the
contemporary world.

Accounting for identities

Psychological and sociological

approaches.

Identity, the individual and

the group

Writings of Erik Erikson (1968)

situated individual aspects of
identity in their social contexts.
Early 1980s saw the appearance of
important studies focusing on the
linguistic aspects of identity: e.g.
Gumperz (1982) and Le Page and
Toubouret Keller (1985)

Identity, the individual and

the group

In more recent times: linguistic

ethnography (Rampton et al, 2007)
Assumption: contexts for
communication should be
investigated rather than assumed.

Identity, the individual and

the group

Language can also be considered as

a marker at the individual level.
e.g. idiolect
It could be argued that even
idiolectal usage is a social or group
phenomenon because most language
involves a communicative intent.

Identity, the individual and

the group

However, the importance of

language at the group level is much
more evident than that.
Examples of different linguistic
factors which mark identity?

Identity, the individual and

the group

So, besides our uniquely personal

sense of self, we also have social
identities based on the various
groups to which we belong.

Language and
Circumstance

Speech mobility: everyone possesses

a range of speaking styles.
Bi-dialectalism and accent and style
variations exist along a continuum.
Style: what is style?

Stylistic variation: Martin

Joos (1967)

Five distinct styles of English usage:

frozen, formal, consultative, casual,
intimate
Attempts to illustrate that all ordinary
speakers have a range of possibilities
in their linguistic repertoire.
They pick and choose from this
according to their sense of occasion

Speech accommodation

If context determines linguistic

choice, equally, language choice can
affect the social-psychological
situation.
e.g. Giles and Coupland, 1991:
language accommodation model
Takes into account psychological
position of speakers as well as
listeners.

Speech accommodation

(1) speakers may not be consciously

aware of their accommodative intent.
(2) not just a desire for approval which
may be behind speech accommodation.
(3) convergent accommodation does
not always produce the desired effect
it does not invariably lead to social
approval.

Speech accommodations can be seen

as identity adjustments.