Identity Negotiation Through Language: Sociolinguistic Perspectives Among Iraqi Undergraduates
Raad Alaa Abd Alraouf Al-Safi
1
(
Department of English Language, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
)
Ehsan Rezvani
2
(
Department of English Language, Isfahan (Khorasgan) Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran
)
الکلمات المفتاحية: Identity Negotiation, Linguistic Practices, Sociolinguistics, Multilingualism, Iraqi Students,
ملخص المقالة :
This research investigated the complex processes of identity negotiation among Iraqi undergraduate students within a multilingual context. Using a mixed-methods research design, the study combined qualitative thematic analysis and quantitative data to examine how linguistic practices, such as code-switching (CS) and code-mixing (CM), act as resources for the expression of individual and social identities. Analysing transcripts from 20 episodes of Iraqi TV talk shows and interviews with 15 undergraduates, the study uncovers distinct linguistic patterns shaped by context: Arabic dominance in discussions of cultural topics and English dominance in discussions of academic and aspirational topics. The findings revealed that linguistic choices are not arbitrary but strategic, reflecting students' efforts to balance cultural heritage with global aspirations. The emergent strategies for bridging the cultural gap, making inclusivity possible, and negotiating social dynamics are CM and CS. Such findings foreground the crucial role language plays in the construction, maintenance, and negotiation of identities in complex sociolinguistic landscapes. Results for educational frameworks involve the inclusion of these insights into school frameworks and the recognition of linguistic diversity as a resource in the construction of identities and in intercultural communication.
Albirini, A. (2016). Modern Arabic sociolinguistics: Diglossia, variation, codeswitching, attitudes and identity. Routledge.
Alkhateeb, M., & Hassan, A. (2023). Bilingualism and identity in the Arab world: A sociolinguistic perspective. Journal of Language Studies, 34(2), 112-130.
Al-Rawi, M. (2023). The role of code-switching in Arab educational contexts. Journal of Linguistic Dynamics, 29(4), 87-103.
Al-Sofi, B., & Mahdi, T. (2020). Multilingualism in Iraq: A sociolinguistic analysis. Language and Society, 45(3), 221-239.
Auer, P. (1998). Code-switching in conversation: Language, interaction, and identity. Routledge.
Boyd, D. (2014). It's complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.
Fishman, J. A. (1972). The sociology of language: An interdisciplinary social science approach to language in society. Newbury House.
Geeraerts, D., & Kristiansen, G. (2014). Cognitive sociolinguistics: A new direction in sociolinguistics. Journal of Cognitive Linguistics, 25(3), 309-322.
Giles, H., & Ogay, T. (2007). Communication accommodation theory. In B. B. Whaley & W. Samter (Eds.), Explaining communication: Contemporary theories and exemplars (pp. 293-310). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Harvard University Press.
Gudykunst, W. B. (2020). Intercultural communication theories. Sage Publications.
Gumperz, J. J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge University Press.
Heller, M. (1988). Codeswitching: Anthropological and sociolinguistic perspectives. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 2(3), 98-117.
Hornberger, N. H., & Link, H. (2012). Translanguaging and transnational literacies in multilingual classrooms. Language and Education, 26(4), 315-332.
Jaspers, J. (2023). Sociolinguistic hierarchies and the power of code-switching. Linguistic Studies, 18(1), 54-72.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (2003). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
Mahboob, A., & Elyas, T. (2014). English in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. World Englishes, 33(1), 128-142.
Muysken, P. (2000). Bilingual speech: A typology of code-mixing. Cambridge University Press.
Rashid, A., & Al-Bahrani, S. (2024). Code-switching as linguistic agility: A global perspective. Global Linguistics Review, 12(2), 90-115.
Tajfel, H. (1979). Individuals and groups in social psychology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 18(2), 183-190.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1999). Communicating across cultures. Guilford Press.
Turner, J. C., et al. (1987). Self-categorization in group processes. Social Psychology Quarterly, 50(2), 94-106.
Youssef, A. (2021). Navigating local and global identities: Language in the Arab world. Language and Society, 53(1), 48-64.
Zentella, A. C. (1997). Growing up bilingual: Puerto Rican children in New York. Wiley.
Zhang, Q., & Yang, L. (2024). Global and local identities in multilingual Asia. Asian Linguistics, 42(3), 123-145.
