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The French Language: identity, diversity and changing environments.

The French Language: identity, diversity and changing environments. Lecture 1 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

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The French Language: identity, diversity and changing environments.

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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. French identity and computer-mediated 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

  6. Lecture 1French identity: the individual and the group

  7. Reading for this week • Edwards, J. (2009) Language and Identity. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.: Introduction and Chapter 2

  8. Introducing the concept of identity Paradoxical term: Latin root idem ‘the same’ However, the term implies both similarity and difference. How?

  9. Introducing the concept of identity (1) Identity is unique to us (2) Identity also implies relationship(s) Examples?

  10. 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:

  11. Concept of identity • Concern with questions of identity is not a new development. • It has taken on a new urgency in the contemporary world.

  12. Accounting for identities • Psychological and sociological approaches.

  13. Identity, the individual and the group • Writings of Erik Erikson (1968) situated individual aspects of identity in their social contexts. • Early 1980’s saw the appearance of important studies focusing on the linguistic aspects of identity: e.g. Gumperz (1982) and Le Page and Toubouret Keller (1985)

  14. 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.

  15. 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.

  16. 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?

  17. 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.

  18. 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?

  19. 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

  20. 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.

  21. 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.

  22. Speech accommodations can be seen as identity adjustments.

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