In Our Own Words: Exploring Linguistic Practices And Language And Identity In A Multilingual Minority Community

In Macao, a historically multilingual space, the Macanese community navigates complex and dynamic linguistic practices shaped by colonial history, globalisation, and language policies. This research examines the linguistic practices and the relationship between language and identity in this multilingual minority community in Macao. Specifically, it explores the factors which affect the language choice and the extent to which the linguistic practices align with the official language policy in Macao. In addition, it explores what identities are constructed and how these identities are constructed in the spoken discourse of this community. Adopting a linguistic ethnographic approach, this research employs a qualitative research method. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, public signs in the online space of the community, and a naturally occurring conversation. Thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the interview data, while linguistic landscape methods was used to examine the online public signs. Further, ethnographically-informed conversation analysis was employed as the analytical approach to analyse the naturally occurring conversation. This research contributes to a more comprehensive and deeper understanding of linguistic practices in multilingual minority communities by highlighting the complex, dynamic, and context-bound linguistic practices in the Macanese community in Macao. By foregrounding the interactional, dynamic, and context-dependant nature of identity construction and negotiation in spoken discourse of the community, the findings move beyond fixed categorisations. The findings have implications for Macao’s language policy, suggesting that the Macao SAR government should develop a balanced language policy in Macao that promotes equal bilingualism in Portuguese and Chinese. Theoretically, this research contributes to sociolinguistics, linguistic land scape, language and identity, and conversation analysis inmultilingual minority contexts by proving that this community is engaging in emerging hybrid communicative practices where translanguaging coexists with language separation in different domains, challenging traditional views of multilingualism which often assume clear-cut linguistic boundaries.