Bilingualism and Identity

Language and identity are inextricably linked. This chapter shows how identities are reflected in the way bilinguals use their languages and how people construct new identities through language. It discusses the role of essentialist frameworks such as Social Network Analysis in predicting the language behavior of bilingual speakers. These theories try to correlate bilinguals’ language choices with predetermined categories such as the degree of ethnic social ties. This chapter will show that essentialist models, though insightful in their own right, do not adequately explain the negotiated, constructed, and often conflicted nature of identity. What is increasingly preferred are the more interpretive, constructivist accounts which conceptualize identity as fluid and dynamic. This view of identity is more and more adopted by educators who are committed to improving the education of linguistically and culturally diverse students.