Influences on Social Identity of a Person Who Is Multilingual - Essay Example

? Language, Power And Identity Introduction Language influences a person in ways no onecan even count. Language induces within the person a culture. This culture is not only limited to the way he communicates or speaks, but also in the way he chooses and develops interest in variety of cuisines, clothing and travel. The languages unknowingly become a part of the person’s personality, invoking in him different tastes and interests. Being bi-lingual or multilingual not only shapes the personality and social identity but also promotes communication abilities. Other than that it also helps develop communities and gives them an insight on diversity. Furthermore, language convergence and membership of a person in groups are also determined based on the languages that they know (THOMAS And WAREING, 1999). Bi-lingual or Multi-lingual Having the ability to speak two differently languages fluently marks a bi-linguist, whereas the ability to speak more than one language fluently marks a person as being a multi-linguist. Being bi-lingual or multi-lingual can be and is often for a number of reason, but mostly the adoption of more than one language occurs more rapidly in the early childhood stage of a person’s life. Whether it is because of a competent and saturated job market, parents or grandparents belonging to different nationalities or because one has migrated elsewhere, the reasons for accounting to a person being a bi-linguist or multi-linguist are many. Influences on Social identity of a person who is multi-lingual In order to case study the influences, impacts and effects of language diversity on a person, it is important to understand some majorly important terms and influences that shape the changed personal identity of a person. Commonly, involvement in speech communities, changes in dialect, code-switching and linguistic divergence and convergence are some of the important phenomena experienced or executed by bi or multi lingual individuals globally (WARDHAUGH, 2002). Speech community An individual is often associated with different speech communities, depending on the type and variance of people he interacts with or the type or variance of the language being spoken. It is actually a group of people who communicate or write a type or notion of a language. Individuals of a specific speech community communicate more often with each other than with individuals outside their speech community and so there exist preference and speech community isolation, which is also termed as communicative isolation. This is influenced by social, cultural, economic or regional similarities or preferences. To understand the term community better, we can analyze that the family of an individual is also a community and there by the language with which they communicate will form a speech community too. Furthermore, speech community is also observed with friends or the employees of the work place. It is noted that the changes in accent, dialect, written Performa or the differences in the languages spoken by individuals also mark changes and developments of speech communities (AGER, MUSKENS And WRIGHT, 1993). The community in general may have a focused set of characteristics of a language being communicated or it can be also diffused with emergence of different widely varying set of characteristics. Code-switching An individual, who is well-versed in more than one language, often tends to change or switch languages while speaking. Either to stress on a specific word, to lay emphasis on the issue or to just make someone laugh or impress the other- the use and reason for code switching varies from person to person and situation to situation. Sometimes, it also occurs unknowingly (NORTON, 2000). Linguistic convergence The lexical, phrasal, verbal or grammatical borrowings or transfusions from one language to another is often termed as linguistic convergence i.e. the convergence or merger of more than one languages, accents or dialects into another. Sometimes it is the result of migration, emigration or sometimes done purposely as a notion of creating a national or official language of a country (. Weinreich (1953) for example already distinguished between borrowing and transfer from a SOURCE LANGUAGE to a RECIPIENT LANGUAGE and called it “Convergent Development”. Examples are “Sandy-Lo” code switching of English- Cantonese in Hong Kong and Chinese community of Manchester. Bottom of Form Linguistic divergence Language divergence on the other hands fosters promotion and creation of new languages (daughter languages) from previously existing (ancestral) language (FAIRCLOUGH, 2001). English is the perfect example of Germanic sub-group. A known Multi-lingual person Becoming a “good” language learner is a much more complicated process than earlier research has suggested. My father can be taken as a person who loves language diversity and is often keen to learn new languages and culture. Since he is a Libra, his determination and interest in languages is profound and can be understood. It’s actually in his blood. Now aged 55, he is affluent in all the provincial languages of South Asia as well as English and Arabic. He is the perfect candidate for case study of a multi-lingual person. Brought up in Pakistan and having done matriculation from Sindh Board Of Education, he became well versed in English, Urdu and Sindhi. Inspiration towards Sindhi language and culture initiated and their local vegetables became a flow. After working for several years in interior Sindh as coordinator of training of welding and technicalities from Karachi Gas, the interest in Sindhi culture grew more and more, owing to the fact that he regarded Sindhi’s as very hospitable people and often persuaded us to speak to them. Moreover, he also brought their traditional dresses for us. According to him “Sindhi was the language of love”. After his transfer to United Arab Emirates, he regarded using English as the language of the office but since majority hold was of the Arabs there, the employee- colleague society that formed between different Arab nationals and him, it taught him Arabic very well and that too in different dialects. He was well conversed in Moroccan style and Sudanic style Arabic. As friendship promoted and cemented, Arabic culture was also influenced. Arabic cuisines and the dress code of “kantoora”- the traditional Arab dress for men and the traditional dishes and celebration ways were enhanced and enjoyed. I remember going to Arab parties with my father, where mostly I experienced their cultural views and traditions of sitting on the ground and eating of food by more than two people within the same dish. The prolonged residence of 22 years in U.A.E enrooted some of their habits and dialects’ of Arabic in him as well as us. After my father’s return form U.A.E to Pakistan as Project Manager, his work involved dealing with laborers. These laborers belonged to different provinces, but this did not become a hurdle for my father, instead it strengthened his linguistics approach and learning of new phrases and words. Apart from this, as friendship developed, they gave him traditional gifts which were mostly cultural dishes, furniture items and dresses. Promotion on this linguistic convergence was so immense that my father travelled to a village in Thatta, just to see the native place of his laborers. The impact of all socially diverged regional languages tended to deteriorate the English accent of my father. Sometimes, in the course of family communication, my father often practices code-switching to Punjabi and Sindhi just to crack jokes and make us laugh, and sometimes he even gives us proverbs in the said languages. Apart from linguistic sense, sense of recognizing the features, moods and mental concepts and mindsets of people with varying linguistic features and accents also developed in my father. He is the perfect man, built and made for his job! Conclusion Language not only is a medium of communication, but also the tool which determines the social and personal identity of a person, thereby influencing dialects / accents and speech community. Social, economic, regional and topographical changes influence linguistic convergence and divergence. Being bi or multi- lingual also aids to make a person proficient in different languages, increasing his medium and scope of communication but this also imparts peace and tends to remove social or regional discrimination or differences. Language is indeed a culture itself, which promotes diversity and identity. References FAIRCLOUGH, N. (2001). Language and power. Harlow, Eng, Longman. NORTON, B. (2000). Identity and language learning: gender, ethnicity and educational change. Harlow, England, Longman. WARDHAUGH, R. (2002). An introduction to sociolinguistics. Malden, Mass, Blackwell. Top of Form THOMAS, L., & WAREING, S. (1999). Language, society and power: an introduction. London, Routledge. Bottom of Form Top of Form AGER, D., MUSKENS, G., & WRIGHT, S. (1993). Language education for intercultural communication. Clevedon [etc.], Multilingual Matters. 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