Language-Mediated Identity Negotiation in Multilingual Digital Chat Spaces

Abstract

Aneta Pavlenko(2013), defines identity as the manner in which a person perceives his or her relationship to the world, how the relationship is constituted by time and space, and how the person perceives possibilities of what can be done in the future (Pavlenko, 2013, p. 4), and views identity as dynamic and negotiated by multilingual users, who negotiate and construct or build identities through language choices and multimodal practices in the digital chat.  Multilingualism, code-switching, translanguaging, and digital communication, the study of the matter sheds light on the fact that the digital environments of chats offer new spaces in which identity work takes place. Applying a qualitative research design, the research examines chat logs and reflection journals of multilingual users and applies thematic and discourse analysis to them based on the models such as the investment theory by Bonny Norton and the self-presentation theory by Erving Goffman. The discussion shows that the participants are strategic in the use of language choice, transliteration, code-switching and multimodal cues (emojis, tone, script) to show belonging, professionalism, intimacy and cultural hybridity. Findings shows that multilingual web-based communication cultivates hybrid and fluid identities and are influenced by emotion, audience, platform and context affordances. This study concludes with the statements; that digital multilingual chat spaces are socio-psychological ecosystems based on the language acting as an identity-building resource; and proposing future studies; a longitudinal design or analysis, different platforms and heterogeneous populations of users; the practical conclusions; designing digital-literacy interventions that acknowledge multilingual identity and multimodal expression.