GOOD

1. The Relationships
Between Identity And
Language

2. Identity in its simplest definition is ‘who I am’.
If a person asked me who I am, definitely what
comes into my mind is that this person wants
to know your name. Assuming that the same
person asking me ‘who I am’ knows my name,
then this person is looking for a more
profound identity of the real me.The person
wants to know who you are deep down.The
answer to such a question does not come
easily because who one is deep down is never
fully captured and expressed in words.

3. This then gives us two basic aspect of a
person’s identity: their name that single them
out from others and the inner, intangible that
constitute who one really is. Language plays
an important role in defining or describing the
identity of a person. Listening to a dialogue by
different individuals, our interpretation of
their identities will most probably be
influenced by their voices, accents and other
features of how they speak. For example in
Amy’s essay, we could tell their identities
(Amy and the mother) through the use of
language.Their language tells that they were
immigrant.This does not mean that language
solely determines our interpretation of a
person but plays a fundamental role. For
example Amy had two form of English
language, i.e. the one she spoke with the
mother and the other form that addressed
other personalities like the stockbroker (Amy
2).

4. Identity as a Linguistic Phenomenon
One may want to know what this phenomenon of identity is. Identity is realizing who we are
at personal level and also at community level.To make such identification, language has
been a salient feature of making group membership and social identity. From such group
identification, one again is able to know their identity as individual.Through language for
example, you are able to know which ethnic group you belong to and from that ethnic group
who really are you. A good example is of people who migrate to other social setting.These
people find it difficult to fit to such setting due to language differences. For such people to
identify with people within that social setting, then learning their language becomes vital.
After learning their language such individual are able to fit and identify with the rest.Amy
had a problem with her mother’s ‘improper’ English which many of the time made her
(mother) not to be attended to by department store workers, in bank, and even in hospital.
People pretended not to understand her and others even to assume they did not hear her.
This necessitated Amy to intervene and in some cases she had to act as if she was the
mother and address other on behave of the mother (Amy 2). Amy was able to communicate
to these people though the knowledge of English she had learnt. If no effort had been put to
know the English that was being spoken in the region then it would have been difficult for
this family to interact freely in the society. Bearing in mind that Amy could speak the same
English as the mother, failing to learn the ‘proper English’ as she defined her mother’s
English as ‘improper’ would have jeopardized their interaction in the social systems.Amy
English helped her mother to receive equal treatment as others would have received (Amy
2). As Baldwin sees it, language is a tool to reveal private identity and to connect or
disconnect an individual from the communal identity. (Baldwin)

5. With regard to social identification, it focuses on how people
understand their interaction to the world, how those relationships
are constructed across time and space, and how people
understand their possibilities for the future. Social identity is seen
as individual’s identity made from the language he/she uses within
a social group setting (Amy 3). Language is a creator of social
identity and a medium to gain self-esteem and power in the
society.Communication works as a medium for renegotiating
individual position in society and provides an access to power.
Gaining power means equal treatment.Through language one is
treated as part of that society.This then means that language, the
individual, and the society cannot be separated in creation of social
identity. In gender determination, language has played a major
role. Language is used differently in regard to our sex and this is
evidenced in Beverly essay ‘Bitch’.According to Beverly the use of
the word ‘bitch has been used negatively in regard to women.The
whole essay shows how women are treated different from men by
use of language showing that their power position was lesser than
those of their counterpart (Beverly 2).

6. With regard to social identification, it focuses on how people
understand their interaction to the world, how those relationships
are constructed across time and space, and how people understand
their possibilities for the future. Social identity is seen as individual’s
identity made from the language he/she uses within a social group
setting (Amy 3). Language is a creator of social identity and a
medium to gain self-esteem and power in the society.
Communication works as a medium for renegotiating individual
position in society and provides an access to power. Gaining power
means equal treatment.Through language one is treated as part of
that society.This then means that language, the individual, and the
society cannot be separated in creation of social identity. In gender
determination, language has played a major role. Language is used
differently in regard to our sex and this is evidenced in Beverly essay
‘Bitch’.According to Beverly the use of the word ‘bitch has been
used negatively in regard to women.The whole essay shows how
women are treated different from men by use of language showing
that their power position was lesser than those of their counterpart
(Beverly 2).

7. Another factor that leads to language division
and labeling is the need for cultural identity.
Different people across the globe have
different way of life and language has been
used to bring out this differences. In such a
case most of the divisions are based on accent
where a group wanting to be identified as
unique due to their culture adopts a new
accent either on the same language or dialect.
Differences also occur where different names
are adopted for objects, events, and places
among other things (Britt 16).

8. Dialect is another factor that have played role in
language subdivision and labeling. Dialect in a
language is symbolized by systematic differences in
pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary from other
varieties of the same language.This difference in
dialect within the same language has led to division
and labeling of language. For example, we have
American English verse British English.Accent has
also contributed in language labeling. In definition,
accent is a form of a language spoken by subgroup
of speakers of that language. Everyone has an
accent just as they have a dialect and the issue here
is which accent or dialect you speak with. It is
important to note that you can speak the same
dialect with someone else but use a different
accent. Accent has led to classification of
identification of people according to their accent.
For example, people of Boston are identified
differently from people of Brooklyn and they speak
about the same language but different accent (Britt
19).

9. As discussed earlier, language has vital role in identifying who really a person is.
This then means that variation of language serves a vital role for those struggling
to find their place in the society.We have seen that language differentiation help
to distinguish stratus within any given society. In the society, we have the elite,
people of high prestige like politicians, high socioeconomic groups, female, male,
and youth among other categories of group. In Amy’s essay we are able to
establish identification of Amy. One is on her origin which is outside the region
where they are living.This is made possible by the language they use in the family
setting.The second personality is the social status and her English while
addressing gathering shows that she belongs to the class of elite (Amy 1).The way
we look from the outside without linguistic may not really tell which category of
group we belong to. An elite walking in the street may not be known to be elite
by just a mere look at him/her. But when language is involved through
communicating with this individual, then the way he/she uses language will
definitely tell you where they belong to in the society.The same applies to
someone who wants to be recognized as a high socioeconomic status.To such
people who desire their status to be identified, then language variation matters
greatly to then.This is because it meets their need for identification. Amy shows
this very well when her strife to do what society thought was not possible for her
(Amy 3).

10. Conclusion
A broad connection exists between language
and identification. Language defines our
ethnic group that we belong to, our status in
the social stratification, and also determines
the power we hold in our society. Our social
identity is created by our language and also
our future possibilities are determined by
language. With other factors placed in mind,
language then plays a major role in
determining who we really are and what our
future possibilities are.