The construction of heterogeneous and fluid identities
Translanguaging on WeChat
This paper presents a case study of identity construction and performance by examining the dynamic translanguaging
practices of a Chinese student in the UK on a widely-used social media platform, WeChat. Drawing on data from WeChat Moment posts,
chatting records, face-to-face interviews and online interviews over a period of 10 months, the study discusses identity
construction in a digital world with a particular focus on heterogeneity and fluidity. The main findings include the following two
points. First, the participant is the epitome of his world; he selects and manipulates linguistic and other semiotic resources
indicating his beliefs, attitudes and life trajectory, and he actively, creatively, critically and strategically uses resources
from his communicative repertoire to construct heterogeneous and fluid self-identities in his interactions with others. Second,
the participant actively creates a virtual translanguaging space on WeChat, within which his new and old identities and different
knowledge meet, integrate and fuse. The findings of this research provide detailed insights of digital translanguaging practices
of WeChat users and contribute to a comprehensive understanding of identity (re)construction and (re)formation of an increasing
number of overseas Chinese students.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.WeChat’s design and features
- 3.Literature review: Self-presentation and translanguaging
- 3.1Selective self-presentation on social media
- 3.2Translanguaging and multimodality
- 4.Methodology
- 4.1The participant
- 4.2Ethical considerations
- 4.3Data collection and data analysis
- 5.Findings and discussion
- 5.1Translanguaging and identity performance
- 5.1.1Rich and fluid linguistic and semiotic resources
- 5.1.2The use of ‘tata’
- 5.1.3The use of internet neologism
- 5.2A virtual translanguaging space
- 5.2.1A selective virtual space created by translanguaging
- 5.2.2The fusion of heterogeneous identities
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
References (71)
Alshenqeeti, Hamza
2016 “
Are emojis creating a new or old visual language for new generations? A socio-semiotic study.”
Advances in Language and Literary Studies 7(6): 56–69.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Androutsopoulos, Jannis
2015 “
Networked multilingualism: Some language practices on Facebook and their implications.”
International Journal of Bilingualism 19(2): 185–205.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bazarova, Natalya N., Jessie G. Taft, Yoon Hyung Choi, and Dan Cosley
2012 “
Managing impressions and relationships on Facebook: Self-presentational and relational concerns revealed through the analysis of language style.”
Journal of Language and Social Psychology 32(2): 121–141.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blackledge, Adrian, and Angela Creese
2017 “
Translanguaging and the body.”
International Journal of Multilingualism 14(3): 250–268.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Blackledge, Adrian, and Angela Creese
2020 “
Interaction ritual and the body in a city meat market.”
Social Semiotics 30(1): 1–24.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
boyd, danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison
2007 “
Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship.”
Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1): 210–230.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Bozkurt, Aras, and Chih Hsiung Tu
2016 “
Digital identity formation: Socially being real and present on digital networks.”
Educational Media International 53(3): 153–167.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Braun, Virgina, and Clarke Victoria
2006 “
Using thematic analysis in psychology.”
Qualitative Research in Psychology 3(2): 77–101.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Canagarajah, Suresh
2011 “
Translanguaging in the classroom: Emerging issues for research and pedagogy.”
Applied Linguistics Review 2(1): 1–28.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chen, Hsin-I.
2013 “
Identity practices of multilingual writers in social networking spaces.”
Language Learning & Technology 17(2): 143–170.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Chinadaily
2017 “
都在说 ‘油腻的中年人’, ‘油腻’ 如何用英语表达? [Everyone is talking about ‘middle aged people of youni’, how do we use English to express ‘youni’?].”
[URL] (accessed 8 September 2018).
Copland, Fiona, and Angela Creese
2015 Linguistic Ethnography: Collecting, Analysing and Presenting Data. London: Sage.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Creese, Angela, and Adrian Blackledge
2015 “
Translanguaging and identity in educational settings.”
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 351: 20–35.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Creese, Angela, Adrian Blackledge, Angela Creese, and Adrian Blackledge
2010 “
Translanguaging in the bilingual classroom: A pedagogy for learning classroom and teaching?”
The Modern Language Journal 94(1): 103–115.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Creswell, John W.
2013 Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches (4th edn.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Davidson, Andrew R., James J. Jaccard, Harry C. Triandis, Maria Luisa Morales, and Rogelio Diaz-Guerrero
1976 “
Cross-cultural model testing: Toward a solution of the etic-emic dilemma.”
International Journal of Psychology 11(1): 1–13.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Duncum, Paul
2004 “
Visual culture isn’t just visual: Multiliteracy, multimodality and meaning.”
Studies in Art Education: A Journal of Issues and Research 45(3): 252–264.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Fanjian Baike
2018 “
土味 [Countrified].”
[URL] (accessed 7 July 2019).
Gan, Chunmei
2016 “
Understanding WeChat users’ liking behavior: An empirical study in China.”
Computers in Human Behavior 681: 30–39.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
García, Ofelia
2009 Bilingual Education in the 21st Century: A Global Perspective. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
García, Ofelia, and Wei Li
2014 Translanguaging: Langugae, Bilingualism and Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Giannoulakis, Stamatios, and Nicolas Tsapatsoulis
2016 “
Evaluating the descriptive power of Instagram hashtags.”
Journal of Innovation in Digital Ecosystems 3(2): 114–129.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Goffman, Erving
1990 The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin Books.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Heller, Monica
2007 “
Bilingualism as ideology and practices.” In
Bilingualism: A Social Approach, ed. by
Monica Heller, 1–24. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jason
2019 “
All WeChat features.”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Jensen Schau, Hope, and Mary C. Gilly
2003 “
We are what we post? Self-presentation in personal web space.”
Journal of Consumer Research 301: 385–404.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Jonsson, Carla, and Anu Muhonen
2014 “
Multilingual repertoires and the relocalization of manga in digital media.”
Discourse, Context & Media 4–51: 87–100.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kramsch, Claire
2009 The Multilingual Subject: What Foreign Language Learners Say about Their Experience and Why It Matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Kusters, Annelies, Massimiliano Spotti, Ruth Swanwick, and Elina Tapio
2017 “
Beyond languages, beyond modalities: Transforming the study of semiotic repertoires.”
International Journal of Multilingualism 14(3): 219–232.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lapadat, Judith C.
2012 “
Thematic analysis.” In
Encyclopedia of Case Study Research, ed. by
Albert J. Mills,
Gabrielle Durepos, and
Elden Wiebe, 926–927. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lee, Cyrus
2019 “
Daily active users for WeChat exceeds 1 billion.”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Lew, Gwyn, Bryn Jones, and Colin Baker
2012 “
Translanguaging: Origins and development from school to street and beyond.”
Educational Research and Evaluation: An International Journal on Theory and Practice 18(7): 641–654.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Wei
2011a “
Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain.”
Journal of Pragmatics 431: 1222–1235.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Wei
2011b “
Multilinguality, multimodality, and multicompetence: Code- and modeswitching by minority ethnic children in complementary schools.”
The Modern Language Journal 95(3): 370–83.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Wei
2018 “
Translanguaging as a practical theory of language.”
Applied Linguistics 39(1):1–23.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Wei, and Wing Yee (Jenifer) Ho
2018 “
Language learning sans frontiers: A translanguaging view.”
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 381: 33–59.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Li, Wei, and Hua Zhu
2013 “
Translanguaging identities and ideologies: Creating transnational space through flexible multilingual practices amongst Chinese university students in the UK.”
Applied Linguistics 34(5): 516–535.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Lien, Che Hui, and Yang Cao
2014 “
Examining WeChat users’ motivations, trust, attitudes, and positive word-of-mouth: Evidence from China.”
Computers in Human Behavior 411: 104–111.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Martin-Beltrán, Melinda
2014 “
‘What do you want to say?’ How adolescents use translanguaging to expand learning opportunities.”
International Multilingual Research Journal 8(3): 208–230.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Mendelson, Andrew, and Zizi Papacharissi
2010 “
Look at us: Collective narcissism in college student Facebook photo galleries.” In
A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites, ed. by
Zizi Papacharissi, 251–273. New York: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Noguerón-Liu, Silvia, and Doris Warriner
2014 “
Heteroglossic practices in the online publishing process: Complexities in digital and geographical borderlands.” In
Heteroglossia as Practice and Pedagogy, ed. by
Adrian Blackledge, and
Angela Creese, 179–197. Dordrecht: Springer.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Patton, Michael Quinn
2002 Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods (3rd edn.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pavlenko, Aneta, and James P. Lantolf
2000 “
Second language learning as participation and the (re)construction of selves.” In
Sociocultural Theory and Second Language Learning, ed. by
James P. Lantolf, 155–178. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Pennycook, Alastair, and Emi Otsuji
2015 Metrolingualism: Language in the City. Abingdon: Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
People.com.cn
2018 “
汉语盘点2018: ‘奋’ ‘改革开放四十年’ 分列国内年度字词 [Mandarin in 2018: ‘Fen’ and ‘The 30-year reform and opening-up’ become character and word of the year].”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Rampton, Ben, Janet Maybin, and Celia Roberts
2015 “
Theory and method in linguistic ethnography.” In
Linguistic Ethnography: Interdisciplinary Explorations, ed. by
Julia Snell,
Sara Shaw, and
Fiona Copland, 14–50. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Ritzau
2018 “
Danish transport ministry gives green light to dog sleds.”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Rymes, Betsy
2014 Communicating Beyond Language: Everyday Encounters with Diversity. New York: Routledge.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sade-Beck, Liav
2004 “
Internet ethnography: Online and offline.”
International Journal of Qualitative Methods 3(2): 45–51.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Sandel, Todd L., Chuyue Ou, Dorji Wangchuk, Bei Ju, and Miguel Duque
2019 “
Unpacking and describing interaction on Chinese WeChat: A methodological approach.”
Journal of Pragmatics 1431: 228–241.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schlenker, Barry R.
1980 Impression Management: The Self-Concept, Social Identity, and Interpersonal Relations. Monterey: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Schreiber, Brooke Ricker
2015 “
‘I AM WHAT I AM’ : Multilingual identity and digital translanguaging.”
Language Learning & Technology 19(3): 69–87.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Scott, Kate
2015 “
The pragmatics of hashtags: Inference and conversational style on Twitter.”
Journal of Pragmatics 811: 8–20.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Shamsian, Jacob
2016 “
Bet you had no idea what the words mean in the ‘Lion King’ intro song.”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Solmaz, Osman
2018 “
Multilingual and multimodal repertoires as part of identity management on Facebook : A case of international students.”
Journal of International Students 8 (4): 1662–1680.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Stake, Robert E.
2000 “
The case study method in social inquiry.” In
Case Study Method: Key Issues, Key Texts, ed. by
Roger Gomm,
Martyn Hammersley, and
Foster Peter, 19–26. London: Sage.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Statista
2018 “
Number of monthly active WeChat users from 2nd quarter 2010 to 1st quarter 2018 (in millions).”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Thibault, Paul J.
2017 “
The reflexivity of human languaging and Nigel Love’s two orders of language.”
Language Sciences 611: 74–85.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Townsend, Leanne, and Claire Wallace
2016 “
Social media research: A guide to ethics.”
[URL] (accessed 8 August 2019).
Tsagarousianou, Roza
2004 “
Rethinking the concept of diaspora: Mobility, connectivity and communication in a globalised world.”
Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 1(1): 52–65.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Usher, Robin
1996 “
A critique of the neglected epistemological assumptions of educational research.” In
Understanding Educational Research, ed. by
David Scott, and
Robin Usher, 9–32. London: Routledge.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Vigliocco, Gabriella, Pamela Perniss, and David Vinson
2014 “
Language as a multimodal phenomenon : Implications for language learning, processing and evolution.”
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B – Biological Sciences 3691: 1–7.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
William, Cen
1994 “
Arfarniad o ddulliau dysgu ac addysgu yng nghyd-destun addysg uwchradd ddwyieithog [An evaluation of teaching and learning methods in the context of bilingual secondary education].” PhD dissertation, University of Wales.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Williams, Cen
1996 “
Secondary education: Teaching in the bilingual situation.” In
The Language Policy: Taking Stock: Interpreting and Appraising Gwynedd’s Language Policy in Education, ed. by
Cen Williams,
Gwyn Lewis, and
Colin Baker, 39–78. Llangefni: CAI Language Studies Centre.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yin, Robert K.
2014 Case Study Research Design and Methods (5th edn.). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Yurchisin, Jennifer, Kittichai Watchravesringkan, and Deborah Brown Mccabe
2006 “
An exploration of identity re-creation in the context of Internet dating.”
Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal 33(8): 735–750.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zhang, Wenyi, Fei Wu, and Chunye Zhang
2013 “
Interpretation of the formation of internet neologisms and their translation from Pound’s perspective of ‘language energy.’”
International Journal of English Linguistics 3(2): 66–71.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zhao, Shanyang, Sherri Grasmuck, and Jason Martin
2008 “
Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships.”
Computers in Human Behavior 24(5): 1816–1836.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zhao, Sumin, and Rosie Flewitt
2020 “
Young Chinese immigrant children’s language and literacy practices on social media: A translanguaging perspective.”
Language and Education 34(3): 267–285.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Zhu, Hua, Wei Li, and Lyons Agnieszka
2017 “
Polish shop(ping) as translanguaging space.”
Social Semiotics 27(4): 411–433.
![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
![Google Scholar](https://benjamins.com/logos/google-scholar.svg)
Cited by (2)
Cited by 2 other publications
Li, Luyao & Jing Huang
2024.
Online discourse and chronotopic identity work: A longitudinal digital ethnography on WeChat.
New Media & Society ![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Mao, Yifei, Zhong Lin & Feng Wang
2024.
Making sense of trans-translating in blogger subtitling: a netnographic approach to translanguaging on a Chinese microblogging site.
Applied Linguistics Review 15:2
► pp. 555 ff.
![DOI logo](//benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.