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Article published In:
Asian Perspectives on English as a Lingua Franca and Identity
Edited by Chit Cheung Matthew Sung
[Journal of Asian Pacific Communication 26:2] 2016
► pp. 193–215

“Oh no, it’s just culture”

Multicultural identities in action in ELF interactions

| Hosei University
This study investigates the dynamic identities of an Asian university student engaged in English as a lingua franca (ELF) interactions from a membership categorization analysis (MCA) approach (Sacks, 1972a, 1989). Studies adopting MCA have demonstrated that identity and intercultural membership are co-constructed in ongoing interactions (e.g., Nishizaka, 1999; E. Zimmerman, 2007). Nevertheless, MCA studies have yet to document the multicultural identity of an individual and the ways in which members co-construct their multifaceted identities in naturally occurring non-institutional ELF interactions. The study analyzes interactions between two participants from different Asian countries, Japan and Korea. Approximately three hours of video recorded conversations were collected across four months. In and through the interaction, one of the participants was found utilizing multiple cultural identities to accomplish interactive goals. In addition, “language-form related category-bound activity” was used in constructing these identities. This study challenges the use of predetermined social categories and suggests an organic and interactional approach to identity construction.
Keywords: multicultural identity, returnee, language-form related category-bound activity, English as a lingua franca, membership categorization analysis
Published online: 30 August 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/japc.26.2.02sie
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Dai, David Wei & Michael Davey
2024. On the Promise of Using Membership Categorization Analysis to Investigate Interactional Competence. Applied Linguistics 45:4 ► pp. 573 ff. DOI logo
Jenks, Christopher
2022. Identifying ELF: an interdisciplinary perspective on social categories in lingua franca research. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca 11:1 ► pp. 43 ff. DOI logo

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