Language And Identity Research Proposal Samples

Language seeks to accomplish two vital principals; it is a tool of communication. Also importantly, it can be used as a sense of asserting an individual’s distinctive identity from other individuals or groups. The language we use in most cases forms a vital part of our real meaning of whom we are – of our identity. When skimming through Barbara Helix, “From outside, In” article where she speaks her mind in the different languages. By various languages, I mean the different kind of slang accents and words that the different group of people speaks.
Barbara Mellix says, “When we spoke the Standard English, we did acknowledge that our local or customary way of communication was inferior. Barbara unequivocally states that often she felt embarrassed, foolish and to some extent diminished in the social ranking because she was ashamed of her real self by speaking her local or customary language. In fact, she admits that she felt shy and reserved in the presence of those who spoke the Standard English eloquently. After reading this segment I realized that our language forms part of who we are in the society, it gives us our social identity and class. In fact, how we speak our English language will determine how others view us.
In this paper, I will strive to argue that there is a strong relation between our language and our social identity as members of various groups- religious, ethnic, gender, national. Also importantly, through this paper I will show the different effects of the kind of English we speak in different social dimensions. In summary, I hope that this research paper will motivate other researchers to conduct further research both empirical and theoretical on the language and social identity.