ENGL 1004: The Essay & the Argument, ESL: Language and Identity

RESEARCH ESSAY Assignment
ENGL 1004: The Essay & the Argument, ESL
Language and Identity
Introduction
Identity has different dimensions and in the process of exploring the social and political dimensions of the human race, several factors have been identified to contribute to different dimensions of identity. One of these tools that have been identified in the identity of human beings is the language that one speaks. Language is a communication tool whose use is limited and contextualized within the social and cultural orientation of the people communicating. Therefore, culture dictates the language to use which in the end shapes the identity of the person using the language. Despite its use in communication, language has been used negatively to identify and profile people into different ethnic profiles. This has led to the emergence of the minority ethnic communities and the major ethnic communities, creating a divisive society characterized with unequal distribution of resources which consequently lead to conflicts among communities.
Identity
Identity is understood as the several ways in which society positions people or how they position themselves in different subjectivities and subject positions that they inhibit or that have been ascribed to them within the constraints of social, cultural and historical contexts (David, 2013). In the current world the subject of identity has been explored greatly by different scholars at different levels of academic excellence. Its origin dates back to the 19th century and its recognized to have been part and parcel of gradual secularization of populations in the industrialized countries. The traditions of people were eroded and religion was one of the key factors that underwent erosion even though tit made a comeback in the recent past years. As life improved due to industrialization people started valuing their lives and the aspect of self-fulfillment through worldly activities. The other factor that has contributed to the heightened debate on identity has been the development of the field of psychology from the 19th century (David, 2013). The desire to understand the human thinking and brain development systems has been key in exploring the identity concept among the human race. Freud’s exploration on the Ego and Id and the self as a social and spiritual interactions contributed to the development of the subject of identity.
Language Identity
Language has become part and parcel of the identity debate. Inarguably when we get into communications we do so as individuals with particular constellations or social identities. The social identities can only influence our linguistic actions but they cannot determine our linguistic actions. The social identity can only determine how we do our communication activities or how we view the individuals we are communicating with. In a normal communication setting we are meant to express ourselves in a unique way to achieve different goals using language (Milans, 2015). However, our linguistic actions greatly rely on the historical and sociopolitical issues that make up the language we use. Therefore, as human we have a way to choose to create ourselves and every action that we take is within a social context and cannot be easil...