Beneath the wheel of monolingual society:an analysis of self-identifying process in a multilingual mind

Kamiya Shozo

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Beneath the wheel of monolingual society: an analysis of self-identifying process ina multilingual mind

Introduction
Conventionally, we individual human beings identify ourselves as a single
idiosyncratic person respectively, but personal identity is a complex mélange ofmultiple factors with facet-changing nature. Aronsson & Gottzén (2011) point out, forexample, that changes in social positions “provide rich sites for identifying andanalyzing identity-in-interaction” (Aronsson & Gottzén, 2011, p.411). As there are nobounds to the expansion of both active and passive encounters with culturally diverse
situations of “social practices” (Kubota & McKay, 2009, p.596), the multiplicity of theidentity-shaping factors is continuously defined and redefined.
In scholarly studies of identity, there’s a recurrent emphasis on the “dynamic”(Holmes & Marra, 2011, p.503) nature of identity-constructing process. Burkette (2013)
suggests that individual speakers identify themselves within a given social context byenacting “a particular stance” (p.240) in the form of story-telling.
Yet if the stances are essentially associated with particular linguistic features, it ishighlyprobablethatmultilingual

individuals

learn

fundamentallydifferent

stance-enacting conventions of multiple groups in the process of acquiring a linguistic
skill, even dialect and accent. Multilingual individuals take widely different stances invarying socio-pragmatic contexts through numerous practices of varied linguisticfeatures, while trying to form a permanent “core” of their identities that remains
consistent in whichever socio-linguistic situation. However, multilingual individuals
acquire stance-enacting conventions of radically different social groups, while2monolingual individuals generally acquire the conventions of groups which share asingle mutually understandable linguistic tradition. It is thus highly possible thatmultilingual individuals experience embarrassing confusion in enacting a particular
stance more than monolinguals, knowing that the same action can be interpreted in aradically different way according to a group, situation and context. In other words,
multilingual individuals are likely to be capable of traveling across a “communicationgulf” (Cameron, 2007, p.1) that monolingual individuals cannot, but the capability itself
creates another “gulf” between monolinguals and themselves, or even between othermultilinguals.
Kanno (2003) points out the existence of varieties of “bilingualism” (Kanno, 2003,
p.285) in the context of language education in Japan, which demonstrates that even in acountry which has “for a long time been known as one of the prototypes of amonolingual society” (Backhaus, 2006, p.52) linguistic practices of bilinguals areradically varied. An analysis of the attitude among Japanese people toward “foreign”
languages other than English by Kubota & McKay points out that even younger
generation’s “insufficient focuses on learning other languages” (p.614) than English
signify “double monolingualism” (p.614). Yet what Kanno offers is a vivid depiction ofa reality of the influence of such “double monolingualism” on linguistic minorities witha different linguistic tradition from that of the official L1(Japanese) or L2(English). In
the context of “double-monolingual” social situation, linguistic minorities are
sandwiched by both L1 and L2, and the struggles or even the existence of suchlinguistic minorities are often ignored by majority speakers of L1 and L2. Kanno’s
study suggests that experiences of essentially “multilingualized” linguistic minorities ina de facto monolingual society offer keys to understand the complexity of socially3situated relations between identity and language. However, the constructing process of a
subjective “core” of identity of such multilingualized individuals is yet to beinvestigated, for in scholarly studies the emphasis is on more dynamic parts of identity.
Yet the significance of relatively static, less changeable part of identity is undeniable
despite the dynamic nature of identity, for both existence and absence of firm coreidentity, however imaginary it may be, seems to make an obvious difference in thefeasibility of constructing a consistent identity as a member of a particular groupbetween monolinguals and multilinguals. In this paper I analyze interviews with amultilingual individual who lives in Cyprus as a linguistic minority, while been exposed
to more than three languages and concurrently to multicultural practices from earlychildhood, in order to find out the process of constructing the “core” of identity, being a
multilingual as she is.

Methods
In order to look into the issue of a core of multilingual identity, I designed a narrowly
focused analysis in which I applied an “inductive” approach (Thomas, 2006, p.246),
following a “tradition” of qualitative research (Morita, 2004, p.578). My focus is on the
micro-level personal experiences, since I find significance in “personal stories”(Kinginger, 2004, p.220), and it is fruitful to look into “the micro-level” in order to“gain understanding of larger social structures” (Cook, 2009, p.170).
I

collected

data

in

face-to-faceinterview

conversation

through

onlinevideo-conferences and written chats. Since the subject of this paper is a highly personalmatter as identity, I found it appropriate to make use of online communication, for it is atool to “allow marginalized voices to share space” (Kolko & Wei, 2005, p.206). The

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interviewee is a multilingual named Leila (pseudonym), currently living in Cyprus,
where the most common spoken language (L1 for majority) is Turkish. Leila was bornin Morocco, and raised as a Moroccan Sunni Muslim. She learned English and Frenchin school, but the emphasis was more on French, as traditionally more people in
Morocco understand French than English, and it is self-evident for her that she acquireda command of English rather through the exposure to English-speaking media and pop
culture. Leila identifies herself as an English speaker because she is proud of the efforts
she spontaneously made for English acquisition, and currently Leila is studying in
English in an undergraduate course in a private university in Cyprus, which is one of the
few universities in the Muslim community that has a faculty of specialized architecture.
Her dream is to be an architect and earn a sufficient amount of salary to retain
independence in global market, and her focus is on international community than on
local community.
I analyze the voices by Leila in the interviews inductively, in order to retain the
fruitful complexity in issues concerning personal identity intact. In the process ofanalysis I aim for “fresh perspectives” (Gorter, 2013, p.205), and since there is always adanger of “minority signification” (Yamamoto, 2012, p.154) in any kind of discourse
about minorities, including academic paper, I heed to refrain from any “discursive”(Augoustinos & Every, 2007, p.133) statement that allows biased interpretations,
keeping in mind that “all academic work is socially situated” (Spack, 1997, p.50).

Findings
In general, the voices of Leila demonstrate that her lifestyle of speaking four
languages (i.e. English, French, Moroccan Arabic and Turkish) on daily basis causes

5multiplicity in the core of her identity. While the multiplicity led Leila to find difficulty
in defining her identity in a simple word even tentatively, it didn’t generate serious
discrepancy in Leila’s identity-constructing process. In fact, a sense of integrity in her
identity was clearly found in Leila’s voices despite the complexity that entails themultiplicity. Leila insisted on identifying herself as a Sunni Muslim, though heremphasis on the uniqueness of her personal character as a crucial factor of identity isalso visibly strong. Leila expressed resentment toward those who “judge” her by one
category, and she intentionally ignores what she feels as biased views and opinions
about her identity held by others. Leila didn’t hesitate, however, to show reverence forClassical Arabic, in which the Islamic Holy Scripture is written. Classical Arabic, in
Leila’s words, “pure” or “good” Arabic, offers Leila a sense of belonging to an ideal
Muslim community, to which only “good” Muslims are associated. For clarity, further
details of each notable finding are expanded separately below.

First language & Mother tongue
While both of Leila’s parents dominantly speak Moroccan Arabic and communicate
with each other in Moroccan Arabic, the language Leila dominantly speaks is English,
because Leila firmly stated that it’s the language she feels the most comfortable, eventhough she usually communicates with her parents in Moroccan. English makes her feel
“more comfortable” and it enables her to “express thoughts more easily”. For Leila, thelanguage her mother speaks is not the language she primarily speaks and feels the most
comfortable with, which questions the monolingual assumption that “mother tongue” isequal to “first language”. Plus, Leila’s ability to switch language strategically according
to the situation reveals a process in which a multilingual individual intentionally6positions herself apart from negative aspects, of which some of the languages she
speaks are determined to carry in a particular situation, by continuously switching thelanguage according to social situations she finds herself involved. Whilst it is possible
to deem this ability a “privilege” (Kanno, 2003, p.288) of multilinguals, it somehow
leads to a sense of split-identity:“I feel more comfortable with English because I feel I can express my thoughts
more easily. You know, I only express my real feelings in English ever since I wasa little girl. I never expressed my thoughts in Moroccan because when I speak in
Moroccan I become a kind of person who hides stuff. I used to write down my true
inner voices in English, and in Moroccan I just say what I’m expected to say.”(Leila, online-communication interview, 14th November 2014, original in English)
Clearly Leila is aware that her mind distinguishes the role of languages she speaks,
and while English is associated with her “true inner voices”, Moroccan Arabic is
associated with what she thinks her parents (and possibly the Moroccan local society aswell) expect of her. English is, for Leila, a tool to give a way out to emotional feelings
suppressed within the context of “Moroccan” life, while Moroccan Arabic is a barrier
with which to present herself as a good Moroccan when she feels the need to. It thenseems that English is playing a more significant role in Leila’s self-identifying process,for it is associated with her “true inner voices”. However, other voices of Leila
demonstrate that the “true inner voices” expressed in English cannot hold a position as
the very core of Leila’s identity, because for Leila, her identity as a “Muslim” is themost indispensable.

Religion & Personality as core factors of identity

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Leila firmly asserted that retention of her identity as a Muslim is one of the crucially
important “duties” in her life. However, there’s another complexity of the discord
between her pride as a Muslim and her resentment toward the “misunderstanding” of“Islam” both by the Muslim terrorists and by the western media, which facilitates theformation of negative stereotypes of Islamic faith:“I’m proud of being a Muslim, and my religion is an important part of my identity. I
know some people say really bad things about Islam, but it’s not like what they say.
To me, Islam is a good religion that teaches us very basic morality – be good toothers and respect God – that’s all. Things like terrorism is not the Islam I know.”(Leila, online-communication interview, 14th November 2014, original in English)
What Leila defines as “basic morality” here is another source of complexity because
it involves not just the morality in “Moroccan lifestyle”, but it also involves what she
personally thinks is “true” Islamic morality, which is undoubtedly based on her
interpretations of the traditional Islamic faith, and yet simultaneously influenced moreor less by western values conveyed through English speaking media. For Leila
intentionally presents the “true Muslim morality” as a set of tradition that does notchallenge the values in western traditions, which suggests that her “true Muslim”
identity is constructed in a way that it doesn’t make conflicts with “western” values
expressed in English media, and in this sense her multilingual ability has influence on
her religious identity.
Nevertheless, Leila has a strong sense of individual personality behind her emphasison the importance of being a Muslim, and she is firmly determined to “fight”
independently for what she believes in. She even rejected to explicitly identify herself
with any language she speaks:

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“My personality doesn’t change according to the language I speak. Words I saychange, and ranges of what I can express change, but my personality doesn't. I’m
just a girl who fights for what she believes in, even if she stands alone for it.” (Leila,
online-communication interview, 1st November 2014, original in English)
What Leila says here seems somehow inconsistent with what she said about the way
she distinguishes English and Moroccan Arabic (p.5-6), but in Leila’s view, there is acore unchanging identity that she conceives as “personality”, and she distinguishes“personality” from the way she acts practically in social contexts. This suggests that
Leila is not willing to identify herself with what she appears to be in social contexts, andthat she believes there is an unchanging essence that defines the core of her “personality”
which is supposed to be stably solid.

Influence of Inter-subjective views on self-identifying process
Although Leila stated that she usually speaks and thinks more in English than in
Moroccan Arabic language, in Cyprus she was not free from “sociopragmaticchallenges” that “newcomers in any environment face” (Holmes & Marra, 2011, p.530).
There were some occasions in which Leila felt herself to be an excluded outsider in
Cyprus, because others judged her by her looks, lifestyle and the language she spoke:“I consider myself as a Moroccan because although I live in Cyprus I still keep myorigin which I’m proud of, like my traditions, food, and the lifestyle. There arethings I like in Cyprus and I’m getting more and more accustomed to life here in
Cyprus, but wherever you go, you will always be considered as an emigrant. They
just judge you based on your nationality.” (Leila, online-communication interview,
29th October 2014, original in English)

9Leila explicitly demonstrates her pride in her identity as a “Moroccan” here, which
stands in contrast to what she said about Moroccan Arabic language in comparison to
English (p.5), suggesting that in the social context where the difference between
Moroccan lifestyle and the lifestyle of other culture is sharply recognized Leila does
identify herself as a “Moroccan”, regardless of the language she uses in that context.
However, it is also possible to point out some resentment of being viewed as “Moroccan”
in this Leila’s voice, which corresponds with her emphasis on the idiosyncratic natureof her “personality.”(p.7)

Language with a religious value & identity
As in the former sections above, Leila makes a distinction between her “personality”
and the linguistic features through which she positions herself in various
socio-pragmatic contexts. It doesn’t mean, however, that any kind of language cannot
be conceived as a tool for constructing the core of her identity. In fact, she does express
reverence for what she calls “pure” or “good” Arabic:“I read Quran in real pure Arabic. It's God's divine words and so it was in real
Arabic, and people translated it in other languages so that they can understand it.
But normally the real source is in Arabic, good Arabic. When I was young I didn’t
understand Quran very much, but now I do. They teach us the real Arabic inschool, so I have no trouble in reading the Quran in the pure Arabic.” (Leila,
online-communication interview, 1st November 2014, original in English)
Holy Arabic is, however, not conceived as a language for daily communicative use
here. It is a language used in religious contexts, and although Leila reports that shelearned the Holy Arabic in school, just as other secular languages like English and

10French, the limitation of the contexts in which the language is used distinguishes Holy
Arabic from other languages. What Leila associates the holy Arabic with is, therefore, amore complex “imagined” (Kanno, 2003, p.287) community than other imaginedcommunities associated with spoken languages used on daily basis within groups, for itis essentially a religious community in which the holy Scripture holds supreme
authority, and the limitation of the use of the language to religious contexts alone
specifies the role that the language plays in identity-constructing process.

Discussions
Leila’s voices clearly reveal the complexity of the core of her identity multiplied by
the multilingual environment she lives in. Leila reported the relatively stronger
influence of English on her self-identification process, but her emphasis on theindispensability of her identity as a Muslim (p.6) seems to suggest the idiosyncratic
significance of religious identity, especially in a multilingual context where diversity ofculture and languages continuously questions any stabilized “core” identity. The split of
the attitude in Leila’s mind toward “Moroccan” lifestyle (p.8) and the inability to
express her “true inner voices” in Moroccan Arabic language at ease (p.5) explicitly
demonstrates the multiplicity even of inner language in self-meditative contexts.
As to the religious identity as a Muslim, Leila insisted on the necessity of reading theholy Scripture in classical Arabic, and it is conceived by Leila as less desirable to besatisfied with the translated versions of the texts in vulgar Arabic, let alone those inforeign languages. This may imply that a distinction of a “holy” language from other“secular” languages is a significant part of faith. In other words, the choice of which
language to consider as “holy” is likely to reveal a religious identity of an individual,

11while a “holy” language influences directly the core of identity of an individual andstrengthen the faith as well. In Leila’s case, she recognized classical Arabic to be theholy language, and the religious texts written in classical Arabic had direct influence on
her identity. It is no less notable, however, that Leila’s exposure to various kinds ofculturally and linguistically diverse worlds, in some of which a variety of conflicting
values with her faith are held, indirectly shaped Leila’s view of what an ideal Muslim
community should be.
Leila’s voices reveal a facet of a reality of 21st century where multilingual youth
exposed to the multicultural world are struggling for a firm core identity in spite of theimpossibility of integrating themselves in a traditional community, while trying to enter
already-existing wider global communities and simultaneously to construct a new, moregeneral core identity as a member of a better global community.

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