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During the Armenian Genocide, the Ottoman Empire’s Young Turk government forcibly transferred and assimilated thousands of Armenian children into Turkish society. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War, Armenian and international bodies and individuals began to liberate the transferred children. However, they encountered resistance to child identification from both Turkish authorities and some of the children themselves. This study examines the efforts to bring back those child-survivors, many of whom, after being rescued, found it difficult to accept their Armenian identities following their traumatic ordeal. To analyse in what ways the liberated child-survivors were educated, this study investigates Tun magazine, prepared by the orphans of the Jbeil orphanage, and presents its history. Tun is a unique example of a student press that was guided by teachers, with the aim of reinforcing Armenianness in the students and returning them to their nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialogical and sociocultural perspectives propose the dialogical self and agency, respectively, as privileged constructs to account for the processes of personal change in education. However, the integrated study between both phenomena has rarely been addressed systematically in education to understand in greater depth how students and teachers construct their identity as learners and teachers. This special issue seeks to contribute to this research gap through the theoretical advances and empirical evidence presented by eight original articles. This introduction identifies the main contributions to education of the developments on the dialogical self and agency and, furthermore, defines the conceptual scopes and implications of their integration. Then, the structure of the special issue is described and a brief summary is presented of the content of the eight articles. Altogether, this issue is an invitation to capture and explain in more detail the originality, innovation and relative autonomy in the activity of students and teachers as they situate and position themselves and participate in educational practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well documented that motherhood influences gendered outcomes in work institutions. However, how paid work influences women's private sphere and sense of self remains unclear and could vary across societies. This article focuses on identity construction among 28 college‐educated stay‐at‐home mothers in Shanghai. The findings from semi‐structured, in‐depth interviews reveal tension negotiation and reconciliation within these mothers' multiple self‐identities. Despite choosing to voluntarily leave their paid jobs and become stay‐at‐home mothers, participants differentiated between their maternal identity and their stay‐at‐home mother identity; in particular, they perceived motherhood as more valuable and socially acceptable than the choice to be a stay‐at‐home mother (i.e., participants readily identified as mothers but hesitated to describe themselves as stay‐at‐home mothers). To avoid this tension and protect their self‐image, participants incorporated aspects of their previous working identity into their stay‐at‐home mother identity, such as taking part‐time jobs and framing their childrearing experience as a future career asset. The results help explain how the notion of work shapes women's self‐image, even when they leave the labor market. Overall, the findings reinforce mothering imperatives and identities and the need to understand them from a cross‐cultural perspective in relation to societal prevailing gender norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to reveal different stakeholders’ beliefs and opinions on heritage language maintenance and complementary schools in the Netherlands, namely those of parents, educators, and students. A case study was conducted at a Chinese school in the south of the Netherlands. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 respondents (N = 21) consisting of nine parents, eight educators, and four students. The results reveal that (1) Chinese parents value their children learning both Dutch and Mandarin due to economic, socio-cultural, and identity factors; (2) Heritage language maintenance is perceived by parents and educators as vital in ethnic grouping (sense of belonging), connection with the heritage culture, and for instrumental purposes. They also recognise Mandarin as a new diasporic linguistic standard replacing Cantonese; (3) Chinese parents view complementary schools as a platform to strengthen their ethnic bonding and community formation. Despite students’ perceptions of heritage language maintenance do not align with adults’ (parents and educators) views, their identity construction in complementary schools is in line with adults’ expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tribes have a distinct ethnic identity, which has been threatened by various social, economic, technological, and political forces after 1970s and 1980s. In such scenarios, the legislature has the obligation to provide tribes with certain safeguards to ensure their ability to endure the transformation. However, research suggests that even in situations where the nomadic tribes do not get much support from other groups or institutions, they explore and continue to maintain their identities to a great extent with strategically. Based on this premise, this study explored a similar situation in which the Nat, a peripatetic nomadic tribe in India, has been negotiating its distinctiveness in order to cope with societal pressures. To understand this process, the narratives of 26 Nat, both men and women, were analyzed using the social constructionism model and narrative thematic analysis. The findings of the study establish that Nat is a motivated community for livelihood generation that has adopted strategies across various social domains and diverse socio-economic contexts. These include shifting identities that are ‘dynamic’ in nature. It is through these strategies that the Nat continues to exist as a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on young Polish viewers living in Vienna, the capital city of Austria, and their reception of Turkish television series. This is an under-researched audience group. The analysis gives voice to viewers' comments through the use of semi-structured interviews to gain deep insight into their viewer experiences. The study introduces another, less-studied component of analysis by scrutinising the ways in which audiences deploy the media text of Turkish series in defining markers of their own self-identities. The analysis of this reveals ways in which viewers were able to negotiate their placement in diasporic lands and in cultural imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accusations of sexual perversion, of defying both the statutes of man and the laws of the almighty, have since Antiquity been a staple of heresiographic discourse. They had pride of place in Muslim heresiology as well, which charged many a heretical sect with engaging in group sex, incest, wine-drinking, as well as the shunning of the obligatory rituals such as prayer and pilgrimage. One group has fared particularly badly at the hands of Muslim heresiographers – the so-called Shiʿi 'extremists' (Ghulāt), who lived in Iraq in the eighth and ninth centuries. Scholarship has mostly taken a simplistic approach to accounts about their alleged antinomianism, by either rejecting them as hostile propaganda or, more frequently, by accepting them wholesale as accurate. Meanwhile the historical, polemical contexts in which such accusations were made have been ignored. This article evaluates within a broad historical context two bodies of evidence: the heresiographical accusations on the one hand, and the Ghulāt's own writings on the other. My contention is that while the most hair-raising accusations are nothing by hostile polemics, others do reflect the Ghulāt's actual beliefs and practices. I conclude by examining the cultural meanings which antinomianism had among the Ghulāt – namely, as boundary markers and tools for identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thailand is a country where ethnic diversity and multilingualism are deeply embedded in the cultural landscape, and understanding the construction of ethnic identity provides crucial insights into its social dynamics. This study investigates how ethnic identities are constructed and negotiated through multimodal resources within the linguistic landscape of Ban Arunotai, a multiethnic village in Chiang Mai. Utilizing a comprehensive multimodal framework, the research analyzes how public signage combines linguistic, visual, auditory, and spatial elements to articulate and reshape identity. The findings reveal a hierarchical structure of languages and modes, where dominant languages are visually prioritized, while minority languages serve more localized, symbolic functions. Moreover, a shift from static, monolingual systems to fluid, multilingual repertoires among speakers reflects broader sociocultural changes shaped by translanguaging practices. By framing public signs as dynamic resources in the active formation and reinforcement of ethnic identities, this study offers significant implications for understanding identity politics and social integration in multilingual settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the linguistic landscape (LL) of Wuzhen, an ancient town with a history of more than 2,000 years and became the permanent venue for the World Internet Conference in 2014. The LL of Wuzhen is influenced by various factors, including globalization, urbanization, the tourism industry, heritage conservation, and government planning. In light of this, the study has made several field investigations into Wuzhen, examining the LL of four different areas and capturing 1602 photos of signs. Simultaneously, semi-structured interviews are conducted with residents to discuss their perceptions of the local LL and identity. The findings indicate that Wuzhen reshapes its local public space through various semiotic practices, constructing multiple identities that integrate traditionality, modernity, and internationality. It has also been found that LL should be regarded as a crucial semiotic resource anchored in sociocultural and historical space, whose mobility in the context of globalization and urbanization provides more possibilities for identity construction and reconstruction in peripheral regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how teacher identity is shaped by professional standardisation and regulatory apparatuses in the context of English Further Education from a specifically spatial perspective. We focus on how these apparatuses erode teachers' sense of identity and, paradoxically, quality by establishing what anthropologist Marc Augé (1935–2023) calls 'non-places'. Drawing on interview data and Augé's spatial anthropology, we discuss how places can define, foster and erode identity and, thus, practice. Our data shows how teachers' accounts of their changing spatial experiences reflects the transient nature of their own interpretations of how identities are shaped in these shifting contexts of 'dis/placement' wherein the process of identity construction frequently places individuals in contact with another side of themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In families of children with a neurodisability, siblings have unique experiences that can shape their identity. There is limited information about the developmental process of how siblings form their identity. This study aims to understand the identity construction of young siblings who have a sibling with a neurodisability. Methods: As part of a patient‐oriented research program, we engaged with our Sibling Youth Advisory Council in Canada. In this qualitative case study, data from semi‐structured interviews augmented by photo elicitation and graphic elicitation of relational maps were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Nineteen sibling participants (median age = 19 years, range = 14–33 years) reflected on the uniqueness of their role during childhood. During adolescence and emerging adulthood, they became closer with their sibling with a neurodisability and increased communication with their parents about how to care for their sibling with a neurodisability. These experiences influenced how they explored and began to reconcile their sibling identity with their professional and social identities. Conclusion: Siblings of youth with a neurodisability discover their unique identity and require support in this developmental process. Future interventions could evaluate how supports for siblings can have an impact on the positive development of their identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores pre-modern Chinese intellectuals' identity construction through the choice of self-referring forms in their letters home. Based on a case study of Hu Shih's letters home, it categorizes the self-referring forms he used and self-identities he constructed, and further investigates the underlying sociocultural factors. It shows that Hu Shih employed four categories of self-referring forms, namely first-person pronouns, kinship terms, names, nicknames, and pen names, and appositive expressions. With these forms of self-reference, he constructed himself as a kin member, an independent person, and a scholar. Hu's construction of the first self-identity might have been influenced by the traditional family ethics and ideology prevalent within Chinese social structure, whereas that of the other two could be ascribed to the emerging social changes at the historical turning point, and scholarly principles. The study provides a new perspective for understanding traditional Chinese intellectuals' letters home in the pre-modern society of China. • Traditional Chinese intellectuals constructed varied self-identities in their letters home. • They employed various self-referring forms for self identity construction. • Their identity construction had communicative and sociocultural underpinnings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small, two-verse interpolation of Ezekiel 47:22-23 is widely considered one of the most inclusive texts in the Hebrew Bible. Its instruction regarding the גרים allowed for full inclusion into the community that Ezekiel believed to be the true Israel. However, interpretations that view these verses as hyper-inclusive often view the גרים as foreigners. Such a view is largely based on understanding the term גר along linguistic rather than anthropological lines. This paper will explore the use of the term גר in both Ezekiel and the Holiness School to better understand the group envisioned by the author of Ezekiel 47:22-23. In so doing, I will demonstrate that these verses should not be understood simply along a binary of inclusive versus exclusive, but rather as part of a larger project of identity reformulation that occurred as part of a trauma process around the Babylonian exile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pragmatic marker ha 哈 in Mandarin, has little meaning in itself; while some studies have looked into its usage in spoken discourse, we seek to address its usage and unpack its specific interpersonal pragmatic function in online, private, dyadic discourse, itself an underexplored area, and a setting in which participants are free from public scrutiny, unlike on mass social media. The results demonstrate that it can be attached to clauses and sentences to show the affect of the writer, from indicating a jocular and playful tone to softening a request. Therefore, ha is used as a way to express different types of rapport orientations and positive self-presentation. By drawing on personal WeChat messages, this paper bridges the gap by focusing on ha in technologically-mediated conversation. The expanding usage of ha also suggests a wish to create linguistic forms which can act as substitutes for non-verbal communication features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has adopted preferential policies, such as the Ethnic Preparatory Education Program, to promote the opportunities of ethnic minority students from underdeveloped regions to receive high-quality education, which has caused great tension in the identity construction of these students. This study adopted a qualitative narrative inquiry approach to investigate the investments and identity construction of three ethnic minority preparatory undergraduates (EMPUs) throughout their language learning process in the preparatory stage. The findings indicate that these participants have shown varying types and degrees of investment in language learning and constructed dynamic identity as a trajectory influenced by their language learning experiences in various contexts. Their language investment and identity construction have an impact on one another and are shaped by their aspiration to participate in an imagined community and realise an imagined identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the life-stories and identity narratives of Turks of Western Thrace (Greece) focusing on the role of the Turkish–Greek border and its changing permeability. It suggests that people who have strong attachments to both sides of a national border experience spatial liminality and the border is a place of passage between not only territories, but also lived identities. For young Turks of Western Thrace, travelling to Turkey to work or study is an established strategy that is intertwined with major life events. Drawing on ride-along interviews and focusing on five participants, who travelled to Turkey during the Cyprus crisis, the article identifies the disciplinary power of bordering on identities and life-stories. By examining how different individuals dealt with this power, and how their circumstances affected the outcomes, it explores the tensions between agency and structure, state power and resistance, and categorisation and liminality during life-planning and identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrants have largely been viewed as forging solidaristic relationships in host countries as a response to unwelcoming attitudes from local populations. Yet, because they are gendered social actors embedded in multiple and diverse relationships within these contexts, they engage in identity constructions that sometimes result in contestations among them. In this article I show how divergent constructions of masculine respectability disrupt relations among African migrant men in Johannesburg. Based on individual in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 20 young men from Ghana, Nigeria, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I show that common beliefs about the provider role allow for homosocial bonding among them. However, in mobilising elements of distinction hinged on multiple intersectionalities such as age, marital and fatherhood statuses, work ethic around industriousness and laziness, class and economic hierarchisation, and educational levels, the men create and co-create each other as respectable entities, resulting in intra- and intergroup contestations. These findings contribute to research on men and African migration by exposing the complexities in migrant–migrant relations in the social spaces that masculine identities occupy in host countries. The article also nuances dominant narratives of local–migrant masculine contestations, particularly those associated with xenophobic attitudes in South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs a narrative inquiry approach to explore the language experiences and identity formation of an international student from China within a multilingual university in Germany. Drawing on the poststructuralist theory of identity, critical ethnographic sociolinguistic (CES) studies, and language ideologies, the study reveals that her language practices and identity construction evolve across diverse contexts. Her narratives also highlight the significant mediating role of language ideologies in shaping her situated identity construction and language practices, including the relationship between English proficiency and L1 speakers of English, English as a lingua franca (ELF), the association between language and ethnicity, as well as the relationship between German proficiency and the local/foreign student separation. This study advances our comprehension of the intricate interplay between identity formation, language practices and different language ideologies as they manifest in the lived experiences of international students amidst the backdrop of multilingualism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Just as there are hundreds of definitions of the concept 'culture', the concept 'cultural identity' has been greatly influenced by this confusion too.The very different qualifications and conceptualizations proposed to explain the notion of cultural identity put forward a dual classification where similar of qualifications come together. These are include approaches those who see more fixed and ascribed to cultural identity with those who see more flexible and processual to it. The nation states of the modernism product due to the nature of the see fixed and ascribed to cultural identity and put forward of essentialist/homogenizer identity politics. On the other hand, postmodernity also threatens the nation state's approach to essentialist identity, which, in addition to being more flexible and processual in its own nature, put forward fragmented identity approaches. Another approach to the description of identity is the subjectivist and objectivist approach. This classification is different from the traditionalist (essentialist)- innovative (flexible) approach to cultural identity and tackle in the context of personality and from a wider perspective the identity. One of the most important sociological theories within the objectivist approach is known as the constructivist approach. It emphasizes the dialectical relationship between internal and external dynamics (action and structure in a sense) in the construction of identity (reality in a sense). In summary, the constructivist approach argues that neither structure nor action unilaterally have a decisive effect on the construction of reality, but the construction of identity/reality emerges with the dialectical relationship between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English medium instruction (EMI) has now become a ubiquitous education phenomenon due to the driving force of globalization and the prospective socioeconomic benefits associated with English proficiency. Although expanding rapidly in higher education, EMI in secondary education is a much less researched area. Specifically, EMI teachers' agency in the implementation of EMI has remained relatively less known. This study, informed by an extended framework on teacher agency, seeks to investigate how such agency has been manifested while the EMI teachers address various tensions and contradictions in the course of implementing EMI. Drawing on qualitative interviews and classroom observations in an international high school in Shenzhen, China, it reveals that the participants have exhibited moderately high levels of agency by constructing themselves as translanguagers who orchestrate different languages and meaning-making resources, jugglers of the roles of content teachers and L2 teachers, as well as duty-bond multicultural educators who negotiate the international curriculum to accommodate local educational and cultural mandates. The study calls for reconceptualizing EMI as a translanguaging space for the teachers to act as culturally responsive agents qua multilingual educators featuring multiple identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the categories, strategies, and cultural driving forces behind identity constructions of parents in Chinese weddings, by examining naturally occurring wedding speeches in popular short video and audio-visual platforms. The results reveal that, first, parents as the speechmaker mainly construct the emotion-oriented personal identity, connection-built relational identity, and sociality-driven interactional identity; second, these identities are primarily constructed through the usage of vocatives, personal indexicals, metaphors, and speech acts (e.g. expressives, declaratives, directives, and commisives). Additionally, the identity construction of parents is deeply motivated by ' Li ' as a set of ethical norms in Chinese culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today in Russia, there is a growing number of anti-abortion policies even though the birth rate is not a key factor affecting the demographic situation in the country. In this article, I investigate how the anti-abortion discourse is constructed in the media. For this purpose, I analyse a dataset of 5 hour-long episodes of the tabloid talk show Pust' Govoriat. More specifically, the aim of this article is twofold. I seek to demonstrate to what extent the discourse displayed in the show is shaped and shapes by the Russian government's family policies and, consequently, public opinion. On the other side, I aim to understand how speakers verbally and non-verbally negotiate morality, norms, gender roles and identities to negotiate if abortion is acceptable or not. I advocate that the tabloid talk show, like many other state-funded media products in Russia, is utilised as a government's tool for anti-abortion propaganda and depoliticisation of social problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore how English language teachers construct and enact their teacher identities. The data was collected through semi‐structured interviews with four in‐service English language teachers at Turkish public schools. The findings revealed certain identity stabilizers: the fascination with subject and the job, caring for students and the relationships with students and former teachers. Although the teachers took two distinctive pathways—the meant to be route and the higher education route—the job experiences of those taking the same route to teaching were quite different. Varying levels of exersion of teacher agency to attain alignment between imagined and actual identities and rare opportunities for legitimate participation and job socialization were effective in the actualization of personal and professional values distinctively. The findings enhance our understanding of how teacher identity is contextually and relationally constructed and offer implications for teacher education and sustainable identity‐oriented professional learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the introduction and indigenisation of western ice sports in modern China, unpacking their socio-cultural implications and intersection with nationalism. Utilising historical records, this paper employs a perspective centred on Chinese society, emphasising the nuanced adaptation and incorporation of these sports within the distinct socio-cultural landscape of China. This perspective reveals the significant role ice sports played in shaping modern self-identity among Chinese youth, driving societal change, and highlighting the confluence of athletics and nationalism during the Republican period. Furthermore, the paper underscores how ice sports in modern China mirrored larger societal dynamics of assimilation, adaptation, and redefinition, culminating in an enriched local culture that symbolises China’s resilience and adaptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Representations of adoptions tend to concentrate on normatively conceived forms of identity, which prioritize the genetic lineage of adoptees. In contrast, scholarship on autobiographical writing emphasizes that identities are not fixed but are always in process and intersectional because they are formed in within inequal power relations. Kay's experimental, autobiographical narrative Red Dust Road (2010) tackles the themes of adoption, the search for close relatives, and reunion. Many scholars of her autobiographical writings describe the fluidity of the diasporic adoptee identities created by her. My aim is more specific: I examine what I call Kay's continuously mobile, processual identity construction as a transracial adoptee in Red Dust Road. I argue that her identity formation, which is also intersectional, is interconnected with her multidirectional networks of attachments and the experimental form of her adoption narrative. In addition to an intersectional approach and autobiographical studies, I draw on insights from adoption studies. In my reading of Kay's work, I pay special attention to the inequalities derived from the intersecting vectors of adoption and race, which also intersect with other dimensions of difference, such as nation, gender, class, and sexual orientation. I employ the notion of the multidirectional in the sense in which McLeod applies it to the study of adoption writing. As I demonstrate, multidirectionality and the complex form of Red Dust Road provide versatile means of conveying Kay's fragmented acts of memory, which assist her ongoing mobile, processual identity construction. Her multidirectional lines of transformative attachments finally bond her to her adoptive and biogenetic families as well as other affective connections. While Kay's socially significant narrative indicates, amongst other adoption issues, that transracial adoptions can be successful, it is significant that it has no closure. The last chapter gestures toward potential new beginnings, which indicates that the story of adoption has no end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identity construction is an integral developmental task for adolescents and young adults (AYA). The intersection of deaf identity and disabling hearing loss (DHL) adds a layer to the complex process of identity construction. Aim: This literature review highlights the self-ascribed deaf identities of AYA and seeks to understand how AYA with DHL forge these identities. Knowledge areas for prospective research and practice are uncovered. Method: A traditional literature review of qualitative empirical evidence on AYA's accounts of their deaf identity construction was conducted on seminal literature and peer-reviewed journals in psychology, disability studies and deaf studies. Results: The emerging self-ascribed deaf identities of AYA are diverse. The identities include Deaf, hearing, hard-of-hearing (HOH), bicultural HOH, identities that detach from disability, bicultural DeaF, unresolved and fluid identities. Complex trade-offs exist where the construction of certain identities forgoes certain reasonable accommodations, interventions or relations that are critical for personal development and wellbeing. Conclusion: Current literature orients deaf identity formation around hearing status and Deaf-hearing communal dynamics. In-depth research comprising facets of AYA's personal, enacted and relational identities is required to conscientise rehabilitation professionals about the nuances of deaf identity issues and how to develop interventions that are supportive and responsive to the clinical and psychosocial challenges of AYA with DHL. Contribution: This paper deviates from the d/Deaf identity dichotomy, revealing a spectrum of deaf identities that AYA forge. The rationales of AYA's deaf identities, underlying processes and possible vulnerable identities are unpacked. Recommendations for prospective research pertaining to identity construction among deaf AYA are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteers provide essential services to community sport organizations; thus, it is important to understand the underlying factors in successful volunteer–organization relationships. Organizational identification, an integral component of relationship building for members in an organization, is a useful yet underutilized concept to understand how and why volunteers create lasting, deep relationships with sport organizations. This research utilizes a sequential mixed-method design to examine the evolution of organizational identification among volunteers in a community sport organization. The survey results indicate that new volunteers formed their organizational identification over the course of a single program season, such that, by the end of the season, they were similar to returners. Subsequent qualitative analysis of focus group data indicated that the content and evolution of organizational identities varied for newcomers and returners. These results provide important contributions related to the ongoing nature of identity work of volunteers and offer practical implications for volunteer management within community sport organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a scarcity of scholarship that sheds light on international doctoral students' identity construction in quotidian encounters beyond the formal curriculum. In this autoethnographic study, based on my diary entries, via a socio-constructivist lens, I teased out my multidimensional identity construction by referring to situations, activities and relations embedded in daily experiences during my overseas study sojourn. My autoethnography reveals that how I make sense of my becoming and being as a Chinese sojourning in Australia for doctoral education transcends the experientiality of doing research alone, but incorporates gendered, sociocultural and professional facets within my past-present-future life trajectory. As I navigated these encounters, strategically mobilising my agency and utilising structural contexts towards the aim of achieving ontological security, I engaged in negotiating a transformative identity. The research calls for more studies in the future that explore the complexities and nuances of international doctoral students' identity construction in quotidian realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the face of globalization and diversity in the United Arab Emirates, the post-oil generation of Emiratis face unique challenges in navigating their cultural and national identities. Previously published research and scholarly works have engaged in complex discourse around Emirati identities, describing them as a population with similar genealogical backgrounds, ancestry, history, and cultural values. However, the element of heterogeneity among Emiratis remains highly under-examined. This research paper will examine the experiences of Emiratis with dual identities in the UAE, investigating their perceptions, attitudes, and narratives on being labeled as the "other" by their compatriots; exploring the spaces where hybrid Emiratis, locally known as "halfies", choose to reveal and conceal their multiplicity. In order to examine this complex socio-cultural phenomenon, semi-structured interviews with twenty Emiratis with twin identities were employed for this empirical study. The examination of the interviews uncovered the difficulties that individuals with mixed heritage encounter, as well as their strategies for overcoming these obstacles in order to find acceptance in a society that values a shared national identity. The research findings contribute to the scholarship of Emirati identity construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of teachers’ cognitive processes has received considerable attention in the past decades. However, the scope of research on the way teachers cognitively represent and understand emotions and how such representations relate to the sociocultural particularities shaping their identities demands further attention. Inspired by the phenomenographic approach, the present study sought to examine how Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers represent emotionally charged prompts through metaphors. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews in which 17 EFL teachers were asked to represent fear, sadness, anger, and happiness emotions through metaphors. The analysis of the qualitative data indicated that the teachers used metaphors that instantiated the interconnection between emotions and sociocultural particularities of teaching. Moreover, despite the exclusive directionality of the metaphors used to characterise sadness, fear, and happiness, the teachers described anger bi-modally via both positive and negative metaphors. The findings of the study emphasise the mediating role of contextual idiosyncrasies in shaping the metaphors teachers draw on to characterise emotions. These findings may have some significant implications for teacher educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Swearing is a risky interactional activity but has also been shown to have great potential for fostering social cohesion and positive relations in professional communication. It is particularly interesting to observe in intercultural and multilingual team interactions, where on the one hand attitudes and practices around swearing are likely to differ and on the other, the need to foster positive relations is more pressing given that social cohesion in diverse teams tends to be lower (Stahl et al., 2010). This study accordingly investigates the social practices co-constructed around swearing in one multilingual and intercultural team. Drawing on 25 h of audio-recorded data collected over 9 months, the analysis explores the contexts, forms, and functions of swearing in team meetings and illustrates how swearing is used strategically to construct powerful speaker and team identities while simultaneously promoting in-group solidarity. At the same time, the findings indicate that this is not without risk, as others can and do resist such identity constructions, especially when they do not foster in-group solidarity. Team members co-constructed a narrow set of norms that guide swearing behaviour and its acceptability in the team, demonstrating pragmatic competence and sensitivity in this process. • L2 speakers of various proficiencies display great pragmatic competence in swearing. • Swearing is principally used in professional team interaction to foster solidarity. • Swearing follows a narrow set of co-constructed norms to be rapport enhancing. • Swearing outside of co-constructed norms has negative consequences for the speaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across the world, many university-based early career researchers (ECRs) are experiencing an unprecedented intensification of research expectations on transition from doctoral research to academic life. Countries such as Australia have put into place national frameworks of research excellence to remain globally competitive. Pressure on universities to elevate global research rankings has soared, with many regional universities and disciplines such as education responding with a rapid escalation of research performance expectations for academics. Consequently, concerns have been raised for ECRs embroiled in intensified research agendas in these contexts. Framed by concepts of liminality and identity construction, we argue that intensified expectations do not take account of liminality experienced by ECRs during times of transition, compromising perceived academic progress. We report on the identity journeys of ECRs in a School of Education at one regional Australian university. Data was collected from nine ECRs using online focus groups and analysed using a hybrid thematic approach. Key findings indicate that ECRs transition into the Academy post-doctorate with varying experiences of identity liminality that impact their capacity to manage research expectations. ECRs experiencing shorter periods of liminality are best positioned to manage the intensified expectations of academic life while ECRs experiencing persistent liminality and identity 'struggle' are more likely to perceive a diminished sense of achievement and support. These findings have significant implications for university leadership and research supervisors, in Australia and globally, regarding the ways they support ECRs to productively navigate the hyper-invigilated audit cultures of what we have termed the neo-academy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the change in family structures, consumption dynamics also changed, and people consume for the construction of identity and belonging beyond providing their needs can be put forward as the main problematization of the article. Starting from that, the aim of the article is to analyze the changing consumption dynamics in the historical process, the changes in family structures and the effects of these changes on purchasing and consumption practices, the ways in which the practices of ownership and consumption are used for identity construction through advertisements, through commercials. In the article, the text analysis was made using the qualitative content analysis method, and the patterns and themes that construct the identities in the advertisements and determine the purchasing dynamics in the family were determined. A total of 16 commercials, which were broadcasted from 1980s to the present (2023), were analyzed using the "purposive sampling" method, including the advertisements of product categories such as cars, jewelry, watches, household goods, white goods, cleaning, and food materials. It has been determined that parallel to the change in the family structure in the society, there are also transformations in the family structures in the advertisements; the roles in the purchasing decision and action within the family have also changed with this transformation. It was revealed in the article that advertisements promise that individuals will reach a certain status within the society or group they belong to, especially by driving a certain brand of car or wearing a certain brand of watch or jewelry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By analysing 600 Instagram posts that use mental health related hashtags, this article investigates how mental health communication and support practices are enacted on Instagram, and how such practices relate to the perceptible affordances and hegemonic uses of the service. The article demonstrates how Instagram tends to privilege casual snapshots of individual recovery, in line with broader discourses of positive thinking and individual responsibility. Whereas this hegemonic way of using the service may be functional for many users, three examples of negotiated and oppositional use are also discussed in the article: motivational picture quotes, text-rich posts, and non-recovery oriented posts. It is suggested that different ways of imagining and approaching the affordances of the service engender different patterns of support practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers issues around identity for teaching assistants (TAs) in mainstream English primary schools. We discuss the concomitant problems TAs experience around role definition and role-creep as well as the challenges inherent in equivocally defining their evolving and flexible role. We used key themes drawn from the literature considered to suggest that professional identity is broadly socially, relationally and contextually dependent, changeable and multifaceted. We then explore how these terms relate to the work and roles TAs undertake in school. The paper concludes with recommendations for schools to support the development of a contextually relevant identity for TAs so the flexibility in their role can be advantageous for TAs, teachers and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on artificial intelligence and big data, digital identity pushes the construction and identity of self and others in social relations to an unprecedented challenging situation. Different from natural identity, the relation pattern of digital identity is not just invisible, or the internal relation form established solely based on personal feelings or the entity label formed by others' judgment. Digital identity, as an individual action track, is presented in time and space dimensions, showing the relation pattern of individual action. In the face of these challenges, we need to go back to the source of identity construction to analyze whether digital identity has broken through or changed the natural identity construction system, therefore, it is inevitable to study the relation generation basis of digital identity construction from the philosophical foundation. Firstly, this paper reviews the concept and development of digital identity and natural identity, and points out that the similarity of digital identity and natural identity is the collection of personal information. Digital identity is a strengthened version of natural identity's collection of personal information. Traditional interpersonal communication and identity evaluation rely on individuals' integration of partial characteristic information of others, while digital identity directly presents all information of individuals. The difference lies in the different ways of presenting identity relations. Digital identity is presented as a kind of resource, while natural identity is more presented as a relation in life practice, which is manifested in different ways of production, meaning and identification. This paper analyzes the two relation forms of digital identity construction from the perspective of contrast between Chinese and Western philosophy, and points out that situation and reason are the basis of the relation form of Chinese and Western digital identity, but they do not indicate the position of relation in identity construction. Both Chinese and Western identity construction pay attention to the basis of relation form, but the emphasis of identity dimension is different. There are three dimensions in the form generation of digital identity relations: integration, reciprocity and pluralism. Digital identity relations show immanence, externality, ubiquity and dynamics, which explains the receptive problems faced by digital identity and the reasons why digital identity poses challenges to social relations. From the perspective of application, it is pointed out that digital identity is beneficial to the preservation of individual relation network information and the optimal management of social relation, but also brings the alienation of individual relation and the breakdown of social relation. The limit of the development of digital identity should be judged by maintaining the relation of natural identity. For digital security, we can guarantee the security of digital identity by providing two main paths: independent construction and complete preservation. Compared with previous literature, this paper makes further expansion in the following three aspects: firstly, different from the traditional Western identity division into rational relations, Chinese identity division falls into emotional relations. This paper points out that both Chinese and Western identity divisions pay attention to the interaction of emotion and reason, but the generation of relation is based on emotion as a transcendental logic or reason as a transcendental logic. Emotion-based identity construction emphasizes the separation of affinity and estrangement, social identity and relation priority, while reason-based identity emphasizes the internal logical relation, self-identity and entity priority in identity construction. Secondly, it pays more attention to the generation process and characteristics of digital identity from the perspective of identity generation and development, and finds out the presentation rules and reception differences of digital identity construction in Chinese and Western cultures, so as to point out the advantages and disadvantages as well as limits of digital identity development. Thirdly, it analyzes the commonality and individuality of digital identity and natural identity, and the limit of the development of digital identity should be judged by the relation between the maintenance of natural identity. Digital identity will gradually become a part of life, and the relation basis of identity is a process of gradual generation. It is necessary to explore the new digital identity constructed on the basis of humanistic care and the construction of new social relations involved in digital identity. To some extent, the research of this paper reveals different internal logical and philosophical roots of the application scopes, ways and reception degrees of digital identities in China and the West, which is conducive to a clearer understanding of the connotation, characteristics and future development trend of digital identities, and helps to prevent the arbitrary change and abuse of digital identities in the application process. It provides suggestions for government departments to manage and use digital identities more reasonably and efficiently in the future, and suggestions for laws, technology research and development related to digital identities as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: The study explores the emotional experiences of a mother and son during the re-introduction of the heritage language at age 6, following a 2-year hiatus. In particular, it seeks to highlight the affordances of a collaborative, emotionally sensitive approach to family language policy, with parent and child jointly incorporating and acknowledging aspects of the child's identity development. Methodology: Adopting an autoethnographic approach, mother and son kept a joint research diary where critical incidents (as chosen by either one or both) were written down as verbatim as possible, and subsequently reflected on together, with reflections again entered into the diary. Data and analysis: Data were coded according to various emotions (frustration, pride, joy, love, guilt, etc.) as well as a code linked to identity development. These were then thematically analysed. Findings and conclusion: Parent–child collaboration and facilitation of child agency have a positive impact on a child's attitude towards learning the heritage language. Jointly sharing and reflecting on the emotional journey of growing up bilingual and bringing up a bilingual child affords both parent and child an insight into each other's concerns, charting a path towards a collaborative approach to family language policy development. Originality: The study is the first officially documented long-term study focusing on the reversal of familial language shift which provides emotional and language-related data from both parent and child, as part of a complex tapestry of emotion, identity, language, and parent–child relationship. Significance and Implications: Recommendations are made for children to be more actively involved in family language policy research, taking into account their emotional links to, and experiences with, various aspects of language use. In addition, a focus on emotions can assist in a better understanding of the links between language and identity, giving children and parents the space to reflect on and articulate their different points of view, shaping family language policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What is Chinese nationalism? Is nationalism the most effective framework for understanding how people in China are making sense of the world today? These are among the questions raised by Allen Carlson in his 2009 article 'A flawed perspective: the limitations inherent within the study of Chinese nationalism', which developed a provocative critique of decades of scholarship. Acknowledging the insights of Carlton's questions while disagreeing with his proposed conceptual shift towards national identity construction, I propose a further shift towards national identity deconstruction. In doing so, I combine the political insights of Hong Kong nationalists with the theoretical insights of deconstruction. This shift redirects the study of Chinese nationalism away from an abstract conceptualisation of nationalism to a more precise definition of the phenomena under study, as well as moving the debate on potential impacts away from international relations to consideration of the complex dynamics of China's ethnic politics. New definitions of both nationalism and minzu (of minzu zhuyi) are developed, reconceptualising the phenomena heretofore known as 'Chinese nationalism' as external symptoms of underlying tensions between conflicting identity narratives. In conclusion, the practical implications of this reconceptualisation are considered, exploring potential future paths for the People's Republic of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on podcasts produced in Turkey that incorporate queer culture and experiences by exploring the dynamics of podcasting as an alternative broadcast medium. We examined six podcasts consisting of conversations focused on queer culture and issues, with at least ten episodes distributed. We conducted qualitative in-depth interviews with nine participants – at least one representative of each podcast. We found that the programmes, as effective alternative publicizing channels of solidarity, make personal experiences audible. Queer podcasts in Turkey demonstrate the characteristics of alternative media, being carriers of non-hegemonic discourse and representations, and their organizational forms and structures support audience participation. On the other hand, the distribution channels of the content are commercial and not independent on state or market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This mixed‐methods study explores the efficacy of a multidimensional identity measurement tool that aims to represent the diverse language experiences of heritage language learners (HLLs) and heritage language speakers (HLSs). Drawing on the thematic commonalities across 13 definitions of HLLs, a questionnaire was developed to capture age of acquisition, self‐reported proficiency level, home exposure, language maintenance efforts, and cultural and familial ties to the heritage community. Questionnaire data spanning HLSs (N = 135) of 41 heritage languages were submitted to K‐means cluster analysis to investigate identity‐based trends across respondents. Interviews (n = 10) and autobiographical essays (n = 4) from a subset of respondents from each resulting cluster were thematically analyzed and used to corroborate descriptive HLS profiles from cluster analysis results. Three HLS profiles emerged from the data set, and their defining characteristics (based on the five HLL identity themes) illustrate the complex interplay of language, culture, family, and education within the HLS population. Qualitative analysis of respondents' perspectives highlights the challenges of quantitatively measuring inherently qualitative experiences. The study concludes with implications for how questionnaire‐based instruments derived from bottom‐up statistical analyses can be leveraged in future research, advancing the agendas of linguists and educators to better understand and support HLSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses identity construction in İstiklal Marşı ("Independence March"), the national anthem of the Republic of Turkey, within the theoretical framework of Eurocentric nation-state rhetoric. It argues that the continuing success of the text, written by Mehmet Akif [Ersoy] in 1921, is independent of the ideological stand of its author, and lies instead in its conveyance of a modern nation-state identity. In order to demonstrate this, the article first depicts the circumstances of the adoption of the national anthem and its immediate reception in Turkey. Afterwards, it examines identity construction in the anthem and reveals that the war against European forces determined the self-perception of the nation by both the negation and mirroring of the other. It concludes that, by foregrounding certain elements such as l'esprit frondeur and faith, and by interpreting the convention of Ottoman Divan poetry, the poet infused the cultural and aesthetic legacy of the past into the future needs of a nation-state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-way immersion dual language education program design includes the use of language labels to identify students as either the English speaker or the speaker of a language other than English. This paper examines four focal student and two teacher interviews to consider the ways in which the idea of a 'language expert' transpired during individual student retrospective interviews. Data include video and audio recordings of student and teacher interviews, classroom observations of student interactions during their kindergarten, first and second grade years. This study draws from a raciolinguistic perspective to explore how power operates in sites where the categorization of language and race are negotiated. A distinctive goal of this paper includes understanding the ways in which students were perceived by their peers and classroom teachers as language learners in order to understand how power relations operated as the school demographics were changing. Findings indicate that race was entwined with social class and language in the ways students perceived one another. Implications for teacher education programs include raising an awareness of how teachers can both mitigate and shift power relations in culturally, ethnically and linguistically diverse contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how second-grade students in a Spanish/English two-way immersion (TWI) program make sense of becoming bilingual. Drawing upon the expanded model of investment theory, I examine how and why students in this classroom "invest" in their emerging bilingualism, attending to the similarities and differences in the sense-making of Latinx students and their non-Latinx peers. Findings reveal that students across linguistic backgrounds held similar understandings of the perceived benefits of bilingualism, including bilingualism for global citizenship, to help others, and to increase their employment opportunities. Students sense-making differed, however, when it came to the uniqueness of the bilingual experience. That is, among White English home language students, there was a shared discourse of bilingual exceptionalism—their bilingualism making them 'feel special,' as if they had 'a secret language'—while Latinx students framed bilingualism as a 'normal' phenomenon. I consider these findings in relation to systemic patterns of control and spaces of resistance and discuss implications for fostering and sustaining equitable models of bilingual education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) peer tutors' discursive behavior to manage epistemic challenges in writing tutorials at a local university in China's Mainland. Based on approximately 24 h of audio-recorded interactions involving eight tutorial groups over six weeks, we searched different types of epistemic challenges to Chinese EFL peer tutors and explored how they managed them discursively. Our findings, in adopting a CA (Conversational Analysis) approach, show that Chinese EFL peer tutors mainly experience two types of epistemic challenges – the language proficiency-based challenges and the resistance-based challenges. They construct different identities to cope with these challenges – EFL learners, careless but competent tutors, and authoritative and trustworthy experts. These practices are realized through valuable pragma-linguistic devices, including advising and assessing speech acts, deontic modality, self-mocking expressions, imperative and assertive tones, narrative discourse, and smiley voice and laughter. These findings highlight the need for writing center instructors to follow tutor training guides suitable for EFL peer tutors instead of following a universal training recipe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identity construction is an integral developmental task for adolescents and young adults (AYA). The intersection of deaf identity and disabling hearing loss (DHL) adds a layer to the complex process of identity construction. Aim: This literature review highlights the self-ascribed deaf identities of AYA and seeks to understand how AYA with DHL forge these identities. Knowledge areas for prospective research and practice are uncovered. Method: A traditional literature review of qualitative empirical evidence on AYA's accounts of their deaf identity construction was conducted on seminal literature and peer-reviewed journals in psychology, disability studies and deaf studies. Results: The emerging self-ascribed deaf identities of AYA are diverse. The identities include Deaf, hearing, hard-of-hearing (HOH), bicultural HOH, identities that detach from disability, bicultural DeaF, unresolved and fluid identities. Complex trade-offs exist where the construction of certain identities forgoes certain reasonable accommodations, interventions or relations that are critical for personal development and wellbeing. Conclusion: Current literature orients deaf identity formation around hearing status and Deaf-hearing communal dynamics. In-depth research comprising facets of AYA's personal, enacted and relational identities is required to conscientise rehabilitation professionals about the nuances of deaf identity issues and how to develop interventions that are supportive and responsive to the clinical and psychosocial challenges of AYA with DHL. Contribution: This paper deviates from the d/Deaf identity dichotomy, revealing a spectrum of deaf identities that AYA forge. The rationales of AYA's deaf identities, underlying processes and possible vulnerable identities are unpacked. Recommendations for prospective research pertaining to identity construction among deaf AYA are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is a case study of the cultural gendered professional identity construction of an educational leader contextualised by an ethnically diverse and multilingual UK University language centre. The leadership identity of the female participant is co-constructed by the researcher through narrative-in-interaction to reveal its dilemmatic nature, being agentive and influenced by external forces and being unique vis-a-vis belonging to the wider community, staying the same and being subject to change. The study is presented within a Post Structuralist framework and views discourse as a means of identity construction. The implicit and explicit identity claims are elicited through small story analysis at three levels of positioning – against story actors, against the interlocutor and in relation to global discourses to ensure the best scrutiny of multiple and contradictory identity claims. The article gives voice to the underrepresented ethnic minority of female educational leaders by revealing boundaries to leadership identity development against discourses of gender ideology, marriage, ethnicity, migration, illness, death, work/life balance, professional success, and leadership learning. It also aims to contribute to the body of research on small story and positioning analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A region’s identity is closely related to its semiotic landscape as well as history, economy and culture. This article explores the linguistic landscape of Jianghan Road, a historical business centre in Wuhan, P. R. China, by photographing and analysing 1308 official and unofficial signs in order to provide a snapshot of language choice and identity construction with economic, cultural and political considerations. A semi-structured interview was also undertaken with local people to elucidate their choices and perceptions of different linguistic codes on the signs. It has been found that identity construction of this street has undergone a conflicting and complex process due to its multiple identities as a former concession area, a commercial street and a modern tourist site. English plays a prominent role for decoration, modernity, internationalisation and other commercial purposes, especially on bottom-up signboards while Chinese, with traditional forms and local variants, not only performs the informative function but also demonstrates cultural identification and historical uniqueness. The language choice on signboards reflects this old neighbourhood’s continuous exploration of its identity and positioning in the modern era. This article sheds light on the ongoing research of linguistic landscape in central China and similar places in other Expanding Circle regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]