Investigating language and identity in cross-language narratives.

There has been increasing interest in English-language scholarship in recording the narratives of people who speak little or no English, including migrants. Researchers across the disciplines have shown how language both constructs and describes identity. In this article I examine the methodological and epistemological implications of changing the language in which narratives are presented. I argue that these are important in all cross-language research, since all researchers are responsible for how they present others in their work. Using migrant writing, some by Hoffman, I argue that many researchers do not address the implications of their involvement in producing identities within their narratives. They, in effect, assume that identity is constructed and presented in exactly the same way whatever language is involved, and that changes of language are unimportant. Finally, some developments in cross-language research are examined and the value of cross-disciplinary research is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]