Arabic-L:LING:New Dissertation

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Wed 02 May 2007
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1) Subject:New Dissertation

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1)
Date: 002 May 2007
From:reposted from LINGUIST
Subject:New Dissertation


Institution: Northeastern IIllinois University
Program: MA in Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2007

Author: Omaima M. Ayoub

Dissertation Title: Hybrid Identity Construction: A case study of a Sufi
immigrant

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis
                      Sociolinguistics


Dissertation Director(s):
Richard Hallett
Judith Kaplan-Weinger
Shahrzad Mahootian

Dissertation Abstract:

This study investigates the relationship between language and culture in
the case of a college instructor whose identity is a blend of three
different identities (Sufi Muslim, Arab, and American); each of which is
unique in the way it influences the other identities as well as the
informant's worldviews. The present study explores how an immigrant, who
has been living in the U.S. for eight years, reconciles his three
identities. Thus, the following questions are posed: per this case  
study,
how do one's native language and culture influence the construction  
of his
hybrid identity as he attempts to acquire the language and culture of  
a new
society, and how is this influence reflected in the informant's language
choice and use? The researcher used the following as discourse data:  
1) a
lecture and a town-hall meeting in which the informant participated  
at his
workplace, and 2) three interviews with the informant. Then, the
interviews, lecture, and town-hall meeting were analyzed with focus on
specific referents (e.g., influential people, Holy Qur'an, etc),  
anecdotes,
worldviews, sentences, phrases, and words that made his discourse a
reflection of his Sufi, Arab, and American identities. The findings shed
some light on how an immigrant's native language and culture  
influence the
construction of his hybrid identity as he functions in different social
scenes; this hybrid identity develops in correlation with greater
enculturation within American society. The findings also show that, per
this case study, the Sufi and Arab identities tend to dominate the  
American
one in these social scenes. Finally, the current study elucidates how a
bilingual's linguistic competence converts to communicative  
competence and
thus helps the immigrant function in the new society.

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End of Arabic-L:  02 May 2007