​Unit 4 - Area of Study 2: Individual and group identities

Outcome 2​

Analyse how people’s choice of language reflects and constructs their identities.​

Examples of learning activities

• Discuss the different factors which influence the social and personal varieties of English in Australia; list specific examples of language under headings such as age, gender, occupation, socioeconomic background, interests, aspirations, and education; consider the phonological, lexical and syntactic differences found in each variety.
• Record your own language interactions over the course of a day; using appropriate metalanguage, compare how you communicate with your parents, siblings, friends, teachers, boss, work colleagues, and strangers; discuss in groups the various factors which influence the language you use in these different situations, and report these findings to the whole class.
• Examine a particular scene in a play (for example, Inheritance by Hannie Rayson) and discuss the importance of dialogue in helping us to understand the identity and nature of a character; identify the specific words and phrases and other language features that help us understand them.
• Listen to podcasts of the various ‘characters’ who ring in to the Coodabeens Champions’ Footy Show on ABC Radio; in groups, select a character, transcribe a conversation and analyse how the Coodabeens ‘construct’ the character’s identity through their language choices.
• Using the internet, investigate theories about the ways in which the language used by women differs from that used by men; survey friends and family about their perception of a gender difference in language choice and use; what do you think accounts for these differences?
• Record the hourly radio news reports on the same day from two different radio stations; discuss the types of items which are considered newsworthy, the role of the reporter in each, and discuss how the language of each reflects or suits the perceived identity of the audience.
• Investigate the language of a particular profession or of a particular activity or movement, such as surfing, computer games or hip-hop; present a profile of this language variety to the class, using appropriate metalanguage; discuss how the users of this language create a group identity which can exclude others, whether deliberately or not.
• Examine your own school or sporting club songs and discuss which characteristics or behaviours are being endorsed; compare this with a primary school song or an AFL club song.
• Discuss the notion of a prestige variety of language and reflect upon your own attitudes toward people who speak differently to you; which varieties are given prestige status in your school, local community, in the media, in Australia?
• 
  Watch episodes of Summer Heights High and focus on the language used by Chris Lilley to create the characters Ja’mie and Jonah; analyse how it reflects their age, gender, socioeconomic status, level of education, ethnicity, aspirations and interests; contrast the language ability of Ja’mie and Jonah and compare the different ways in which each character uses language to gain power and prestige by exploiting the covert or overt norms.
• Write an essay on the following topic: ‘To change the way you speak is to signal a change in who you are or in how you wish to be perceived’.

 

​​Detailed example​

Language variety and identity

1. Watch episodes of ‘mockumentary’ Summer Heights High and pay particular attention to the language used by the main characters, Jonah Takalua and Ja’mie King.
2. Divide the class into groups, some focusing on Ja’mie, and others on Jonah. Create a language profile of each protagonist and present to class as a PowerPoint.
3. Ja’mie King: List the different varieties of language used by Ja’mie: with her friends, her teachers, and her mother. In a table with columns for each of the subsystems, list some of the language features of each variety. What does the language used by Ja’mie reveal about her identity?
4. Watch the scene in Episode 2 in which Ja’mie is establishing herself in a new friendship group. Analyse Ja’mie’s language use and discuss how it highlights her awareness of conforming to the covert norms in order to fit into the ‘in’ group. Consider lexicon, sentence structure and type, prosody, and other features of spoken language.
5. View the various interactions between Mr Cameron and Ja’mie, especially in later episodes. How does Ja’mie manipulate her language to win over Mr Cameron and secure the Year 11 formal?
6. Jonah Takalua: List the different varieties of language used by Jonah in the series: with his friends, his teachers, and his father. In a table with columns for each of the subsystems, list some of the language features of each variety. How is the language used by Jonah shaped by his identity?
7. Describe the language used by Jonah in his friendship group. How does the language used by Jonah and his friends define them as a group to the exclusion of other students at the school?
8. View Jonah’s interactions with his teachers, Mr Peterson and Ms Wheatley, in Episode 2. Analyse the language used by Jonah and describe the reaction it provokes in his teachers. Discuss how Jonah’s language use reveals an inability or unwillingness to conform to the overt norms which contributes to his ultimate failure at school. Contrast this with Ja’mie who is able to change her style of language to match her audience and the context and maximise her chances of success.