Self‐expression and the negotiation of identity in a foreign language¹

This article sets out an approach to the architecture, perception and negotiation of personal identity in relation to a number of issues in the fields of social interaction, communication and language teaching. In part one, particular attention is paid to the concept of ethos, a collaborative construct resulting from mutually influencing communcative behaviours: a speaker's projected self‐image as assessed and perceived by hearers. In part two a variety of communicative practices involved in the negotiation of identity are exemplified and analysed, including membershipping, anecdote and pragmatic failure, and their relevance to applied linguistics is discussed.