Towards a Situated Approach to Ethnolinguistic Identity: The Effects of Status on Individuals and Groups

Much research has been concerned with the relationship between identity, language and the status of ethnolinguistic groups. Likewise, much attention has been devoted to the acculturative consequences of contact between two cultural groups. The present research was an attempt to bring together these two traditions of research within the context of English-French relations in Canada. Accordingly, Francophone and Anglophone students originating from majority and minority settings, attending a Canadian bilingual university were requested to fill out a questionnaire containing indices of identification to first and second language groups. The results showed that, at the individual level, both the immediate and the North American status of the respondents were related to their identity. At the group level, similar results were obtained with the qualification that the ethnolinguistic evolution of status would appear to be of some importance. Finally, important inter-situational variations were noted for all groups, supporting the approach to situated identity adopted here. These results are discussed in terms of their implication for the relationship between language and identity as well as for current theories of acculturation.