1887
Volume 12, Issue 3
  • ISSN 1878-9714
  • E-ISSN: 1878-9722
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

While previous studies highlight the dynamic nature of identity co-construction, how and especially why speakers construct and shift their own multiple identities still remains understudied. The present study argues that identity is part of speaker communicative resources as evidenced by radio program hosts’ strategic employment and shift among their different identities to facilitate their interactional purposes. Based on data drawn from radio medical consultations, this article attempts to reveal the dynamic adaptability of hosts’ identity construction. It is found that (1) in general, hosts of medical consultation programs construct three identities for themselves, namely an authoritative expert identity, a caring friend identity and a sales representative identity; (2) the three identities constructed are respectively adaptable to power relationships, solidarity and role relationships between hosts and callers in conversation; (3) the three identities shift in conversations to facilitate callers’ purchasing acts.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ps.18030.yua
2021-07-05
2025-04-30
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Antaki, Charles, and Sue Widdicombe
    (eds) 1998Identities in Talk. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Androutsopoulos, Jannis K., and Alexandra Georgakopoulou
    2003Discourse Constructions of Youth Identities. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.110
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.110 [Google Scholar]
  3. Bamberg, Michael G., Anna de Fina & Deborah Schffrin
    2007 “Introduction to the Volume.” InSelves and Identities in Narrative and Discourse, ed. byMichael Bamberg, Anna De Fina, and Deborah Schiffrin, 1–8. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/sin.9.02bam
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.9.02bam [Google Scholar]
  4. Baratta, Alexander
    2016 “Keeping it Real or Selling Out: the Effects of Accent Modification on Personal Identity.” Pragmatics & Society7(2): 291–319. 10.1075/ps.7.2.06bar
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.7.2.06bar [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown, Penelope, & Stephen C. Levinson
    1978/1987Politeness: Some Universals in Language Usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bucholtz, Mary
    1999 “ ‘Why Be Normal?’: Language and Identity Practices in a Community of Nerd Girls.” Language in Society (28): 203–223. 10.1017/S0047404599002043
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404599002043 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bucholtz, Mary, and Kira Hall
    2008 “Finding Identity: Theory and Data.” Multilingua27(1–2):151–163. 10.1515/MULTI.2008.008
    https://doi.org/10.1515/MULTI.2008.008 [Google Scholar]
  8. 2013 “Epilogue: Facing Identity.” Journal of Politeness Research (9): 121–130.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Burnett, Heather
    2017 “Sociolinguistic Interaction and Identity Construction: the View from Game-Theoretic Pragmatics.” Journal of Sociolinguistics21(2): 238–271. 10.1111/josl.12229
    https://doi.org/10.1111/josl.12229 [Google Scholar]
  10. Clifton, Jonathan, and Dorien Van De Mieroop
    2010 “Doing Ethos-A Discursive Approach to the Strategic Deployment and Negotiation of Identities in Meetings.” Journal of Pragmatics (42): 2449–2461. 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.03.008
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.03.008 [Google Scholar]
  11. De Fina, Anna
    (eds.) 2006Discourse and Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511584459
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584459 [Google Scholar]
  12. De Fina, Anna
    2013 “Narratives as Practices: Negotiating Identities Through Storytelling.” InNarrative Research in Applied Linguistics, ed. byGary Barkhuizen, 154–175. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Fage-Butler, Antoinette and Patrizia Anesa
    2016 “Discursive Construction and Negotiation of Laity on an Online Health Forum.” Pragmatics & Society7(2): 196–216. 10.1075/ps.7.2.02fag
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.7.2.02fag [Google Scholar]
  14. Fitzgerald, Richard & Housley, William
    2002 “Identity, Categorization and Sequential Organization: The Sequential and Categorial Flow of Identity in a Radio Phone-in.” Discourse & Society13(5): 579–602. 10.1177/0957926502013005275
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926502013005275 [Google Scholar]
  15. Freed, Alice
    2010 “I’m calling to let you know!”: Company-initiated telephone sales. InSusan Ehrlich & Alice Freed (Eds.), “Why do you ask?” The function of questions in institutional discourse (pp.297–321). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Freed, Alice, & Ehrlich, Susan
    (Eds.) 2010“Why do you ask?”: The functions of questions in institutional discourse. Oxford: Oxford University press.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Fukuda, Chie
    2017 “Gaijin, Performing Gaijin, (‘A Foreigner Performing a Foreigner’): Co-construction of Foreigner Stereotypes in a Japanese Talk Show as a Multimodal Phenomenon.” Journal of Pragmatics109: 12–28. 10.1016/j.pragma.2016.12.012
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.12.012 [Google Scholar]
  18. Gao, Yihong
    1995 “ ‘Cconsultants-Centered’ and ‘Callers-Centered’: Features of Conversational Structure of Two Psychological Counseling Radio Phone-ins.” Applied Linguistics (3):100–105.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Gao, Yihong, and Haifang Wang
    1998 “A Quantitative Study of Directives in Psychological Counseling.” Applied Linguistics (3):52–58.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Gao, Yihong, and Di Long
    2001 “The Opening of Telephone Counseling: Structures and Functions.” Applied Linguistics3: 55–63.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Georgakopoulou, Alexandra
    2007Small stories, interaction and identities. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 10.1075/sin.8
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sin.8 [Google Scholar]
  22. Giles, Howard and Peter. W. Robinson
    (eds) 1990Handbook of Language and Social Psychology. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Heritage, John C. & Andrew L. Roth
    1995 “Grammar and Institution: Questions and Questioning in the Broadcast News Interview.” Research on Language and Social Interaction28: 1–60. 10.1207/s15327973rlsi2801_1
    https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327973rlsi2801_1 [Google Scholar]
  24. Ho, Victor
    2010 “Constructing Identities Through Request E-mail Discourse.” Journal of Pragmatics42: 2253–2261. 10.1016/j.pragma.2010.02.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2010.02.002 [Google Scholar]
  25. Holmes, Janet
    2006 “Workplace narratives, professional identity and relational practice.” InDiscourse and identity, ed. byAnna De Fina, Deborah Schiffrin, and Michael Bamberg, 166–187. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511584459.009
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584459.009 [Google Scholar]
  26. Housley, William & Richard Fitzgerald
    2009 “Membership Categorization, Culture and Norms in Action.” Discourse & Society20(3): 345–362. 10.1177/0957926509102405
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926509102405 [Google Scholar]
  27. Huensch, Amanda
    2017 “How the Initiation and Resolution of Repair Sequences Act as a Device for the Co-construction of Membership and Identity.” Pragmatics & Society8(3): 355–376. 10.1075/ps.8.3.02hue
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.8.3.02hue [Google Scholar]
  28. Hultgren, Anna Kristina & Deborah Cameron
    2010 “How may I help you?”: Questions, control, and customer care in telephone call center talk. InSusan Ehrlich & Alice Freed (Eds.), “Why do you ask?” The function of questions in institutional discourse (pp. 322–342). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Hutchby, Ian
    1995 “Aspects of Recipient Design in Expert Advice-Giving on Call-in Radio.” Discourse Processes (19): 219–238. 10.1080/01638539509544915
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01638539509544915 [Google Scholar]
  30. 2006Media Talk: Conversation Analysis and the Study of Broadcasting. McGraw-Hill Education (UK).
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Korta, Kepa & John Perry
    2011Critical Pragmatics: An Inquiry into Reference and Communication. Cambridge: CUP. 10.1017/CBO9780511994869
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511994869 [Google Scholar]
  32. Kostoulas, Achilleas, and Sarah Mercer
    2016 “Fifteen Years of Research on Self & Identity in System.” System60: 128–134. 10.1016/j.system.2016.04.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.04.002 [Google Scholar]
  33. Kroskrity, Paul V.
    2000 “Identity.” Journal of Linguistic Anthropology (9): 111–114.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Li, Chengtuan, & Yongping Ran
    2016 “Self-professional Identity Construction through Other-identity Deconstruction in Chinese Televised Debating Discourse.” Journal of Pragmatics94: 47–63. 10.1016/j.pragma.2016.01.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.01.001 [Google Scholar]
  35. Li, Xuemei
    2015 “International Students in China: Cross-cultural Interaction, Integration, and Identity Construction.” Journal of Language Identity & Education14(4): 237–254. 10.1080/15348458.2015.1070573
    https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2015.1070573 [Google Scholar]
  36. Lorenzo-Dus, Nuria
    2005 “A Rapport and Impression Management Approach to Public Figures’ Performance of Talk.” Journal of Pragmatics (37): 611–631. 10.1016/j.pragma.2004.09.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2004.09.003 [Google Scholar]
  37. Luke, Kang Kwong, Theodossia-Soula Pavlidou
    (eds) 2002Telephone Calls: Unity and Diversity in Conversational Structure across Languages and Culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.101
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.101 [Google Scholar]
  38. Lytra, Vally
    2009 “Constructing Academic Hierarchies: Teasing and Identity Work Among Peers at School.” Pragmatics19: 449–446. 10.1075/prag.19.3.09lyt
    https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.19.3.09lyt [Google Scholar]
  39. Matwick, Keri, & Kelsi Matwick
    2014 “Storytelling and Synthetic Personalization in Television Cooking Shows.” Journal of Pragmatics71: 151–159. 10.1016/j.pragma.2014.08.005
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.08.005 [Google Scholar]
  40. Mirivel, Julien
    2008 The physical examination in cosmetic surgery: Communication strategies to promote the desirability of surgery. Health Communication23: 153–170. 10.1080/10410230801968203
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10410230801968203 [Google Scholar]
  41. Montgomery, Martin
    2010 “Rituals of Personal Experience in Television News Interviews.” Discourse & Communication4: 185–211. 10.1177/1750481310364322
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310364322 [Google Scholar]
  42. Mullany, Louise J.
    2010a “Gendered Identities in the Professional Workplace: Negotiating the Glass Ceiling.” InLanguage and identities, ed. byCarmen Llamas and Dominic Watt, 179–191. Edinburgh University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. 2010b “Gender and Interpersonal Pragmatics.” InThe Handbook of Interpersonal Pragmatics, ed. byMiriam A. Locher and Sage Graham, 225–250. Mouton de Gruyter.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Montgomery, Martin
    2010 “Rituals of Personal Experience in Television News Interviews.” Discourse & Communication4: 185–211. 10.1177/1750481310364322
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481310364322 [Google Scholar]
  45. Nguyen, Chinh Duc
    2016 “Metaphors as a Window into Identity: a Study of Teachers of English to Young Learners in Vietnam.” System60: 66–78. 10.1016/j.system.2016.06.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2016.06.004 [Google Scholar]
  46. Norris, Sigrid
    2010Identity in Interaction: Introducing Multimodal Interaction Analysis. Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. Pudlinski, Christopher
    2012 “The Pursuit of Advice on US Peer Telephone Helplines: Sequential and Functional Aspects.” InAdvice in Discourse, ed. byHolger Limberg and Miriam A. Locher, 233–252. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.221.14pud
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.221.14pud [Google Scholar]
  48. Ran, Yongpin
    2007 “The Pragmatic Stance of Person Deixis, Its Empathic and De-empathic Functions in Interpersonal Discourse.” Foreign Language Teaching and Research9: 331–337.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Ran, Yongping & Fang, Xiaoguo
    2008 “The Interpersonal Pragmatic Functions of Rhetorical Questions from the Perspective of the Linguistic Adaptation Theory.” Modern Foreign Languages4: 351–359.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Sclafani, Jennifer
    2015 “Family as a Framing Resource for Political Identity Construction: Introduction Sequences in Presidential Primary Debates.” Language in Society44(3): 369–399. 10.1017/S0047404515000238
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404515000238 [Google Scholar]
  51. Shaw, Rebecca and C.elia Kitzinger
    2013 “Managing Distress, Effecting Empowerment: A Conversation Analytic Case Study of a Call to the Home Birth Helpline.” International Journal of Social Reseach3: 7–28. 10.1515/irsr‑2013‑0008
    https://doi.org/10.1515/irsr-2013-0008 [Google Scholar]
  52. Sierra, Sylvia
    2016 “Playing out Loud: Videogame References as Resources in Friend Interaction for Managing Frames, Epistemics, and Group Identity.” Language in Society45(2): 217–245. 10.1017/S0047404516000026
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404516000026 [Google Scholar]
  53. Silverman, David
    1998Harvey Sacks and Conversation Analysis. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  54. Tracy, Karen
    2005 “Reconstructing Communicative Practices: Action-implicative Discourse Analysis.” InHandbook of language and social interaction, ed. byKristine Fitch and Robert Sanders, 301–318. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum.
    [Google Scholar]
  55. 2009 “How Questioning Constructs Judge Identities in Appeals Court: A State Court Hearing of a Same-sex Marriage Appeal.” Discourse Studies11: 191–221. 10.1177/1461445608100944
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445608100944 [Google Scholar]
  56. Tracy, Karen, and Robert T. Craig
    2010 “Studying Interaction in Order to Cultivate Practice: Action-implicative Discourse Analysis.” InNew adventures in language and interaction Amsterdam, ed. byJürgen Streeck, 145–166. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/pbns.196.07tra
    https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.196.07tra [Google Scholar]
  57. Tracy, Karen, and Jessica S. Robles
    2013Everyday Talk: Building and Reflecting Identities. New York: Guilford Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  58. Wang, Jianhua
    2001 “Discourse Politeness and Pragmatic Distance.” Foreign Languages5: 25–31.
    [Google Scholar]
  59. Wolfers, Solvejg, Kieran File & Stephanie Schnurr
    2017 “‘Just Because He’s Black’: Identity Construction and Racial Humour in a German U-19 Football Team.” Journal of Pragmatics112: 83–96. 10.1016/j.pragma.2017.02.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2017.02.003 [Google Scholar]
  60. Xin, Bin
    2001 “Generic Intertextuality and Subject Position: A Pragmatic Analysis.” Foreign Language Teaching and Research5: 348–352.
    [Google Scholar]
  61. Xu, Ruixi
    2008 “Soft Advertisement Invading News: On News Tendency in Advertisement.” Press Circles1:98–99.
    [Google Scholar]
  62. Van De Mieroop, Dorien
    2008 “Co-constructing Identities in Speeches.” Pragmatics18: 491–509. 10.1075/prag.18.3.07mie
    https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.18.3.07mie [Google Scholar]
  63. 2010 “Making Transportable Identities Relevant as a Persuasive Device.” Journal of Language and Communication Studies44: 229–239.
    [Google Scholar]
  64. 2011 “Identity Negotiations in Narrative Accounts about Poverty.” Discourse & Society22: 565–591. 10.1177/0957926511405423
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926511405423 [Google Scholar]
  65. Van De Mieroop, Dorien. and Jonathan Clifton
    2012 “The Interplay between Professional Identities and Age, Gender and Ethnicity.” Pragmatics (22): 13–201.
    [Google Scholar]
  66. Van De Mieroop, Dorien, and Jonathan Clifton
    2014 “The Discursive Management of Identity in Interviews with Female Former Colonials of the Belgian Congo: Scrutinizing the Role of the Interviewer.” Pragmatics24: 131–155. 10.1075/prag.24.1.06mie
    https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.24.1.06mie [Google Scholar]
  67. Verschueren, Jef
    2008 “Intercultural communication and the challenges of migration.” Language and Intercultural Communication8: 21–35. 10.2167/laic298.0
    https://doi.org/10.2167/laic298.0 [Google Scholar]
  68. Yuan, Zhou-min
    2012 “An Analysis on the Usage for the Variation of Self Address forms: Adaptation as a Pragmatic Act.” Foreign Language Education (5): 32–36
    [Google Scholar]
  69. 2013a “Understanding Identity Discourse.” Journal of Multicultural Discourses1:79–85.
    [Google Scholar]
  70. 2013b “Analyzing Identities in Discourse: A Book Review.” Pragmatics and Society1: 120–126.
    [Google Scholar]
  71. 2018 “Exploring Chinese College Students’ Construction of Online Identity on the Sina Microblog.” Discourse, Context & Media, 6: 43–51. 10.1016/j.dcm.2018.02.001
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.02.001 [Google Scholar]
  72. Zhang, Bin
    2002New modern Chinese. Shanghai: Fudan University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  73. Zhang, Wenxia
    2011 “Social Relationship in Summon-answer Sequence of Business Talk.” The Journal of English Studies (2): 25–28/63.
    [Google Scholar]
  74. Zimmerman, Don H.
    1992 “The Interactional Organization of Calls for Emergency Assistance.” InTalk at Work: Interaction in Institutional Settings, ed. byPaul Drew and John Heritage, 418–469. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  75. 1998 “Identity Context and Interaction.” InIdentities in Talk, ed. byCharles Antaki and Sue Widdicombe, 87–106. London: Sage.
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ps.18030.yua
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error