The discursive construction of identity in social media uses by migrant students in Singapore

Abstract

This thesis examines the discursive practices of migrant students in Singapore to uncover the ways in which they construct and negotiate their identities online. Where research investigating the discourse of multilingual speakers has tended to pivot on the notion of geographically-bounded languages and identities, this study draws on the concept of translanguaging to illuminate the hitherto under-explored dimensions of complexity and fluidity inherent in the linguistic reality of such individuals. Bringing together Li’s (2011) notion of a “translanguaging space” and central concepts from digital discourse studies in its analytical framework, this paper presents key creative practices exhibited in the discourse of participants on Facebook and demonstrates how these work to strategically index their multiplex values, identities, and relationships. Through examining the above, the potential of translanguaging as a methodological tool is accordingly proposed, as a way of suitably capturing the intricate semiotic action of speakers as multifarious individuals ‘being’ and ‘doing’ identities in an increasingly disjunctive world.