Identity And Bilingualism

The article by Susan Jones titled ‘One body and two heads: girls exploring their bicultural identities through text’ (2006) provides meaningful insight into identity. Two groups of girls, both from different backgrounds, are interviewed. A distinct link is made between biculturalism and bilingualism with authors Hamers and Blanc-as cited by Jones, 2006- stating that “language is a component of culture”. The out-of-school practices carried out by the girls as well as me and every other person indicates that our preferences as well as knowledge of language, influences our culture and identity.
In both groups, it is made evident that the literacy practices that they engage in, in both their dominant and non-dominant languages, through text, provides

They both feel that a certain culture is learned from the pages of the magazines. The girls further explained that reading English magazines are far more intriguing and interesting. The link between bilingualism and biculturalism is evident by the British Asian girls’ choice of reading Cineblitz and Stardust. They –the British Asian girls- find that the code-switching in the magazines are unique and what makes them appreciate their bilingualism of English and their non-dominant language and thus their bicultural identity as both British and Asian. Although the Welsh girls prefer to read English magazines too, they read these magazines for a different reason than the British Asian girls. The Welsh girls find that the English magazines are more readily available as compared to Welsh magazines. It is also noted that they-the Welsh girls- prefer the English magazines because of the content which hints at their Welsh and British Identity as well as the teenage identity that urges them to read about celebrities that are well

When using the World Wide Web for personal pleasure rather than school-related tasks, the Welsh girls adopt a certain biculturalism. I too adopt a certain culture when using the internet outside of the academic and school domain. My identity is portrayed through images and phrases or captions that I upload in a very similar way to how the Welsh girls portray their identity. However my identity differs somewhat from the identity of theirs. I identify myself as a South African and this can be assumed by reading my Twitter posts which often include my patriotism for my country or humor that only South Africans might enjoy. The other identity that I portray is that of being a Muslim girl with an Indian heritage. This can be seen by observing the Facebook and Instagram pages that I follow as well as the images that I post on these social networking sites that are related to this cultural identity. The Welsh girls identify with the ‘girl-power’ culture and this is seen through their choice of images; of Disney characters, fashion logos, emblems and animal pictures. There biculturalism is also made up of their identification as Welsh. This is seen with the Welsh flag proudly displayed on their personal web