Abstract
This book is divided into three parts and seven chapters. Each part addresses one question. Part 1 (Chapters 1 and 2) answers the question ‘What are identities and how are they constructed?’. In answering the question, the authors describe the analytical background underpinning their study by viewing identity both from philosophical and sociolinguistic/pragmatic perspectives, and explaining both the essentialist and social constructionist perspectives. They argue that everyday life expressions such as I must find myself; I need to understand what I want from my life; Above all, be yourself are examples of identity from an essentialist perspective which consider identity as fixed and an ‘unalterable characteristic of people’ (p. 17). They outline a history of how identity has been looked at across the centuries and within different periods, for example Romanticism, and by philosophers and thinkers, for example Plato, Descartes and Locke. Finally, relying on postmodernist and social constructionist frameworks, the authors argue that identities are constructed in discourse in relation to the interactants’ social and conversational positionalities and orientations; hence, they are not fixed entities, but rather are multifarious and ever evolving/changing.
Part 2 aims to answer the question ‘How does discourse contribute to the construction of identities?’. Chapters 3 and 4 centre around strategies narrators implement to construct their desired identities in narrative discourse. Analysis of data from everyday interactions suggests that an unexpected succession of events, be it serious or humorous, generates narratives which are influenced by sociocultural ideologies and value systems of the pertinent communities. The authors explain the mechanisms of identity construction via three levels: narrative world – that is, positioning among characters, narrative interaction – that is, via the interaction between the narrator and recipients, and narrator’s positioning as regards the ideological underpinnings in the society (p. 106).
Part 3 answers the question ‘How could language teaching benefit from including identity and narrative analysis in its curricula and objectives?’. Chapter 5 challenges the canon of narrative in language teaching by asserting that narrative is not just limited to literary narrative genre. Referring to Greek language textbooks, the authors argue that narrative texts in those textbooks mostly deal with very serious works and hence they ignore humour and examples from everyday life interactions. They argue that there is a need to include more everyday conversational narratives by embarking on more communicative/text-based and contemporary sociolinguistic pedagogical approaches in order to modernize the textbooks and address the needs and goals of students.
Chapter 6 emphasizes a need to include conversational narratives of students’ everyday experiences in the curriculum. The authors recommend a model that addresses the need for language teaching to include the four domains of situated practice, overt instruction, critical framing and transformed practice. The focus, therefore, should be on critical language awareness, appreciating students’ different and diverse sociocultural backgrounds. The inclusion of both oral and written narratives in the curriculum could well complement each other and help students with their needs. Readers are reminded that texts should be critically viewed and teachers should encourage students to go beyond the comprehension level and critically analyse texts based on their own experiences of the world.
Chapter 7 proposes activities based on the four domains presented in Chapter 6 in order to reconsider the role of narratives in critical language education. Two samples of data from everyday narratives are analysed. The authors argue that asking the students and teachers to collect their own narratives will enable them to critically analyse the narrative construction of identities (p. 145).
The authors have aptly argued that the inclusion of students’ everyday life narratives could enhance everyone’s understanding regarding the values and convictions which are not or may not necessarily be in line with dominant, accepted, normal and natural(ized) discourses. One of the achievements of the book, I believe, is that the authors have put under a spotlight the significance of narratives in language teaching and how language teaching could benefit from narratives by ‘identifying, evaluating and reflecting upon’ (p. 165) the ideologies behind the narratives. An understanding of this sort can increase the meta-narrative competence of individuals in educational contexts. Looking at narrative through a sociolinguistic/pragmatic lens could pave the way for every student to get involved in the activities in a classroom. In other words, it is not limited to only a gifted few who can produce the literary genre, which would make most of the students silent. Every person who is familiar with the norms, ideologies, thought systems, values and expectations of a community could produce a sound narrative through which (un)valued identities could be marked.
The book is written in a style which is easily accessible for readers. The authors have provided a good overview of the chapters at the start of the book and they have also provided a very worthwhile review of previous literature. They have explained their research questions, methodology and analysis clearly. At the end of the book they have made a concluding remark which nicely pulls together all the different strings in the book. This book can be used by graduate students and teachers who are looking for ideas about how to include a more communicative/text-based approach in their teaching alongside what is provided in the curriculum. The book is accompanied by a ‘notes to chapters’ section which provides the readers with useful further study material.