Identity and Empowerment: Vernacular English Features used by Bilingual Mexicans online

Abstract

This study examines why young Mexican bilinguals use vernacular language traits in online social media. Using an ethnolinguistic approach, I conducted interviews and employed discourse analysis of the Facebook feeds of members of a bilingual network, in which they make use of vernacular language varieties typically attributed to African American speakers. Findings show that at least one young woman uses these vernacular English features to support feminism and present herself as equal to men. This rhetorically motivated use forges a sense of belonging outside a particularly entrenched category of woman (e.g., old fashioned) and challenges the hierarchy and language ideologies imposed by men and older women. I argue that Mexican bilinguals (male or female) who use such vernacular features are not identifying as African American or as part of any specific ethnic group. Rather, they are constructing pan-ethnic identities in opposition to whites.