Research Explorer

Project

Language Norms and Accommodation in Computer Mediated Discourse The Case of Berber Diaspora Websites
Code
3E001605
Duration
01 October 2007 → 30 September 2014
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund, Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)
Research disciplines
  • Humanities and the arts
    • Language studies
    • Linguistics
    • Literary studies
  • Social sciences
    • Applied sociology
    • Social and cultural anthropology
Keywords
sociolinguistics computer-mediated communication identity language norms and practices diaspora websites linguistic minorities
 
Project description

This study investigates one of the central claims of recent social theory, namely that ‘traditional’ collective identities, based on social class hierarchy and sustained by local and national institutions, are being substituted by more dynamic and transnational group identities, which are strongly supported by electronic media. The following related research questions are addressed:

1. How are language norms created on the Berber Diaspora websites?

2. Do Diaspora websites function as institutionalised contexts?