Communicating Identities is a book for language teachers who wish to focus on the topic of identity in the context of their classroom teaching. The work provides an accessible introduction to research and theory on language learner and language teacher identity. It provides a set of interactive, practical activities for use in language classrooms in which students explore and communicate about aspects of their identities. The communicative activities concern the various facets of the students’ own identities and are practical resources that teachers can draw on to structure and guide their students’ exploration of their identities. All the activities include a follow-on teacher reflection in which teachers explore aspects of their own identity in relation to the learner identities explored in the activities. The book also introduces teachers to practical steps in doing exploratory action research so that they can investigate identity systematically in their own classrooms.

"Communicating Identity: Critical Approaches" provides a poststructuralist engagement with contemporary theories of identity, which view identity as a construction, negotiation, and a process of communicative messages. Embracing an intersectional investigation of identity and examining the critical interworkings of race, class, gender, sexuality, and nation, this edited anthology contemplates the shifting and fluid dimensions of identities within spatial, temporal, and discursive contexts. Bringing together works from scholars in the disciplines of organizational communication, critical/cultural studies, rhetorical and media studies, performance studies, and intercultural communication, the text is divided into four sections: "Theorizing Identity" provides a poststructuralist introduction to identity through differing conceptual frameworks that highlight the performative, relational, and intersectional dimensions of identity formations."Organizing Identity" looks to institutional and national contexts to examine how systems of power and hierarchal structures within organizing discourses work to shape, mold, constrain, and produce disciplined identities."Representing Identity" looks to popular culture, online environments, and personal accounts of experience as sites of identity production and negotiation."Performing Identity" shifts attention to the spatial, temporal, and embodied dimensions of identity work, theorizing performative dimensions that resist and rearticulate identity discourses.Jason Zingsheim (PhD, Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Governors State University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in intercultural communication, critical/cultural studies, identity and communication, and communication theory and philosophy. His work has been published in "Cultural Studies" "Critical Methodologies," "Text & Performance Quarterly," "Liminalities," and "Battleground: Women, Gender, & Sexuality." Dustin Bradley Goltz (PhD, Arizona State University) is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at DePaul University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in performance studies, rhetoric of identity, performance of gender and sexuality, and rhetoric of popular culture. He is the author of "Queer Temporalities in Gay Male Representation: Tragedy, Normativity, and Futurity." His research has been published in "Text & Performance Quarterly," "Qualitative Inquiry," "Western Journal of Communication," "Genders," and "Liminalities."

Online Identities: Creating and Communicating the Online Self presents a critical investigation of the ways in which representations of identities have shifted since the advent of digital communications technologies. Critical studies over the past century have pointed to the multifaceted nature of identity, with a number of different theories and approaches used to explain how everyday people have a sense of themselves, their behaviors, desires, and representations. In the era of interactive, digital, and networked media and communication, identity can be understood as even more complex, with digital users arguably playing a more extensive role in fashioning their own self-representations online, as well as making use of the capacity to co-create common and group narratives of identity through interactivity and the proliferation of audio-visual user-generated content online. Makes accessible complex theories of identity from the perspective of today’s contemporary, digital media environment Examines how digital media has added to the complexity of identity Takes readers through examples of online identity such as in interactive sites and social networking Explores implications of inter-cultural access that emerges from globalization and world-wide networking

This volume, using intercultural weddings as its focus, examines what occurs when the signs & codes of different cultures come into contact & influence one another. For scholars & advanced level students of interpersonal, nonverbal, & intercultural comm.

Allens proven ability and flare for presenting complex and oftentimes sensitive topics in nonthreatening ways carry over in the latest edition of Difference Matters. Her down-to-earth analysis of six social identity categories reveals how communication establishes and enacts identity and power dynamics. She provides historical overviews to show how perceptions of gender, race, social class, sexuality, ability, and age have varied throughout time and place. Allen clearly explains pertinent theoretical perspectives and illustrates those and other discussions with real-life experiences (many of which are her own). She also offers practical guidance for how to communicate difference more humanely. While many examples are from organizational contexts, readers from a wide range of backgrounds can relate to them and appreciate their relevance. This eye-opening, vibrant text, suitable for use in a variety of disciplines, motivates readers to think about valuing difference as a positive, enriching feature of society. Interactive elements such as Spotlights on Media, I.D. Checks, Tool Kits, and Reflection Matters questions awaken interest, awareness, and creative insights for change.

"Leadership effectiveness, gratifying interpersonal relationships, and richer self-fulfillment are all a result of communicating effectively, understanding ourselves and others, and affirming our values in a manner than conveys who we are and what matters most to us. Although communication is considered a relatively simple and straight-forward process, the reality is that it is fraught with confusion, lack of clarity, and unintended deception. The failures associated with communicating include a recurring inability to know oneself and to be unsuccessful in defining our real values and priorities. As we search for more effective ways of communicating who we are, what we are seeking, and what we mean, we often fail to recognize the barriers that exist and how we can recognize what matters most to ourselves and to others. Meanings are both hidden and difficult to fathom - even the meanings that are so important about ourselves and our own identities. The processes of communicating, self-learning, and self-discovery open the door to new meanings and a clearer sense of our own identities. By overcoming the barriers of self-deception and the distortion of meaning, we refine our ability to see ourselves and others more clearly. In so doing we also discover at a higher level who we are, who we can become, and what we can achieve by fulfilling our highest potential. Incorporating insights from self-actualization, identity theory, and interpersonal development, this book enables individuals to achieve a clearer understanding of themselves and others in the process of self-discovery and self-improvement in the quest to create more effective leaders, better organizations, and more satisfying lives"--

Communicating Identities is a book for language teachers who wish to focus on the topic of identity in the context of their classroom teaching. The book provides a set of interactive, practical activities for use in language classrooms in which students explore and communicate about aspects of their identities. It is a work for teachers who wish to find out more about the topic of learner and teacher identities in the context of their own professional development. The work provides an accessible introduction to research and theory on language learner and language teacher identity. All the practical activities include a follow-on teacher reflection in which teachers explore aspects of their own identity in relation to the learner identities explored in the activities. The communicative activities concern the various facets of the students' own identities, and are practical resources that teachers can draw on to structure and guide the students' exploration of their identities. The book introduces teachers to practical steps in doing exploratory action research so that they can investigate identity systematically in their own classrooms.