6.2.2 Shift between two alternately constructed id...
The identity shift can also be indicated by the alternate construction of two identities, for example, an expert and a virtual advice-receiver, or an expert and a collegial researcher.
Alternately constructing the identities of an expert and a virtual advice-receiver
The dynamics of this type of shift can be seen in the following example.(6-10) PhD DPPM-3:
1 T2：一个，环境，[语用环境，是吧？]
‘One is context, pragmatic context, right?’
→ 2 T3： [或者，或者]你就，我就是在我的这些例子当中，我总结出，
‘Or you could, I would summarize (some factors) from these examples.’
3 T2：总结出一些，
‘To summarize some’
4 T3：这些要这些因素，
‘These factors’
5 T2：对。
‘Right.’
→ 6 T3：其它的还有，[但是我：：不知道]
‘There are still others, but I don’t know.’
7 T2： [对对，不可能穷尽]
‘It’s impossible to exhaust (all of them).’
8 T5：[(限制..)]
‘Limit’
9 T1：[限制你]的研究范围。
‘Limit the scope of your study.’
10 T3：哎，限制你的范围，
‘Hm, limit the scope (of your study).’
11 T1：限制一下子。
‘Limit (the scope of your study).’
12 T5：(他可能)
‘(He’s likely…)’
→ 13 T3：我就谈我语料显示出来的这些，其它的它有，我不管。
‘I’ll just discuss those showed by my data. I don’t care about other (cases).’
14 T2：你看X老师((T3))，X老师((T1))都给你减负，哎哎，限定一下。
‘You see that Teacher X ((T3)) and Teacher ((T1)) are reducing your work load. Limit (the scope of your study) ’
15 T3：对。
‘Right.’
In this example, T3 gives his advice by alternately using the singular form of the first person pronoun “我” (‘I’) in lines 2, 6 and 13 and the singular form of the second person pronoun “你” (‘you’) in lines 2 and 10 to refer to the advice-receiver in this context. As discussed in Section 5.2.3, the use of singular form of the first person pronoun “我” (‘I’) in this context is pragmatic empathy, which helps the advice-giver to construct himself an identity of a virtual advice-receiver. The explicit use of the singular form of the second person pronoun “你” (‘you’) to refer to the advice-receiver helps the advice-giver construct his default identity of an expert in this context.
The alternate use of “我” (‘I’) and “你” (‘you’) shows the shift between the default identity of an expert and the identity of a virtual advice-receiver.(6-11) is another example of this kind.
(6-11) PhD DPPM-3:
→ 1 T1：对啊，就我只研究虚假不礼貌，现在你说的mock impoliteness，
‘Yes, I only study mock impoliteness, that is, what you have said mock impoliteness.’
2 T2：哎。
‘Mm.’
→ 3 T1：我把这个定义清楚了，然后我这就后边，像你这里面好多这什么这种，有的 话可以不说它了，
‘If I define it clearly, then I won’t discuss so many types in the latter part even if there are some other types.’ ((T1 is speaking what he imagines are the thoughts of S))
4 T2：嗯。
‘Mm.’
5 T1：对吧？这样就省去了很多时间，你可以把你的精力主要集中在针对你要研究的研究对象上。
‘Right? If you do it like this, you can save a lot of time and you can focus on the object of your study.’
6 T2：嗯。
‘Mm.’
Here, the shift between “你” (‘you’) and “我” (‘I’) demonstrates the dynamic negotiation of identities constructed by the advice-giver, namely the identity of an expert and the identity of a virtual advice-receiver.
Alternately constructing the identities of an expert and a collegial researcher
The dynamics of this type of shift can be illustrated by the following example.
(6-12) PhD DPPM-4:
→ 1 T1：然后呢，就是刚才X老师((T4))讲的，就是说你的假设，一般我们提出假设都是为了我们提研究问题，
‘Then, it is what teacher X ((T4)) has said. That is to say, it’s about your hypothesis. Generally speaking, that we propose a hypothesis is just for us to raise research questions.’
2 T4：嗯。
‘Mm.’
3 S： 哦。
‘Mm.’
→ 4 T1：对不对？或当我们有研究问题，我们提出一些假设，这是我们研究的方向。
‘Right? Or when we have research questions, we propose some hypotheses. This is the direction of our study.’
5 S： 嗯。
‘Mm.’
→ 6 T1：比如说，从你的研究问题我们怎么去看我们提出一些假设，那么我们试图去证明这些假设。
‘For example, from your research questions, how we look at the hypotheses we’ve proposed. And then we attempt to prove these hypotheses.’
7 S： 对。
‘Right.’
8 T1：就是这两者之间的关系，当然那个X老师((T4))讲的是非常，就是，一针见血呵呵，一针见血。否则，你后面这些跟你前面这些什么关系呢，对吧？
‘That is the relationship between these two. Certainly, what Teacher X ((T4)) has said is quite to the point (laughs softly), to the point. Otherwise, what’s the relationship between the later part and the previous part of your proposal. Right?’
9 S： 对对(2.0)对，这个地方我再细化一下。 ……
‘Yes. I will make it more specific…’
In this example, T1 gives some advice on how to deal with the relationship between hypotheses and research questions. He alternately uses the plural form of the first person pronoun “我们” (‘we’) and the singular form of the second person pronoun “你” (‘you’) in this dynamic interaction. The inclusive we helps T1 to construct himself an identity of a collegial researcher.At the same time, T1 maintains his default identity of an expert and one of the indicators is the use of “你” (‘you’) in lines 6 and 8. These two identities are alternately constructed by T1, demonstrating the shift between these two identities.
The shift between two identities discussed in Section 6.2.2 is mainly realized by the alternate use of personal pronouns, namely “我” (‘I’) and “你”(‘you’) and “我们” (‘we’) and “你” (‘you’). Moreover, these alternating identity shifts from an expert to a virtual advice-receiver and from an expert to a collegial researcher mainly occur in the sequence of advising performance.
Personal pronouns have been found to be a very important linguistic form to construct writer identity in academic writing (e.g., Han, 2010, Hyland, 2001,2002a, 2002b; Kuo, 1999; Tang & John, 1999). Although some of the previous studies have pointed out that academic writing also involves interaction between writers and readers, the exploration of writer identity has yet not investigated the dynamic dimension. However, the alternate use of “我” (‘I’)and “你” (‘you’) and “我们” (‘we’) and “你” (‘you’) observed in these examples of academic advising interaction highlights the dynamic process of identity construction in spoken academic interaction.