8.1.2 Dynamics of identity construction in academi...
The dynamics is one of the intrinsic features of identity construction.This has also been clearly demonstrated in the present study. The dynamic process of identity construction in academic advising can be displayed by identity modification and identity shift. The identity modification refers to the fact that one aspect of an expert can be modified to be more specific in the dynamic process of an advising sequence. The identity shift refers to the fact that advice-givers may make a shift from the construction of one identity to another in an advising sequence.
Making identity shift is much more complicated and can be divided into the following three types. Firstly, making identity shift may happen with a clear sequential order. For example, advice-givers may construct the default identity of an expert, and then shift to construct the identity of a teacher, the identity of a layperson, and the identity of a researcher. In most cases,advice-givers may shift identities for several times in an advising sequence,which composes at least the pre-sequence or the post-sequence in addition to the sequence of advising performance. Secondly, in the sequence of advising performance, which composes an advising sequence, advice-givers may alternately constructs the identity of an expert and the identity of a virtual advice-receiver realized by the interchangeable use of the singular form of the first person pronoun “我” (‘I’) and the singular form of the second person pronoun “你” (‘you’). They may also alternately construct the identity of an expert and the identity of a collegial researcher realized by the interchangeable use of the plural form of the first person pronoun “我们”(‘we’) and the singular form of the second person pronoun “你” (‘you’). Finally,the construction of one identity may be embedded within the construction of another. For example, the construction of the identity of a collegial researcher is embedded in the construction of the identity of an amiable expert, and the construction of the identity of a teacher is embedded in the construction of the identity of a researcher. Advice-givers often make identity shift around their default expert identity and the deviation is temporary.