Language and identity in a post-Soviet world: language of education and linguistic identity among Azerbaijani students

Abstract

Azerbaijan's complex history has weaved a tapestry of linguistic, cultural, and national identities among Azerbaijanis through centuries of political, social, and linguistic integration. In the current post-Soviet era, this identity is undergoing another period of change, with influences from intra-state ethnic, religious, and sociopolitical institutions as well as from regional and international powers. This article centers on linguistic identity among Azerbaijani youth at three types of schools: Azerbaijani-medium, Russian-medium, and English-medium. The authors seek to discover whether and to what extent the language of instruction in each type of school affects linguistic identity, which in turn has implications for national identity. The article first discusses the existing literature on language and identity in second language acquisition and socio-educational linguistics. It then examines Azerbaijan's linguistic and political history through the lens of the latter framework, as a context for an analysis of the data from surveys and focus groups. The article analyzes the relationship between medium of instruction in school and students' perceptions of language and identification with various language groups, and discusses the findings of a significant correlation between language of instruction and linguistic identity, with its implications for national identity.

Keywords:

• Azerbaijan
• national identity
• linguistic identity
• nation building
• cultural capital
• social capital

Acknowledgements

The authors express special thanks and gratitude to Inara Bashirova, MA in Diplomacy and International Affairs, ADA, 2012, for her assistance in surveying students, as well as translation and data capturing; Murad Ismayilov, ADA, and Professors Kathi Bailey, Jean Turner, and Heekyeong Lee, MIIS, for their valuable conversations and feedback concerning this research project.

Notes

1. The way that Azerbaijanis interpret the terms Azerbaijani and Azerbaijanism has evolved since the original debate. According to a study by the Center for Economic and Political Research Monitoring Group (Hadjy-Zadeh 1996), these terms are open to interpretation by individuals. The study examined newspaper accounts and other samples of discourse (e.g. of various political parties) to find Azerbaijanism associated with a “unified Azerbaijan,” “nationalism and Turkism,” and a “doctrine of consolidation around the leader (President Heydar Aliyev).” The study also found Azerbaijanism to be “a won battle … from the viewpoint of statehood and ethnic unity.” Indeed, the data on language and identity discussed below supports the success of the policy of Azerbaijanism in cultivating a strong sense of national identity among Azerbaijani youth.

2. Aiken (1997) established that this common type of sampling in second language research allows sample selection based on “certain key characteristics that are related to the purpose of the investigation” (as cited in Dörnyei 2003, 72), such as their attendance in foreign language and national schools, their gender, and their native and second languages.

3. Crystal's (1997, 372) definition of a foreign language.

4. Languages confer various types of human capital: social capital, the resources that accrue to the individual through social relationships; cultural capital, the individual's skills, education, intellectual assets; symbolic capital, the prestige, honor, or recognition an individual possesses; and economic capital, a person's access to economic resources (Bourdieu 1991).