Nosotros como familia: the negotiation of group identity in a binational community of practice

ABSTRACT

This research explores intercultural communication at a binational organization in the Mexico-U.S. border region where Mexican and Anglo staff use the first personal plural ‘nosotros' to (de)emphasize group membership(s), repair conflict, and inclusively define their community of practice. In collaborative intergroup contexts, a collective identity is constructed by emphasizing shared tasks, especially with ‘nosotros.’ In intergroup conflict, antagonistic features highlight opposition between groups using the exclusive first personal plural and deictic expressions of location. Lastly, conflict repair recognizes intergroup differences and appeals to affective relationships to establish a shared identity.

Esta investigación explora la comunicación intercultural en una organización binacional en la región fronteriza de México y EE.UU. donde empleados mexicanos y anglos usan la primera persona plural ‘nosotros' para (de)enfatizar membrecía(s) en grupos, reparar conflicto e inclusivamente definir su comunidad de práctica. En contextos de colaboración intergrupal, una identidad colectiva se construye al enfatizar tareas compartidas, especialmente con ‘nosotros.’ En situaciones de conflicto intergrupal, rasgos antagónicos recalcan oposición entre grupos al usar la primera persona plural exclusiva y expresiones deícticas de localización. Finalmente, el reparar conflicto reconoce diferencias intergrupales y recurre a relaciones afectivas para establecer una identidad compartida.

KEYWORDS:

• First person plural
• conflict repair
• borders
• group identity
• deictic expressions

Acknowledgments

I extend my thanks to the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on this manuscript and to Ana Maria Carvalho and Ana María Relaño Pastor for their mentorship on earlier versions. I also thank Elizabeth Becker for her research assistance.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 I invert the typical word order for border nomenclature (i.e. U.S.-Mexico) to intentionally contest power differentials between these countries and assumptions about this region.

2 Names of cities, organizations, and people are pseudonyms. Fronteras Unidas means United Borders in English.

3 Mission statement has been paraphrased to maintain the anonymity of the organization.

4 Cities are named for the cholla cactus and ocotillo shrub that are autochthonous to this region.

5 Advanced bilinguals provided informal simultaneous interpretation for monolingual English-speakers and those with low Spanish proficiency.

6 The term ‘Anglo’ refers to non-Latinx Whites with English-speaking heritage.

7 Ten staff members (five on each team) were educational tour leaders who accompanied visiting groups on educational trips focused on social justice issues on both sides of the border. They served as facilitators, interpreters, and language brokers for delegations, who’s participants were primarily English speakers.

8 Observational notes are based on video recordings; 3–6 individuals typically appeared on camera at a time during meetings as the camera panned the room to record speakers.

9 Because Spanish is a PRO-drop language, ‘yo’ is redundant in this context. While the use of ‘yo’ may be interpreted as emphatic here, it may be the result of linguistic interference from English, which requires a subject.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elise M. DuBord

Elise DuBord is Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics at the University of Northern Iowa. Her research focuses on Latinx populations in the United States and examines the linguistic, social, and political impacts of language contact between Spanish and English. Her book Language, Immigration and Labor: Negotiating Work in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands is based on ethnographic research with Mexican and Central American day laborers in Arizona. She has published in journals such as Spanish in Context, Heritage Language Journal, and Language & Communication.