LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY: HOW LANGUAGE SHAPES PERSONAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY

Abstract

Abstract. This study examines the relationship between language and identity, investigating how language practices shape, negotiate, and express both personal and cultural identity among multilingual university students. Drawing on poststructuralist theories of identity and the sociolinguistic frameworks of language socialization and indexicality, the research employs a qualitative case study design involving in-depth interviews with 25 trilingual (Uzbek-Russian-English) university students in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Thematic analysis of the interview data revealed four interconnected dimensions through which language shapes identity: linguistic self-perception, code-switching as identity performance, heritage language and cultural belonging, and English as a vehicle for aspirational identity. The findings demonstrate that participants experienced their multilingual repertoires not as discrete, compartmentalized systems but as integrated resources for constructing fluid, context-dependent identities that shifted across social domains. Crucially, language choices were found to serve as acts of identity through which participants positioned themselves in relation to cultural heritage, modernity, professional aspiration, and generational belonging. These results contribute to the growing body of research on language and identity in post-Soviet multilingual contexts and carry implications for language education policy, heritage language maintenance, and the design of culturally responsive pedagogy in multilingual societies.