Research article | Open Access
International Journal of Language and Education Research 2025, Vol. 7(2) 96-127
Code-Switching and Social Identity Construction in Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
pp. 96 - 127
Publish Date: August 31, 2025 | Single/Total View: 0/0 | Single/Total Download: 0/0
Abstract
Literature today becomes a powerful tool to explore cultural hybridity, identity construction, and linguistic adaptation in the increasingly globalizing world we live in. Young adult immigrant literature, particularly from the Bildungsroman or coming-of-age genre, mirrors challenges and negotiations arising from cross-cultural experiences toward selfhood. This paper consequently aims to explore how identities are constructed in the case of young adult immigration narratives, Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, as a case study with particular emphasis on how protagonists navigate personal and social identities in diverse settings. This study will analyze how specific genres in literature introduce and expose themes as well as linguistic phenomena as markers of identity, focusing on code-switching within multilingual narratives and literary works. The case study will integrate the Social Identity Theory in explaining how language shapes identity, and further, this analysis of the four female protagonists traces how linguistic choices and cultural negotiations shape identity development in a social environment. Adopting a qualitative research approach, specifically employing a close and thematic analysis of the literary text to examine the language use, identity construction, and cultural affiliations of the characters. This extends to how code-switching is brought out through the characters' actions and its importance in self-expression and belonging. Findings from a different angle suggest that code-switching in literature reflects deeper identity struggles and social adaptation that individuals face, illustrating the fluid and dynamic nature of identity in multilingual and multicultural contexts.
Keywords: bildungsroman, code-switching in literature, cultural hybridity, identity construction, linguistic adaptation, multilingual narratives, social identity theory
APA 7th edition
Belhachemi, A. (2025). Code-Switching and Social Identity Construction in Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. International Journal of Language and Education Research, 7(2), 96-127.
Harvard
Belhachemi, A. (2025). Code-Switching and Social Identity Construction in Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents. International Journal of Language and Education Research, 7(2), pp. 96-127.
Chicago 16th edition
Belhachemi, Ahmed (2025). "Code-Switching and Social Identity Construction in Julia Alvarez’s How the García Girls Lost Their Accents". International Journal of Language and Education Research 7 (2):96-127.
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