Language, Identity, and Racism in Postsecondary Classrooms

Abstract

Language, identity, and racism are three concepts that define people's attitudes in all facets of relationship. The system of interrelatedness which exists among the three concepts of language, identity, and racism can therefore be said to be reflective. This study investigated elements of language used in foregrounding identity and racism in multiracial classroom settings. The study gathered data through a self-designed Google questionnaire of a mixed structure. Forty Nigerian graduate students studying in different parts of the world were selected for the research. The study shows that use of language to establish identity and racism is covert in postsecondary classrooms of the selected respondents; hence, expression of racism among learners is mostly done unconsciously and basically unintended.