2. Culture and Identity

Our identity influences the ways we see the world around us as well as the ways the world sees us.
Identity also sets the conditions for our language acquisition and effects our communicative
competence.

To search for one's own identity means to wade through the waters of 'what' and 'who' one thinks
and feels to be and with 'what' and 'who' they identify. The story bellow (source #1) suggests that
a culture has a strong impact on one's own identity, especially if one is treated as an outsider (a
foreigner) to the culture. Use the theory in source # 2 to understand better the ideas behind the
Mongoose story. The source 3 provides other views and definitions of identity. The text in source 4
sheds light on how our various identities affect in various ways our communication behavior.