Telling Stories and Making Social Relations: Transnational Women’s Ways of Belonging in Intercultural Contexts

Abstract

This study investigates how transnational women construct their social relations by telling stories in a lingua franca environment (Firth 1996). My main interest lies in naturally occurring and interactionally achieved stories (Bamberg 2004; Georgakopoulou 2007) told during break time of an adult English as a Second Language (ESL) class in Honolulu. I investigate how seven learners find common ground for belonging by telling stories as a means of active participation. The process of cultural belonging and participation is examined by way of narrative analysis—a concrete, visible, and discursive method for analyzing participants’ daily interactions. By utilizing the dimensions of storytelling, which are embeddedness, tellership, and tellability (Ochs and Capps 2001; Georgakopoulou 2007) I seek to examine how the women construct their social relations and what social actions and goals their stories produce in the interaction. The women locate common concerns and complaints, using their stories to build a familiar, safe, and comfortable environment in which to practice their new lingua franca.