ABSTRACT
Chapter 7 places the spotlight on the researcher to problematize the impact of the identity and language of the researcher on the participants and on the data collected. The chapter deliberates how my ascribed identity as an American (versus my felt identity as an Italian/Neapolitan) influenced interview interactions and the participants’ language practices. It argues that the researcher’s identity/positioning and the research process itself are critical components of the data that must be heeded during analysis. It proposes that the identity of the researcher and the (language) choices she made throughout the research process shaped both what was said (and what was not said) during interviews and how participants expressed accounts, positions and attitudes. With regards to the latter point, instances of translanguaging are presented, in which participants moved effortlessly within their idiolect to gather more information and linguistically problem solve, to change footing, clarify their stances and articulate emotions, and to accentuate terms and ideas.
