The use of a case study approach to examine the construction of identity in an undergraduate dissertation written in a foreign language

摘要

My study reports on a case study of a Spanish native speaker’s academic writing in English regarding his identity expression. I use Ivanic’s (1998) framework on writer’s ‘discoursal identity’. I also included the writer’s mini-autobiography and a semi-structured Skype-interview for an in-depth analysis of the writer’s authorial representation and autobiographical self. This triangulation of data shed light on the writer’s identity construction. I therefore also reflect on the use of a case study approach when analysing a writer’s ‘identity construction’.