Home Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media

  • Wei Ren

    Wei Ren is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China. His research interests include pragmatics and second language acquisition. His recent publications include articles in Applied Linguistics, Assessing Writing, Discourse Context & Media, ELT Journal, Intercultural Pragmatics, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, IRAL, Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics, Pragmatics & Cognition, Pragmatics & Society, and System.

     ORCID logo EMAIL logo     and Yaping Guo

    Yaping Guo is a PhD candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China. Her research interest is pragmatics. Her recent publications include articles in Discourse Context & Media, and Journal of Pragmatics.
Published/Copyright: May 23, 2022
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Submit Manuscript Author Information
Applied Linguistics Review
From the journal Applied Linguistics Review Volume 15 Issue 1

Abstract

Self-praise is very common on social media, and various translanguaging strategies are often used by internet users in online communication. Most of the existing studies on self-praise have centered on strategies for self-praise, ignoring the multimodal communication styles involved. On the other hand, although translanguaging has attracted significant research attention in linguistics and multilingual education, few studies have explored translanguaging in a specific speech act. Therefore, this study investigates the translanguaging practices involved in self-praising in Chinese netizens’ social media by analyzing 300 Chinese microblog posts containing self-praise. The results indicate that there are three major categories of translanguaging strategies in self-praise in microblogs, namely multimodal, multilingual and multi-semiotic resources, with various sub-strategies involved in each category. The study also discusses the possible factors motivating Chinese netizens to deploy translanguaging practices to self-praise on social media. This study contributes to the body of research on translanguaging pragmatics in social media communication.

Keywords: self-praise; social media; translanguaging; Weibo
Corresponding author: Wei Ren, School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, 37 Xueyuan Road, 100083, Beijing, China, E-mail:

Funding source: National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences

Award Identifier / Grant number: 20BYY066

About the authors

Wei Ren

Wei Ren is Professor of Applied Linguistics at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China. His research interests include pragmatics and second language acquisition. His recent publications include articles in Applied Linguistics, Assessing Writing, Discourse Context & Media, ELT Journal, Intercultural Pragmatics, International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, IRAL, Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics, Pragmatics & Cognition, Pragmatics & Society, and System.

Yaping Guo

Yaping Guo is a PhD candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, Beijing, China. Her research interest is pragmatics. Her recent publications include articles in Discourse Context & Media, and Journal of Pragmatics.

  1. Research funding: This paper is sponsored by the research grant from the National Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Sciences, P. R. China (20BYY066).

References

Androutsopoulos, Jannis. 2015. Networked multilingualism: Some language practices on Facebook and their implications. International Journal of Bilingualism 19(2). 185–205. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367006913489198.Search in Google Scholar

Blommaert, Jan. 2019. Formatting online actions: #justsaying on Twitter. International Journal of Multilingualism 16(2). 112–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2019.1575832.Search in Google Scholar

Brown, Penelope & Stephen Levinson. 1987. Politeness: Some universals in language usage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511813085Search in Google Scholar

Canagarajah, Suresh. 2011. Codemeshing in academic writing: Identifying teachable strategies of translanguaging. The Modern Language Journal 95(3). 401–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4781.2011.01207.x.Search in Google Scholar

Cermak-Sassenrath, Daniel. 2018. Playful disruption of digital media. New York: Springer.10.1007/978-981-10-1891-6Search in Google Scholar

Crystal, David. 1987. The Cambridge encyclopedia of language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Crystal, David. 1998. Language play. London: Penguin.Search in Google Scholar

Dainas, Ashley R. & Susan C. Herring. 2021. Interpreting emoji pragmatics. In Chaoqun Xie, Francisco Yus & Hartmut Haberland (eds.), Approaches to internet pragmatics: Theory and practice, 107–144. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.10.1075/pbns.318.04daiSearch in Google Scholar

Danesi, Marcel. 2016. The semiotics of emoji: The rise of visual language in the age of the internet. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Dayter, Daria. 2014. Self-praise in microblogging. Journal of Pragmatics 61. 91–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2013.11.021.Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia. 2009. Bilingual education in the 21st century: Global perspectives. Malden MA: Blackwell.Search in Google Scholar

García, Ofelia & Wei Li. 2014. Translanguaging: Language, bilingualism and education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1057/9781137385765_4Search in Google Scholar

Ge-Stadnyk, Jing. 2021. Communicative functions of emoji sequences in the context of self-presentation: A comparative study of Weibo and Twitter users. Discourse & Communication 15(4). 369–387. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813211002038.Search in Google Scholar

Georgakopoulou, Alexandra. 2017. ‘Whose context collapse?’: Ethical clashes in the study of language and social media in context. Applied Linguistics Review 3(2–3). 169–189. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-1034.Search in Google Scholar

Gibson, Will, Pingping Huang & Qianyun Yu. 2018. Emoji and communicative action: The semiotics, sequence and gestural actions of ‘face covering hand’. Discourse. Context Media 26. 91–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.05.005.Search in Google Scholar

Goffman, Erving. 1959. The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Anchor.Search in Google Scholar

Gu, Yueguo. 1990. Politeness phenomena in Modern Chinese. Journal of Pragmatics 14. 237–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(90)90082-o.Search in Google Scholar

Gunthert, André. 2015. The consecration of the selfie: A cultural history. Études Photographiques 32. 1–21.Search in Google Scholar

Guo, Yaping & Wei Ren. 2020. Managing image: The self-praise of celebrities on social media. Discourse Context & Media 38. 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2020.100433.Search in Google Scholar

Han, Yanmei. 2020. Translanguaging as transnational spaces: Chinese visiting scholars’ language practices on WeChat. International Journal of Multilingualism 17(2). 174–195. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2018.1546308.Search in Google Scholar

Kimura-Thollander, Philippe & Neha Kumar. 2019. Examining the “Global” language of emojis: Designing for cultural representation. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 2019 CHI conference on human factors in computing systems, Glasgow.10.1145/3290605.3300725Search in Google Scholar

Kristeva, Julia. 1980. Desire in language: A semiotic approach to literature and art. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Search in Google Scholar

Kulavuz-Onal, Derya & Camilla Vásquez. 2018. “Thanks, shokran, gracias”: Translingual practices in a Facebook group. Language Learning & Technology 22(1). 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0688.Search in Google Scholar

Leary, Mark & Robin Kowalski. 1990. Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. Psychological Bulletin 107(1). 34–47. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.1.34.Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2011. Moment analysis and translanguaging space: Discursive construction of identities by multilingual Chinese youth in Britain. Journal of Pragmatics 43(5). 1222–1235.10.1016/j.pragma.2010.07.035Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2014. Negotiating funds of knowledge and symbolic competence in the complementary school classrooms. Language and Education 28(2). 161–180.10.1080/09500782.2013.800549Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2018. Translanguaging as a practical theory of language. Applied Linguistics 39(1). 9–30.10.1093/applin/amx039Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei. 2020. Multilingual English users’ linguistic innovation. World Englishes 39(2). 236–248.10.1111/weng.12457Search in Google Scholar

Li, Wei & Hua Zhu. 2019. Tranßcripting: Playful subversion with Chinese characters. International Journal of Multilingualism 16(2). 145–161.10.1080/14790718.2019.1575834Search in Google Scholar

Markham, Annette & Elizabeth Buchanan. 2012. Ethical decision-making and internet research: Recommendations from the AoIR ethics working committee (version 2.0).Search in Google Scholar

Matley, David. 2018. “This is not a #humblebrag, this is just a #brag”: The pragmatics of self-praise, hashtags and politeness in Instagram posts. Discourse. Context & Media 22. 30–38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2017.07.007.Search in Google Scholar

O’Hagan, Lauren Alex & Tereza Spilioti. 2021. The Edwardian selfies: A transhistorical approach to celebrity culture and pictorial bookplates. Discourese Context & Media 43. 100522.10.1016/j.dcm.2021.100522Search in Google Scholar

Redmond, Sean. 2014. Celebrity and the media. London: Macmillan Education UK.10.1007/978-1-137-38249-8Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei. 2018a. Exploring Chinese digital communication. Discourse, Context and Media 26. 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.07.002.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei. 2018b. Mitigation in Chinese online consumer reviews. Discourse, Context and Media 26. 5–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2018.01.001.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei. 2019. Intensification in online consumer reviews: insights from Chinese. In Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Lucía Fernández-Amaya & María Hernández-lópez (eds.), Mediated service encounters, 201–223. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei & Yaping Guo. 2020. Self-praise on Chinese social networking sites. Journal of Pragmatics 169. 179–189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2020.09.009.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei & Yaping Guo. 2021. What is “Versailles Literature”?: Humblebrags on Chinese social networking sites. Journal of Pragmatics 184. 185–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.08.002.Search in Google Scholar

Ren, Wei & Helen Woodfield. 2016. Chinese females’ date refusals in reality TV shows: Expressing involvement or independence? Discourse Context & Media 13. 89–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcm.2016.05.008.Search in Google Scholar

Riordan, Monica. 2017. Emojis as tools for emotion work: Communicating affect in text messages. Journal of Language and Social Psychology 36(5). 549–567. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927x17704238.Search in Google Scholar

Schreiber, Brooke Ricker. 2015. “I am what I am”: Multilingual identity and digital translanguaging. Language Learning & Technology 19(3). 69–87.Search in Google Scholar

Scott, Kate. 2015. The pragmatics of hashtags: Inference and conversational style on Twitter. Journal of Pragmatics 81. 8–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.03.015.Search in Google Scholar

Spencer-Oatey, Helen. 2008. Face, (im)politeness and rapport. In Helen Spencer-Oatey (ed.), Culturally speaking: Culture, communication and politeness theory, 2nd ed., 11–47. London: Continuum.Search in Google Scholar

Thompson, Dominic & Ruth Filik. 2016. Sarcasm in written communication: Emoticons are efficient markers of intention. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 21(2). 105–120. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcc4.12156.Search in Google Scholar

Tobback, Els. 2019. Telling the world how skilful you are: Self-praise strategies on LinkedIn. Discourse & Communication 13(6). 647–668. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750481319868854.Search in Google Scholar

Wu, Ruey-Jiuan Regina. 2011. A conversation analysis of self-praising in everyday Mandarin interaction. Journal of Pragmatics 43(13). 3152–3176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2011.05.016.Search in Google Scholar

Zappavigna, Michele. 2015. Searchable talk: The linguistic functions of hashtags. Social Semiotics 25. 274–291. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2014.996948.Search in Google Scholar

Zhang, Yi & Wei Ren. 2022. From hǎo to hǒu – Stylising online communication with Chinese dialects. International Journal of Multilingualism. 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2022.2061981.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, Sumin & Rosie Flewitt. 2019. Young Chinese immigrant children’s language and literacy practices on social media: A translanguaging perspective. Language and Education 34(3). 267–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2019.1656738.Search in Google Scholar

Zhao, Sumin & Michele Zappavigna. 2018. Beyond the self: Intersubjectivity and the social semiotic interpretation of the selfie. New Media & Society 20(5). 1735–1754. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444817706074.Search in Google Scholar

Zhu, Qianqian & Wei Ren. 2022. Memes and emojis in Chinese compliments on Weibo. Chinese Semiotic Studies 18(1). 69–95. https://doi.org/10.1515/css-2021-2048.Search in Google Scholar
Received: 2021-10-31
Accepted: 2022-04-29
Published Online: 2022-05-23
Published in Print: 2024-01-29

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Communicating across educational boundaries: accommodation patterns in adolescents’ online interactions
  4. Tracking telecollaborative tasks through design, feedback, implementation, and reflection processes in pre-service language teacher education
  5. Individual versus pair work on L2 speech acts: production and cognitive processes
  6. Self-identity construction and pragmatic compensation in a Chinese DAT elder’s discourse
  7. Verbal and nonverbal disagreement in an ELF academic discussion task
  8. Relationships between struggling EFL writers’ motivation, self-regulated learning (SRL), and writing competence in Hong Kong primary schools
  9. Chinese university students’ self-regulated writing strategy use and EFL writing performance: influences of self-efficacy, gender, and major
  10. Does one size fit all? The scope and type of error in direct feedback effectiveness
  11. Immersing learners in English listening classroom: does self-regulated learning instruction make a difference?
  12. The pedagogical potential of speech-language therapy materials for the teaching of idiomatic expressions in a foreign language
  13. “This topic was inconsiderate of our culture”: Jordanian students’ perceptions of intercultural clashes in IELTS writing tests
  14. Positioning of female marriage immigrants in South Korea: a multimodal textbook analysis
  15. Hearing parents learning American Sign Language with their deaf children: a mixed-methods survey
  16. Teacher resilience and triple crises: Confucius Institute teachers’ lived experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic
  17. Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media
https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2021-0169
Keywords for this article
self-praise; social media; translanguaging; Weibo

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Communicating across educational boundaries: accommodation patterns in adolescents’ online interactions
  4. Tracking telecollaborative tasks through design, feedback, implementation, and reflection processes in pre-service language teacher education
  5. Individual versus pair work on L2 speech acts: production and cognitive processes
  6. Self-identity construction and pragmatic compensation in a Chinese DAT elder’s discourse
  7. Verbal and nonverbal disagreement in an ELF academic discussion task
  8. Relationships between struggling EFL writers’ motivation, self-regulated learning (SRL), and writing competence in Hong Kong primary schools
  9. Chinese university students’ self-regulated writing strategy use and EFL writing performance: influences of self-efficacy, gender, and major
  10. Does one size fit all? The scope and type of error in direct feedback effectiveness
  11. Immersing learners in English listening classroom: does self-regulated learning instruction make a difference?
  12. The pedagogical potential of speech-language therapy materials for the teaching of idiomatic expressions in a foreign language
  13. “This topic was inconsiderate of our culture”: Jordanian students’ perceptions of intercultural clashes in IELTS writing tests
  14. Positioning of female marriage immigrants in South Korea: a multimodal textbook analysis
  15. Hearing parents learning American Sign Language with their deaf children: a mixed-methods survey
  16. Teacher resilience and triple crises: Confucius Institute teachers’ lived experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic
  17. Translanguaging in self-praise on Chinese social media
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 21.11.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/applirev-2021-0169/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button