Language, Technology, and Social Identity: A Multidisciplinary Linguistic Study of English Communication in Digital Knowledge Ecosystems

Abstract

The article is concerned with the English communication, technological platform, and establishment of social identities within the modern digital knowledge ecosystems. Using the sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and digital studies the paper will discuss the importance of English as a medium and the social resource in the online creation of knowledge, sharing, and community practice. Three major typologies are discussed: (1) conceptual and stylized potentials of online services in engagement with English usage; (2) the role of English as a lingua franca and a space of navigation among the identity respondents within multilingualism; and (3) the role of the ecosystem architectures (platforms, recommender systems, collaborative knowledge repositories) in the participation, knowledge sharing, and identity expression. The article employs the qualitative content analysis and literature synthesis to establish the theoretical and empirical findings and concludes by offering methodological implications and themes of policy and platform design to ensure equitable engagement in digital knowledge ecosystems.