Resumen de Language and a rising new identity in Taiwan

John Kwock-Ping Tse

• This paper attempts to describe the development ofa sense ofgroup identity among the people of Taiwan in recent years. This emergent identity is generally referred to äs the "New Taiwanese People." An in-depth analysis of this new sociolinguistic development shows that this emergent group identity is the result of the interaction among a number of highly complicated historical, political, and sociolinguistic factors. The focus of the paper is on the changing conception of group identity, particularly within the last decade, and the interaction between this emergent new identity and language. Besides the introduction, two major sections are included, with the first providing Information on the historical background and the second dealing with the interaction between language and this new group identity.