Beyond linguistic practices : verse schools as prime locus for the co-construction of youth identity and linguistic identity

When investigating the linguistic habits of young people, nonlinguistic practices and identities are seldom taken into account. The idea that arises in this work is that the linguistic identity of young people, and therefore their linguistic practices, are closely related to youth identity. In this research, which was carried out in the bertso-eskola of Bernart Etxepare High School in Baiona (Northern Basque Country), we analyze the relationship between the linguistic behaviors of the young people and the construction of their youth identities. Indeed, in a sociolinguistic environment in which being competent in Basque is a marked characteristic among young people, the participants of the bertso schools have the habit of using Basque not only in the bertso schools, but also among their friends