“Well, I’m a Gaijin”: Constructing identity through English and humor in the international workplace

•I analyze original discourse data from an American intern in a Japanese workplace.•English is used to contextualize playfulness and construct an outsider identity.•The intern's interactions are imitated and co-constructed by Japanese workers.•Presentation of outsider identity yields several positive interactional effects.•Observed language play strengthens cross-cultural understanding and relationships.

As globalization increases linguistic and cultural diversity in local business settings, workers from different backgrounds are faced with the challenge of negotiating a variety of social identities throughout daily workplace interaction. This study employs an interactional sociolinguistics approach to analyze discourse data from a two-day observation of an American in a Japanese company. In the data, English and humor are used by the intern and his coworkers to co-construct a gaijin ‘foreigner’ identity in a manner that yields positive interactional and social effects. This discursive manifestation of an outsider identity effectively facilitates interaction, providing a non-intrusive strategy for interruption and opportunities for language play, socialization, and laughter. Results shed light on how diverse backgrounds can be used as a strategy for communicating and building relationships across linguistic and social barriers.