Paper short abstract:

This study focuses on interactions among Boda Boda motorcyclists in Bungoma town in Kenya. Specifically, using principles from interactional sociolinguistics, the study argues that during conversation, the Boda Boda motorcyclists use verbal strategies to construct the rural and urban identities.

Paper long abstract:

Arguing in support of the view that identity is constructed in talk, this paper investigates interactions among Boda Boda motorcyclists plying between Bungoma town and the overlying rural areas. I argue that the conversations among the motorcyclists revolve around challenges such as as lack of parking spaces, theft, presence of dishonest travelers and so on posed by the town and that since most of them are born in the rural areas, these challenges emerge through the rural lens. Thus, with theoretical and methodological principles from interactional sociolinguistics, this study investigates heteroglossia that characterizes talk among Boda Boda motorcyclists and that is revealed through the use of

verbal devices. As data that guides this study are audio recordings of the conversations among Boda Boda motorcyclists that take place at the station. The data will then be analyzed at the level of content and prosodic organization with the aim of identifying discursive structures that will be logged under verbal strategies contextualizing them and analyzed with the aim of

establishing how multiple identities are constructed. Preliminary findings show that with the use of reported speech, pronouns and metaphors Boda Boda motocyclists construct conflicting identities. By analyzing the verbal strategies of the Boda Boda motorcyclists, this study contributes to discussions on the role of language in the construction of mixed identities in the urban spaces in Kenya and in the world.