The Influence Of The American Culture On The Algerian English Speaking Youtubers’ Cultural Identity When Designing Videos

Résumé: The current study aims to investigate the influence of the American culture on the Algerian English speaking YouTubers’ cultural identity when designing videos. It is based on three objectives. First, it seeks to explore YouTube features that contribute to the display of identity and cultural practices of YouTubers. Second, it aims to find out how the American cultural influences spread among the Algerian English speaking YouTubers. Third, it aims to find out the place that the American culture and the English language are acquiring among Algerian YouTubers. In order to meet the above-mentioned objectives, Hecht’s (2005) Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) is adopted as a theoretical framework. For collecting data, 30 videos uploaded by 13 Algerian English speaking YouTubers have been selected as the main corpus of the study. To reinforce the data obtained from the videos, an online semi-structured interview is conducted with four Algerian YouTubers, whose videos were selected. The research is qualitative in nature; therefore, the findings of the research involving both the content of the 30 videos and the responses obtained from the interview are interpreted using Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA).The results of the study reveal that the video is the main feature which allows cultural identity expression. The findings of the video analysis also reveal that a variety of factors, such as the global popularity of the American music, fashion brands, and film industry that reflect the American lifestyle, along with the influence of their YouTubers, contributed to the spread of American cultural elements among Algerian YouTubers. Finally, the Algerian YouTubers’ use of English in their videos demonstrates the significant place English is acquiring and the co-existence of the Algerian and American cultures on the Algerian YouTube.

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