Exploring Migrant Students’ Attitudes towards Their Multilingual Identities through Language Portraits
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
3.1. Participants’ Visual Representations of Their Linguistic Repertoires
3.1.1. Participants’ Color Choices
Flags
- I:
- Why did you choose red to represent Albanian? P3.E: Red is on the Albanian flag.
- P4.A:
- Why on the flag that Albania has... it is red. P8.M: Because the Russian flag is red...I like red...as I do for the Russian language. P10.L: As you can see…. I tried to draw the flag of Canada.
World Knowledge and Personal Experience
- I:
- Why did you choose yellow to represent Greek?
- P7.M:
- Because Greece has a lot of sun and that’s why I chose yellow, which is like the sun.
- P9.A:
- Because Greece has a lot of sun.
- I:
- Why did you choose blue to represent Greek?
- P2.A:
- Blue is the sea of Greece.
- I:
- Why did you choose green to represent Russian?
- P9.A:
- Because Russia has forests.
- I:
- Why did you choose orange to represent Russian?
- P7.M:
- Oh, now it’s a bit hard to explain, because in Russia at Christmas every
Emotions
- I:
- Why did you choose pink to represent Russian?
- P2.A:
- Pink is my favorite color, and so is the Russian language.
- P4.A:
- Red for Albanian and my favorite color.
- P8.M:
- Because the Russian flag is red...I like red...as I do for the Russian language (see also Figure 5 below).
3.1.2. Participants’ Language Placements
Attachment
- I:
- Why did you choose red to represent Albanian?
- P3.E:
- Red is on the Albanian flag.
- I:
- What does it mean that you painted Albanian on your little head?
- P3.E:
- Although I grew up in Greece, I think like an Albanian....to keep them in mind (see also Figure 6 below).
- I:
- Why did you choose pink to represent Russian?
- P2.A:
- Pink is my favorite color.
- I:
- What feelings arise when you think about your L1? Is your L1 important for you?
- P2.A:
- I love Russian; for me, it’s mom and dad.
Body Functions
- I:
- What does painting Greek on your little hands mean?
- P3.E:
- I do things with my hands in Greek and I write at school.
- P5.O:
- Greek helps me get along with the kids at school.
- P7.M:
- Because all the lessons we do at school are in Greek, and I do all this with my hands that is, I write with my hands... that’s why I chose hands.
- I:
- What does painting Greek on your little feet mean?
- P8.M:
- Because I know Greek less but also because I also walk in Greece.
- I:
- What does painting Russian on your mouth mean?
- P9.A:
- I can speak Russian better than Greek.
3.2. Students’ Perceptions of Multilingualism and Emotions
- I:
- What feelings arouse when you think about your L1?
- P6.I:
- “I feel love; I feel my cousins and uncles who also speak Albanian”.
- I:
- Is your L1 important for you?
- P1.M:
- A lot. With mom and dad, we speak Bulgarian so that I don’t forget them. When I go to Bulgaria, I want to be able to speak.
4. Discussion
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
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Languages Spoken | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Participants | Age | Gender | Years in Greece | Country of Origin | L1 | L2 | Foreign Languages |
P1.M | 8 | girl | 7 | Turkey | Turkish–Bulgarian | Greek | English |
P2.A | 8 | girl | 4 | Latvia (mother)—Greece (father) | Russian | Greek | English |
P3.E | 10 | boy | 10 | Albania | Albanian | Greek | English–German |
P4.A | 10 | boy | 10 | Albania | Albanian | Greek | English–German |
P5.O | 12 | girl | 12 | Albania | Albanian | Greek | English |
P6.1 | 11 | boy | 11 | Albania | Albanian | Greek | English |
P7.M | 11 | girl | 5 | Russia | Russian | Greek | English |
P8.M | 13 | boy | 5 | Russia | Russian | Greek | English |
P9.A | 12 | boy | 1 | Russia | Russian | Greek | English |
P10.L | 12 | boy | 12 | Canada | English | Greek | French |
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Stavrakaki, A.; Manoli, P. Exploring Migrant Students’ Attitudes towards Their Multilingual Identities through Language Portraits. Societies 2023, 13, 153. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070153
Stavrakaki A, Manoli P. Exploring Migrant Students’ Attitudes towards Their Multilingual Identities through Language Portraits. Societies. 2023; 13(7):153. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070153
Chicago/Turabian StyleStavrakaki, Antonia, and Peggy Manoli. 2023. "Exploring Migrant Students’ Attitudes towards Their Multilingual Identities through Language Portraits" Societies 13, no. 7: 153. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13070153