Abstract
Identity negotiation is an often-overlooked process that adult immigrants actively experience through and during the process of language learning. Language learning for adult immigrants is not only a means to an end (passing a language test, obtaining citizenship, joining the work force, or gaining study rights) but a process in which our understanding of ourselves and our relationships with others are redefined by newly learned linguistic and cultural norms and interactions with native speakers and other learners. This is particularly true in intensive language and culture courses like those offered to adult immigrants in Finland, and other countries, as part of integration programmes. Using a sociocultural and postmodern understanding of learning, identity and language, this PhD study describes the experiences of adult immigrants as language learners in Finland and explain how these experiences influence the process of identity negotiation. The process of data collection is ongoing, but preliminary results show that participants are guided into or assigned subject positions, by their interactions with others in the courses, in which their behaviour should be compliant yet active and independent. They also show how the participants accept or challenge these subject positions, and by doing so, renegotiate their way of interacting with others in and outside of Finland as professionals, family members, immigrants, and as part of Finnish society.
Presenters
Paulina Beatriz Chavez RodriguezDoctoral Candidate, Department of Education, University of Turku, Länsi-Suomen lääni, Finland
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Learner Diversity and Identities
KEYWORDS
Identity, Language Learning, Adult Immigrants
