”Jag kommer aldrig säga att jag är svensk” : En kvalitativ studie kring sex elevers förhållning till sin flerspråkighet och hur den har påverkat synen på dem själva och deras identitet

Sammanfattning:

The purpose of this paper is to examine how six students who attend a high school relate to their multilingualism and emphasize how their multilingualism has affected their views of themselves and their identity. The fundamental questions were:

• How do six students who attend a secondary school relate to their multilingualism?
• How has students' multilingualism affected their views of themselves and their identity?

I did use a qualitative research method in terms of interviews to receive answers for my inquiries.

Carla Jonsson (2010) speaks inter alia about “the third space” which concerns adolescents creating a “third room”. Almqvist (2006) believes that adolescents that are exposed to discrimination and prejudices can lead to them turning their backs on society in disappointment. Boyd (1985) has, in his thesis, found that multilingual students communicate with the majority language and with their mother tongue with their parents. Sjöqvist & Lindberg (1996) believe that people gain access to other cultures through their multilingualism which leads to new ways of thinking.

The result of my investigation showed that the informants were in favor of their multilingualism and they see it as a benefit. The informants have created their own identity by combining their homeland’s language with the majority language. They see themselves as a resource for the society.