Assessing the Link between Language and Identity: The Construction of Identities among Belgian-Turkish Migrants

Multiculturalism and multilingualism are inevitable consequences of international migration. Contact between different linguistic or ethnic groups causes the development of expressions specific to one’s identity and for migrants it results in the construction of hybrid identities which are very complex to define and understand without knowing the conditions of their construction processes. This paper aims to contribute to the literature about the identity construction of migrants, to assess the link between language and identity in this process. In this regard, I have pursued a qualitative res... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Zeynep Yılmaz Hava
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
Reihe/Periodikum: İnsan & Toplum, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 67-84 (2018)
Verlag/Hrsg.: İlmi Etüdler Derneği
Schlagwörter: Language ideology / multilingualism / Turkish immigrants / identity construction / integration policies / transnationalism / linguistic differentiation / History of scholarship and learning. The humanities / AZ20-999
Sprache: Englisch
Turkish
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-26924543
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://doaj.org/article/d4d16b39b9c545f383a5f298f4b61e7c

Multiculturalism and multilingualism are inevitable consequences of international migration. Contact between different linguistic or ethnic groups causes the development of expressions specific to one’s identity and for migrants it results in the construction of hybrid identities which are very complex to define and understand without knowing the conditions of their construction processes. This paper aims to contribute to the literature about the identity construction of migrants, to assess the link between language and identity in this process. In this regard, I have pursued a qualitative research focusing on the second-generation Turkish-speaking community in Belgium. As a result of the study, it is observed that the migrants’ ideologies show traces of national discourses most of the time but their actual language performances and practices contradict these ideologies. The immigrants facing institutional or cultural racism in the host country create new multidimensional and transnational spheres in which they perform multiple identities through varying language usages. This research aims to provide a more comprehensive and deeper analysis regarding the link among language ideologies, linguistic differences and identity construction processes in the contemporary Europe, starting from the Belgian case by taking into account the linguistic aspect in a supra-national environment.