Do interlocutors or conversation topics affect migrants’ sense of feeling different when switching languages?

Alessandra Panicacci ^[1] ; Jean-Marc Dewaele ^[1]
1. [1] University of London
  
  University of London
  
  Reino Unido
Localización: Journal of multilingual and multicultural development, ISSN 0143-4632, Vol. 39, Nº. 3, 2018, págs. 240-255
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- A majority of multilinguals report feeling different when switching languages [Dewaele, J.-M. (2016). “Why do So Many Bi- and Multilinguals Feel Different When Switching Languages?” International Journal of Multilingualism 13 (1): 92–105; Panicacci, A., and J.-M. Dewaele. (2017). “‘A Voice from Elsewhere’: Acculturation, Personality and Migrants’ Self-perceptions Across Languages and Cultures.” International Journal of Multilingualism. doi:10.1080/14790718.2016.1273937]. The present study focuses on feelings of difference when switching languages with specific categories of interlocutors (strangers, colleagues, friends, family, partner) and when discussing specific types of topics (neutral, personal, emotional). Statistical analyses revealed that 468 Italian migrants living in English-speaking countries feel more different when they use English to discuss emotional topics with less familiar interlocutors. Subsequent interviews with five participants and data from a survey open question pointed at migrants’ affective socialisation within the new cultural environment, cultural orientation and other unique personal aspects as potential causes for this phenomenon.