"Ibland känner jag mig som en person med flera huvuden" : En studie om hur språk och identitet samspelar.

• Main Author: Forsberg, Jeanette
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-13742

Abstract      The purpose of my essay is to understand how language and identity interact in individuals with an immigrant backgrounds? My main focus is rooted in the individual`s identity and my questions are: -        How is the informants talkning about the importance of being able to make themselves understood with the language? -        How do they talk about the creation of identity? -        How does language and identity be linked in their discourse about language and identity?    To accomplish this and to answer my questions I have chosen to use a qualitative method based of interviews. I believe that this method is the most appropriate in order to provide answers to my questions. I interviewed four people who have lived in Sweden between 3-6 years. Two of  the  informants are from Latvia and speak fluent swedish, the two other informants come from Chile and are currently learning swedish. These two interviews are therefore made in their native tongue, Spanish. All of the  informants are multi-lingual.    The result of my investigation shows that language and identity are closely related to each other. The new language is used to make new contacts and establish new ”mirrors” in their enviroment and this gives people a sense of coherence and this is needed for the creation of identity. At the same time the mother tongue is needed to be abel to recognize themself, a man defines himself by his language which is also important in the creation of identity.