Bilingual Children’s Languages, Cultures, and Identity Development

• In Event: Identity Development and Attitudes of Student and Teachers

Abstract

Language learner has a complex social identity, which should be understood in a larger social context and social interaction. This is a narrative study, which demonstrates that socio-cultural awareness on linguistic and cultural diversity influence on children’s multilingual competencies in their adolescence. The participant of this case study is a sixteen-year-old Korean boy, who speaks three languages and has been educated from kindergarten to high school in the United States. The results show that children, who are from immigrant families, identify themselves in between different languages and cultures and their linguistic and cultural identity influence their heritage language maintenance.

Authors

• JUNG HAN, Purdue University

• Hyeong Kyun Park, Purdue University