Aim and Purpose
From a constructionist perspective, experiences are created through language, and they are stored in autobiographical memory bound to language (Wang & Ross, 2007). Thus, multilingual people might have diverse experiences of the world. For example, when asked about their experiences in therapy, multilinguals reflected on differences in expressing their emotions and their sense of self through the languages they speak (Verkerk et al., 2021). While interest is growing in this area of diversity, life narratives have not been explored from the perspective of language before.听
Design and methodology
Interviews听
Completed multiple life story interviews in English and Hungarian using the Biographic Narrative Interpretive Method (Wengraf, 2001) with four Hungarian people who have lived in the UK for a considerable time.听
Research was granted ethical approval by the Metanoia Institute Ethical Committee听
Analysis
Qualitative ~ Narrative analysis utilising Riessman鈥檚 (2008) dialogic/performance approach.听
Focusing on four elements relative to the language used:听
- narrative structure
- narrative themes
- linguistic characteristics
- interactions with the listener.
Views expressed in this article are the views of the writer and not necessarily the views of 麻豆原创. Publication does not imply endorsement of the writer鈥檚 views. Reasonable care has been taken to avoid errors but no liability will be accepted for any errors that may occur.