"Because two languages live in me at the same time" The relationship between language and identity among Russian immigrants in Hungary

Gnitiev, Sergei (2021) "Because two languages live in me at the same time" The relationship between language and identity among Russian immigrants in Hungary. ALKALMAZOTT NYELVTUDOMÁNY, 21 (2). pp. 80-95. ISSN 1587-1061

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Abstract

Identity is generally not an essential factor in the individual's life until the point of migration when belonging is disrupted. As a result of migrating to a second language (L2) environment, the use of the first language (L1) is often restricted to a limited number of domains (e.g., family, friends, relatives in the homeland, social media, etc.). More often than not, these linguistic and cultural changes result in the re-definition of the identity. This paper aims to investigate the extent to which language is used not only forcommunicative purposesbut alsoto construct identity. The present study includes 20 Russian speakers living in Hungarywhoseageranges from 22 to 72. The Social Personal Background Questionnaire (Schmid 2004) and personal interviews were used to elicit data about their language use and identity. Based on the results, all informants consider themselves bilingual; they all expressed that another language leaves its mark on theirpersonality. Some participants believe that they have fully integrated into the new society. Others could not accept a foreign culture, although they consider themselves bilingual. The rest of them are trying to integrate into the Hungarian society, maintaining their Russian identity.The resultsclearlyshow that the participants use their two languages for different purposes and in different contexts,which confirms Grosjean's Complementarity Principle. The findings show a diversity in howlanguage affectsthe participants'identitieswhich isin line with previous findings (Grosjean 2010;Pavlenko 2006).

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