1887
Volume 6, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2214-3157
  • E-ISSN: 2214-3165
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Previous research has shown that emotional patterns are modified by linguistic and cultural influence. The present paper adopts a different perspective on the topic, investigating whether expressing emotions in the local language (LX) could predict migrants’ acculturation attitudes towards the heritage (L1) and the host (LX) cultures. Quantitative results from 468 migrants, supported by insights from 5 interviews, indicated that a frequent use of the LX for expressing anger, love and for swearing was linked to higher levels of acculturation to the LX culture. Specifically, the LX use for expressing anger and love explained 9.1% of the variance on migrants’ LX culture acculturation, where the LX use for expressing anger was by far the best predictor. Conversely, participants’ attachment to L1 cultural practices proved unrelated to their linguistic preferences for expressing emotions. Findings provide evidence that a language can be a strong emotional bond, able to orient migrants’ acculturation attitudes.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.17013.pan
2020-01-24
2025-01-16
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Berry, J. W.
    (1980) Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. InA. M. Padilla (Ed.), Acculturation: Theory, models and some newfindings, pp.9–25. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bruner, J.
    (1996) Frames for thinking: Ways of making meaning. InOlsen, D. & Torrance, N. (Eds.), Modes of thought: Explorations in culture and cognition, 8, pp.93–105. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L.
    (2011) Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. De Leersnyder, J.
    (2014) Emotional Acculturation. Procopia: Leuven.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. De Leersnyder, J., Mesquita, B. & Kim, H.
    (2011) Where do my emotions belong? A study on immigrants’ emotional acculturation. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 451–463. 10.1177/0146167211399103
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211399103 [Google Scholar]
  6. De Leersnyder, J., Kim, H. & Mesquita, B.
    (2015) Feeling right is feeling good: Psychological well-being and emotional fit with culture in autonomy-versus relatedness-promoting situations. Frontiers in Psychology, 6: 630. doi:  10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00630
    https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00630 [Google Scholar]
  7. Dewaele, J-M.
    (2004a) Blistering barnacles! What language do multilinguals swear in?Estudios de Sociolingüística, 5, 83–106.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Dewaele, J.-M.
    (2004b) The emotional force of swearwords and taboo words in the speech of multilinguals. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25, 204–223. 10.1080/01434630408666529
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666529 [Google Scholar]
  9. Dewaele, J-M.
    (2006) Expressing anger in multiple languages. InA. Pavlenko (Ed.) Bilingual Minds: Emotional Experience, Expression and Representation, 118–151. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters Ltd.. 10.21832/9781853598746‑007
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853598746-007 [Google Scholar]
  10. Dewaele, J.-M.
    (2008) The emotional weight of ‘I love you’ in multilinguals’ languages. Journal of Pragmatics, 40,1753–1780. 10.1016/j.pragma.2008.03.002
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2008.03.002 [Google Scholar]
  11. (2011) The differences in self-reported use and perception of the L1 and L2 of maximally proficient bi- and multilinguals: A quantitative and qualitative investigation. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 208, 25–51.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. (2013) Emotions in Multiple Languages. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (2nd Ed).
    [Google Scholar]
  13. (2015) From obscure echo to language of the heart: Multilinguals’ language choices for emotional inner speech. Journal of Pragmatics, 87, pp.1–17. doi:  10.1016/j.pragma.2015.06.014
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2015.06.014 [Google Scholar]
  14. (2016a) Why do so many bi- and multilinguals feel different when switching languages?International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(1), pp.92–105. 10.1080/14790718.2015.1040406
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2015.1040406 [Google Scholar]
  15. (2016b) Thirty shades of offensiveness: L1 and LX English users’ understanding, perception and self-reported use of negative emotion-laden words. Journal of Pragmatics, 94, pp.112–127. 10.1016/j.pragma.2016.01.009
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.01.009 [Google Scholar]
  16. (2017) “Cunt”: On the perception and handling of verbal dynamite by L1 and LX users of English Multilingua. Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication. doi:  10.1515/multi‑2017‑0013
    https://doi.org/10.1515/multi-2017-0013 [Google Scholar]
  17. Dewaele, J.-M., & Pavlenko, A.
    (2001–2003) Web questionnaire ‘Bilingualism and Emotions’. University of London: London.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Dewaele, J.-M. & Salomidou, L.
    (2017) Loving a partner in a foreign language. Journal of Pragmatics, 108, pp.116–130. doi:  10.1016/j.pragma.2016.12.009
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2016.12.009 [Google Scholar]
  19. Fussell, S. R.
    (ed.) (2002) The Verbal Communication of Emotions: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 10.4324/9781410606341
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410606341 [Google Scholar]
  20. Gordon, M. M.
    (1964) Assimilation in American life. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Hammer, K.
    (2016) Bilingual bonds: Acculturation, attachment, and being yourself in a new language. International Journal of Language and Culture, 3(2), 253–279. doi:  10.1075/ijolc.3.2.05ham
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.3.2.05ham [Google Scholar]
  22. (2017) They speak what language to whom?! Acculturation and language use for communicative domains in bilinguals, Language and Communication, 56, 42–54. 10.1016/j.langcom.2017.04.004
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.langcom.2017.04.004 [Google Scholar]
  23. Hoffman, E.
    (1989) Lost in Translation: A life in a New Language. Vintage: London.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Koven, M.
    (2007) Selves in Two Languages: Bilinguals’ Verbal Enactments of Identity in French and Portuguese. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 10.1075/sibil.34
    https://doi.org/10.1075/sibil.34 [Google Scholar]
  25. Kramsch, C.
    (2009) The multilingual subject. What language learners say about their experience and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S.
    (1994) The cultural construction of self and emotion: Implications for social behavior. InKitayama, S. & Markus, H. R. (Eds.), Emotion and culture: Empirical studies of mutual influence, 89–130. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 10.1037/10152‑003
    https://doi.org/10.1037/10152-003 [Google Scholar]
  27. Mesquita, B.
    (2003) Emotions as dynamic cultural phenomena. InDavidson, R., Goldsmith, H., & Rozin, P. (Eds.), The handbook of the affective sciences. New York: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Ożańska-Ponikwia, K.
    (2012) What has personality and emotional intelligence to do with ‘Feeling different’ while using a foreign language?International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(2), 217–234. 10.1080/13670050.2011.616185
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.616185 [Google Scholar]
  29. (2013) Emotions from a bilingual point of view: Personality and emotional intelligence in relation to perception and expression of emotions in the L1 and L2. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. (2016) Code-Switching Practices among Immigrant Polish L2 Users of English, Theory and Practice of Second Language Acquisition, 2(1), 87–102.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Ozańska-Ponikwia, K.
    (2017) Expression and perception of emotions by Polish–English bilinguals I love you vs. Kocham Cię, International Journal of Bilingualism. doi:  10.1080/13670050.2016.1270893
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1270893 [Google Scholar]
  32. Panayiotou, A.
    (2004) Switching Codes, Switching Code: Bilinguals’ Emotional Responses in English and Greek. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25 (2 & 3), 124–139. 10.1080/01434630408666525
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666525 [Google Scholar]
  33. Panicacci, A.
    (2019) Do the languages migrants use in private and emotional domains define their cultural belonging more than the passport they have?, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 69, 87–101. doi:  10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.01.003
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2019.01.003 [Google Scholar]
  34. Panicacci, A. & Dewaele, J.-M.
    (2017) “A voice from elsewhere”: acculturation, personality and migrants’ self-perceptions across languages and cultures. International Journal of Multilingualism, 2 (1), 62–86. doi:  10.1080/14790718.2016.1273937
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2016.1273937 [Google Scholar]
  35. (2018) “Do interlocutors or conversation topics affect migrants’ sense of feeling different when switching languages?Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 39(3), 240–255. 10.1080/01434632.2017.1361962
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2017.1361962 [Google Scholar]
  36. Pavlenko, A.
    (2004) Negotiation of identities in multilingual contexts. New York: Channel. 10.21832/9781853596483
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596483 [Google Scholar]
  37. (2005) Emotions and multilingualism. Cambridge: Cambridge, University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. (2006) Bilingual selves. InPavlenko, A. (Ed.), Bilingual minds: Emotional experience, expression, and representation, 1–33. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781853598746‑003
    https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853598746-003 [Google Scholar]
  39. (2008) Emotion and emotion-laden words in the bilingual lexicon. Keynote article. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 11 (2), 147–164. 10.1017/S1366728908003283
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1366728908003283 [Google Scholar]
  40. (2014) The bilingual mind: And what it tells us about language and thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Ryder, A. G., Alden, L. E., & Paulhus, D. L.
    (2000) Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional? A head-to-head comparison in the prediction of personality, self-identity, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(1), 49–65. doi: 10.1037//0O22‑3514.79.1.49.49
    https://doi.org/10.1037//0O22-3514.79.1.49.49 [Google Scholar]
  42. Vingerhoets, Ad J. J. M., Bylsma, Lauren M. & Cornelis de Vlam
    (2013) Swearing: A biopsychosocial perspective. Psychological Topics, 22, 287–304.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Wei, L.
    (ed.) (2007) The Bilingualism Reader (2nd Ed). London, UK: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Wierzbicka, A.
    (1998) Sadness and Anger in Russian: The non-universality of the socalled basic human emotions. In: Athanasiadou, A. & Tabakowska, E. (eds.), Speaking of Emotions: Conceptualisation and expression, 3–28. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110806007.3
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110806007.3 [Google Scholar]
  45. (1999) Emotions Across Languages and Cultures: Diversity and Universals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511521256
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511521256 [Google Scholar]
  46. (2004) Preface: Bilingual lives, bilingual experience. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25(2/3), 94–104. doi:  10.1080/01434630408666523
    https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630408666523 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.17013.pan
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/ijolc.17013.pan
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error