Cultural identity of bilingual adults : a case study

Abstract

This case study of the cultural identity of bilingual adults aims to discover the changes in the self-identification of sequential Russian-English bilingual adults that occur as a result of the immersion in the second language and culture. The study strives to answer the question of the change in self-identification of bilingual adults and the way they perceive those changes as well as the role that language plays in the transformation of identity. The participants of the study are Russian-born graduate students pursuing their graduate studies at the Universities in the United States. The data for this qualitative study were gathered through oral semi-structured interviews and samples of participants' writing and analyzed using the constant comparative method. The research findings show that the participants of the study are situated on a various levels of the construction of hybrid identities. Among the factors that influenced that transformation of identity, the most were the loss of network and connections and the differences between American and Russian cultures. Additionally, language as a factor in the change of self-identification affects the identity when individuals temporarily lose the ability to communicate and then learn new communication strategies that involve a system of both languages based on the principles of efficient communication.