ERIC Number: EJ1109034
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1534-8458
EISSN: N/A
"I Want to Do Things with Languages": A Male Karenni Refugee's Reconstructing Multilingual Capital
Duran, Chatwara Suwannamai
Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, v15 n4 p216-229 2016
This article discusses how a male Karenni refugee in the United States has constructed multilingual capital along the way of his multiple movements across national borders. As a member of an ethnic minority group in three different countries (Burma, Thailand, and the United States), he has invested in learning multiple languages throughout the movements. Based on a two-year ethnographic study on the participant's multilingual practices, I argue that being multilingual is a fundamental part of his transnational identities, economic security, and agentive acts. His roles outside formal classroom settings as a language broker, refugee, and an ESL tutor have been shaped by a continuum, or horizontal relationship of languages. The study suggests the inclusion of adult students' transnational identity and multilingual practices outside a language classroom. In addition, a career that requires multilingual skills and transnational knowledge should be encouraged and created for newcomers.
Descriptors: Males, Multilingualism, Refugees, Ethnic Groups, Minority Groups, Social Capital, Asians, Ethnography, Self Concept, Second Language Learning, Financial Needs, Security (Psychology), Translation, English (Second Language), Tutors, Language Usage, Foreign Countries, Role, Teacher Attitudes, Language Teachers, Sino Tibetan Languages, Thai, Second Language Instruction, Participant Observation, Semi Structured Interviews, Home Visits
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Arizona (Phoenix); Burma; Thailand
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A