Abstract
The focus of this article is the multilingualism of advanced university students of languages other than English. Our research questions are the following: 1) How many foreign languages do students know and use in their everyday life? 2) In which contexts do they use their various languages? 3) How do they reflect on their multilingualism? The data were collected at the University of Helsinki by means of an electronic questionnaire, through which students were invited to answer open questions about their language use. In all, 53 students of French, German, and Swedish answered the questionnaire. The results of this qualitative study have been presented from a holistic perspective, focusing on the dynamic nature of individual multilingualism (Jessner 2008). In the paper, we also discuss how the languages in the students’ language repertoire could be interpreted as being a part of (or outside) their dominant language constellation (Aronin and Singleton 2012). The results show that students were aware of their language competence in their various L2s, although many of them did not seem to experience themselves as multilingual. Many students were strongly focused on one specific L2, but in some cases, it could be possible to talk about a more holistic multilingual identity (Henry 2017) beyond the individual language-specific identifications.
Zusammenfassung
Der Beitrag behandelt die Mehrsprachigkeit fortgeschrittener Studierender in Fremdsprachenphilologien außer Anglistik. Unsere Forschungsfragen sind wie folgt: Wie viele Sprachen kennen und nutzen Studierende in ihrem Alltag?; In welchen Kontexten verwenden sie die unterschiedlichen Sprachen?; und Wie reflektieren sie ihre Mehrsprachigkeit? Die Datensammlung erfolgte an der Universität Helsinki via eines Online-Fragebogens. Studierende waren eingeladen, offene Fragen über ihre gegenwärtige Sprachenverwendung anonym zu beantworten. Insgesamt nahmen 53 Studierende des Französischen (Romanistik), des Deutschen (Germanistik) und des Schwedischen (Skandinavistik) an der Fragebogenuntersuchung teil. Die Ergebnisse dieser qualitativen Studie werden aus einer holistischen Perspektive, mit der besonderen Berücksichtigung des dynamischen Charakters von der individuellen Mehrsprachigkeit (Jessner 2008) dargestellt. Der Beitrag diskutiert außerdem, inwieweit die unterschiedlichen Sprachen in Sprachenrepertoires der Studierenden als Teil ihrer dominant language constellation (Aronin und Singleton 2012) interpretiert werden können. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sich Studierende ihrer Sprachkompetenz in den unterschiedlichen Sprachen bewusst sind, auch wenn nicht alle sich als mehrsprachig wahrzunehmen scheinen. Einige Teilnehmende betrachteten eine spezifische L2, aber in einigen anderen Fällen könnte, über die individuellen sprachenspezifischen Identitäten hinaus, von der holistisch aufgefassten multilingual identity (Henry 2017) gesprochen werden.
Resumen
Este artículo se centra en el multilingüismo de estudiantes universitarios de nivel avanzado de lenguas distintas del inglés. Nuestras preguntas de investigación son las siguientes: ¿Cuántas lenguas extranjeras conocen los estudiantes y cuáles usan en su vida cotidiana? ¿En qué contextos usan estas lenguas? ¿Cómo reflexionan acerca de su multilingüismo? Los datos fueron recogidos en la Universidad de Helsinki por medio de un cuestionario electrónico anónimo en el que se invitó a los estudiantes a responder a preguntas abiertas sobre sus usos lingüísticos actuales. El cuestionario fue respondido por un total de 53 estudiantes de alemán, de francés y de sueco. Los resultados de esta investigación cualitativa se presentan desde una perspectiva holística, destacando la naturaleza dinámica del multilingüismo individual (Jessner 2008). En el estudio se discute también cómo se puede interpretar si las diferentes lenguas del repertorio lingüístico de los estudiantes forman parte o no de su constelación lingüística dominante (Aronin y Singleton 2012). Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes eran muy conscientes de su competencia lingüística en las diferentes L2, aunque no todos los estudiantes se consideraban multilingües. Algunos estudiantes estaban muy centrados en una L2 específica, pero, en varios casos, podría hablarse de una identidad multilingüe más holística (Henry 2017) más allá de las identificaciones individuales con una lengua específica.
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