The Awareness and Development of Multiple Identities in a Multilingual Child Living in Japan
Shi Jie, University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan
As part of a longitudinal study of family and child trilingualism, this paper investigates the multiple identities of multilinguals through a case study of a trilingual child living in Japan. Based on an analysis of the language, social and family situations that the informant was involved in, the researcher/mother categorized the complex identities of the informant into seven characteristic and coexisting types: 1) group or social identity, 2) cultural identity, 3) language identity, 4) kinship or familial identity, 5) individual or personal identity, 6) ethnic or racial identity, and 7) nationality or national identity. Qualitative data for each identity type, comprised of examples drawn mainly from the mother’s journal, recordings of conversations and interviews, is presented.
