Emotional wellbeing and language proficiencies in adolescence: A systematic review

Aims and objectives: Emotional wellbeing and language proficiencies are often considered intertwined. Nevertheless, scholarship remains unclear on the precise links and nuanced dynamics of this relationship in adolescence, particularly when examining multilingual lives. This is due to the situatedness and multifacetedness of both language proficiencies and emotional wellbeing, a lack of standardized examination, and the complexity of linguistic diversity. Approach: We attempt to systematically uncover extant findings on relationships between adolescents’ emotional wellbeing and different language proficiencies, including majority languages, foreign languages taught at school, and heritage languages used in the family and/or community. We focus on adolescence due to the marked changes in social and psychological domains in this critical life phase. It is asked which relationships between emotional wellbeing and language proficiencies have been investigated, that is, with which languages, proficiencies, directionalities, and in which contextual settings. Data and Analysis: Following PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews, 46 articles were selected and findings were synthesized and analyzed. Findings: As expected, the relationship between language proficiencies and emotional wellbeing appears to depend on the language, the examined proficiencies, and linguistic setting, but also on the cognitive, emotional and social circumstances of the individual. Language struggles can set at risk for lower emotional wellbeing. The results underscore that a more nuanced approach is needed that considers adolescents’ full multilingual repertoires, differentiates between languages and various language proficiencies, their unique links to emotional wellbeing, and incorporates the influence of power dynamics and sociopolitical status. Originality: The uniqueness of this study lies in its focus on a broad range of language proficiencies, encompassing different levels of proficiency across multiple languages, rather than concentrating on a single variant. Implications: The results highlight the need for a biographical perspective and integrative theory on language proficiencies and emotional wellbeing, with implications for timely and adequate adolescent support.