Multiple Perspectives and Interpretations of Learner Narratives on Multilingualism: A Case Study

The research draws on a multidisciplinary approach to provide multiple perspectives and interpretations of three learner narratives on multilingualism. The Labovian (1972) narrative structure (from the field of sociolinguistics), Kristeva’s (1980) semiotic approach, complex dynamic systems theory (CDST) (Fekete, 2024; Larsen-Freeman, 1997), and an English as a lingua franca (ELF) vs English as a foreign language (EFL) perspective (Widdowson, 2012, 2022) are used to provide multiple interpretations of three learner narratives, as special cases, shedding light on the complexities and nuanced details of becoming mul­tilingual. This research is part of a bigger research project where data were collected from 38 multilingual En­glish majors at a Hungarian university using the struc­tured interview method (Dörnyei, 2007) in the form of a recording made by the participants. However, for the present research, three complex narratives were selected for analysis from multiple perspectives. Following multiple cycles of coding (Saldana, 2013), qualitative content analysis was applied to reveal var­ious aspects of multilingualism. The results pointed out how the complex narrative structure proposed by Labov (1972) was used to de­scribe experiences of multilingualism. Furthermore, the narrative genre of folk tales was drawn on to cre­ate a culturally appropriate account (Kramsch, 2009), and multilingualism was associated with authentic in­teractions in an English as a lingua franca (ELF) con­text. The narratives also shed light on the complex and dynamic nature of second language acquisition (SLA) and the nuances of becoming multilingual. Fi­nally, additional interpretations of the longest narra­tive are offered, including a feminist and a semiotic reading of the narrative.