MULTILINGUAL IDENTITIES AND PEER DYNAMICS: THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE ATTITUDE IN SHAPING TEENAGERS’ SOCIAL NETWORKS

Abstract

This is obvious that language attitudes are centrally involved in defining social relations and friendship choices of multilingual teenagers. This paper focuses on multilingual identity and language attitude and analysis of peer relation in multilingual contexts. Based on theories such as Social Network Theory (SNT) and Speech Accommodation Theory (SAT), this research uses quantitative and qualitative approaches and self-developed questionnaires and face-to-face interviews conducted with 213 multilingual teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 living in urban environments. Qian & VanderPlaat’s study provides evidence that attitudes towards the shifted multilingual language have propelled cultural sensitivity and standardized corporate connections between peers and harmony in their networks. On the other hand, negative language attitudes lead to fragmentation or/and exclusion because language difference is a hindrance to interaction. The work positions peer norms, linguistic practices, and cultures as intermediaries between language attitudes and social integration. The present study has important educational implications for language attitudes and social inclusion in multilingual classrooms and communities. By restricting the analysis to the affective aspects of language use, the research enriches the understanding of how language attitudes affect peer interactions and social integration. The study also suggests for future research whereby the prospective longitudinal outcomes of Language attitudes and digital communication on the formation of social networks.