EXPLORING LANGUAGE AND MULTILINGUALS: NARRATIVES IN NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS, CASE STUDY – NEW YORK CITY METROPOLITAN

The journey towards learning a language is often something passively ingrained in the human mind, which is why acquiring a language can be such a complex process—it is biological as much as it is environmental and cultural. Unfortunately, in The United States, bilingual or multilingual individuals are often stigmatized by their assumed ‘lack’ of linguistic competency. Nevertheless, no matter what turn a person's language journey takes, all are valid. This proposed study is based on non-native English speakers in New York City, United States. It focuses on the language learning processes of ten individuals and their unique challenges shaped by their age, country of origin, and background. The interviews are analyzed through narrative analysis and aim to create a deeper understanding of language learning using narratives; in particular, moments in which participants were made to feel insecure by their accents, place of origin, and language used to express emotions within social settings or activities. Given that my participants were learning/going to learn English, it inspired me to question how their experiences conditioned/influenced their learning trajectories over time; that is why I seek to answer the questions:

1. What do the participants say about their language learning journey/trajectories?
2. What do the participants say about the conditions that influenced their learning skills over time?