“I know how to improve. You know what I mean?”. Neoliberalism and the development of multilingual identities through study abroad
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Vasilica Mocanu
Abstract
The present article examines the relationship between study abroad and the construction of multilingual identities regarded as more marketable in the neoliberal economy. The main objective is to provide an insight on student mobility and dominant visions of the future in line with which languages are chosen to be taught/learned at tertiary level and how this offer mirrors the economized perspective adopted in the higher education system. It focuses on European higher-education students participating in study abroad through the Erasmus program in three contexts across Europe (Finland, Romania, and Catalonia). In the first place, the article delves into the ways neoliberal discourses on the value of study abroad and the skills that are expected to be acquired through the experience – this is, the type of individuals that the participants might become – shape their decision to enroll in a sojourn abroad in a particular context. Secondly, this article analyzes to what extent European youth participating in study abroad eventually perceive they added to their identities the desirable marketable skills they expected and how they consider this is going to materialize in the future. By looking at how multilingual identities are constructed through the Erasmus program, this study hypothesizes that study abroad is another mechanism embedded in educational practices that respond to economic demands in which the marketization of language skills plays a prominent role.
Funding source: Ministerio de Ciencia e Investigación. Agencia Estatal de Investigación. 10.13039/501100011033
Award Identifier / Grant number: PID2021-124786OB-100
Appendix 1: Pre – interview guiding questions
What’s your name and where are you from?
Which were the reasons that determined you to enroll in a mobility program?
Why Oulu/Lleida/Bucharest?
In which ways do you think this mobility plan will influence your life?
Personally
Academically (languages)
Professionally
How would you define yourself? Do you feel you belong to a country/a province/Europe? What makes you feel this way?
Do you think a mobility plan can have any effects on your sense of belonging?
Are you planning to socialize more with local/Erasmus/people from your own country? Do you think Erasmus students usually get along together? Why? Which is the common language of the Erasmus communities?
Which were your expectations before coming to Oulu/Lleida/Bucharest? How has your stay here been so far?
Which are your hopes with regard to your stay here? And fears?
How do you see your role in this new society?
How do you see yourself in 5 years? And where do you see yourself?
Had you had any experiences with foreign people before coming here? Which kind of experiences? How do you react to different manners to do things? Do you think they affected your choice to be here in any way?
Which kind of jobs do you imagine yourself having in the future? Do you think this experience will help you with that?
Do you think that the Erasmus programs are a place to make friends for a life? How will you stay in contact with them?
Do you think there are any elements that define the European culture/identity?
Do you think the fact you belong to a European country made your stay here easier?
How do you see the world in the future? Do you think it will resemble more and more an Erasmus community?
How do you see the future of the European Union?
Appendix 2: Transcription conventions
indicates the minimal but clear pause between phrases/ sentences in normally-paced speech
indicates pause of significant length (more than 0.5) seconds
indicates elongated vowel
indicates that the speaker is overtly voicing her/himself or someone else
indicates incomprehensible speech
indicates rising intonation (including questions)
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Research funding: This work was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Investigación. Agencia Estatal de Investigación (PID2021-124786OB-100).
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- From (in)securitisation to conviviality: the reconciliatory potential of participatory ethnography
- “I know how to improve. You know what I mean?”. Neoliberalism and the development of multilingual identities through study abroad
- “That’s all it takes to be trans”: counter-strategies to hetero- and transnormative discourse on YouTube
- Sweden’s multilingual language policy through the lens of Turkish-heritage family language practices and beliefs
- Discursive valuing practices at the periphery: Javanese use on Indonesian youth radio in multilingual Solo
- A comparative analysis of two cases of language death and maintenance in post-Islam Egypt and Great Khorāsān: reasons and motives
- Muslim personal names in Urdu: structure, meaning, and change
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- From (in)securitisation to conviviality: the reconciliatory potential of participatory ethnography
- “I know how to improve. You know what I mean?”. Neoliberalism and the development of multilingual identities through study abroad
- “That’s all it takes to be trans”: counter-strategies to hetero- and transnormative discourse on YouTube
- Sweden’s multilingual language policy through the lens of Turkish-heritage family language practices and beliefs
- Discursive valuing practices at the periphery: Javanese use on Indonesian youth radio in multilingual Solo
- A comparative analysis of two cases of language death and maintenance in post-Islam Egypt and Great Khorāsān: reasons and motives
- Muslim personal names in Urdu: structure, meaning, and change
