A Critical Autoethnography of Multilingual Identity through the Dominant Language Constellation Lens

Abstract

Multilingual identity development is important in Kazakhstan’s education system, where learners and teachers move across Kazakh, Russian, English, and other foreign languages in changing social and academic contexts. Although multilingualism is often presented as a valuable resource, individual language experiences are still shaped by wider language ideologies, including beliefs about correct pronunciation, language separation, native-like competence, and the unequal value attached to different languages. This autoethno-graphic study examines how my multilingual identity developed through my experiences as a learner, English language teacher, and master’s student in multilingual education. Drawing on poststructuralist views of identity, language ideology scholarship, and Aronin’s (2020) Dominant Language Constellation framework, the study explores how my key languages functioned together as part of an inter-connected multilingual system. Through personal vignettes and reflexive analysis, the study shows a gradual shift from an early mono-lingual understanding of languages as separate and hierarchical to a more flexible multilingual perspective shaped by translanguaging, academic mobility, and critical reflection. The analysis shows that Russian represented home and emotional belonging, Kazakh cultur-al roots and schooling, English academic and professional mobility, German intellectual development, and Finnish emerging interna-tional experience. Overall, the study argues that multilingual identity is a dynamic process shaped by social context, identity negotia-tion, and ideological awareness.