CRITICAL REFLECTION EXPLORING MULTILINGUAL IDENTITY: AN AUTOETHNOGRAPHY PROJECT

Abstract

Language is a potent force transcending mere words; it influences our thoughts, actions, and identities. Multilingualism provides a distinctive perspective for individuals to traverse cultures and facilitate personal development. Garcia (2009), for example, contends that multilingualism undermines strict linguistic barriers, enabling individuals to navigate cultural and social con-texts easily. This autoethnography examines my experi-ences as a Kazakh, Russian, English, German, Italian, and Polish speaker. Grounded in four theories, namely critical multilingual language awareness (CMLA) (Cummins, 2023), sociocultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978), language learning investment (Norton, 2013), and Garcia’s and Kano’s (2014) translanguaging theory, I examine how multilingualism has shaped my identity, relationships, and perspective.