Language, Identity, Education, and Transmigration: Chilean Adolescents in Sweden

Abstract

This article examines patterns of national, cultural, and linguistic identification among Chilean-Swedish transmigrant adolescents in and around Stockholm, Sweden. Drawing from ethnographic interviews and observations, analysis focuses on adolescents' (a) views on ethnic and national identity; (b) general perceptions of Chileans and Swedes; and (c) attitudes toward Spanish, Swedish, and Spanish-Swedish code-switching. Interview discourse of these adolescents, and their metalanguage in particular, provides insights concerning how transmigrant adolescents position themselves within their complex social niche. Our findings suggest that Chilean adolescents are in the process of constructing an identity that is both Swedish and Chilean; they also point to the importance of individual factors, such as the adolescents' gender and age of arrival, and contextual factors, such as legal status, in shaping the discourse on identity. Key words: transmigration, Chile, Sweden, Spanish, Swedish, metalanguage, language attitudes, linguistic minority education, assimilation, acculturation, code-switching