An Ecolinguistic Perspective Study on Linguistic Resources Emotions of Migrants in Huizhou

Abstract

Mobility has received burgeoning attention in social science studies, and it is of great significance to the academic research to migrants’ dialects in China. Most research shows that individuals have a strong emotional attachment to their first language. However, in this study, from the perspective of ecology, semi-structured interviews were used to explore the experience and emotional attitudes of immigrants living in Huizhou city, Guangdong Province. Although immigrants take their native language as a symbol of their early life memories, other languages could also be a suitable medium for showing their inner world when they move to a new place and use another language. People’s positive or negative emotions towards their first or second languages depend on how they interact with their surroundings. Based on the results, this paper provides a deeper understanding of adult migrants’ language choices from an ecolinguistic perspective.