Plurilingual and Pluricultural Practices in Turkish Study Abroad: The Intersection of Identity and Lx Community

Abstract

Whereas second language acquisition has embraced the multilingual turn, study abroad (SA) research often assumes that learners are situated in monolingual host societies. As the profile and preferences of the sojourner diversifies, destination sites become more cosmopolitan, and global migration patterns change the demographic makeup of communities, traditional models are no longer representative of SA. This article presents the plurilingual experiences of learners of Turkish abroad. Through analysis of weekly journals, plurilingual practice is examined as a potential resource and constraint. Findings confirm how plurilingual practice supports mutual understanding and translanguaging between participants’ L1 English and Turkish. Results also reveal how shared minority identity can support TL interaction more than seeking out “native speakers.” This study offers a unique contribution to the link between identity and language learning in SA, providing further support for the need to dismantle the preeminence of the “native speaker” as target interlocutor in study abroad.