Exploring the trajectories of Slovak migrants in the UK: Towards a linguistic ethnography of negotiated identities

我的博士项目将调查斯洛伐克移民在英国的自我认知与他们最初的搬迁动机，以及语言在重塑他们的身份中所起的核心作用。首先，我将探讨影响斯洛伐克移徙者流动的过去、现在和未来的各种动机。我将分析促使2004年前和2004年后斯洛伐克移民抵达伦敦的因素，以确定教育背景与社会和职业融合水平之间是否存在相关性，以及移民的足智多谋和抱负是否会加强融合。我还将讨论他们离开英国返回斯洛伐克的后果。与斯洛伐克移民的动机密切相关的是在新的社会文化环境中谈判他们的身份。他们在社会上的流动是“向上”还是“向下”，以及移民是否认为是其中之一，对他们的自我价值感和身份认同至关重要。其次，我还将探讨“文化适应”的过程。解构这一概念将是我研究的核心，因为我收集了关于移民与他们认为是“斯洛伐克”的传统以及与这些实践相关的价值观之间的联系的数据。此外，我将探讨个人如何从传统/保守的斯洛伐克社会过渡到英国的多元文化和多语言空间。最后，我将考察语言的重要作用；移民的英语知识和学习意愿；以及他们对维持斯洛伐克语的态度。我将分析语言及其在新生活中的功能：用户如何以及为什么切换和混合代码，以及在对话和社交媒体中使用单词。通过“翻译”典型的斯洛伐克语表达，以及他们如何表达讽刺、暗示和重新解释隐喻。

My PhD project will investigate the self-perceptions of Slovak migrants in the UK in relation to their initial motivations for relocation, and the central role language plays in reshaping their identities.First, I shall look at the spectrum of past, present and future motivations which have informed Slovak migrants' mobility. I will analyse factors contributing to the arrival of both pre- and post- 2004 Slovak migrants in London to determine whether there is a correlation between educational backgrounds and levels of social and vocational integration, on the one hand, and whether integration is enhanced by migrants' resourcefulness and aspirations, on the other. I will also discuss the ramifications of their leaving the UK and returning to Slovakia. Closely linked to Slovak migrants' motivations is the negotiation of their identities in the new socio-cultural environment. Whether their mobility is 'upward' or 'downward' in society, and whether it is perceived as one or the other by the migrants, is crucial to their sense of self-worth and identity. Second, I shall also explore the process of 'acculturation'. Deconstructing this concept will be core to my research as I collect data on migrants' maintenance of links with traditions they perceive as 'Slovak', and the values associated with these practices. Furthermore, I shall explore ways in which individuals experience the transition from traditional / conservative Slovak society to the multicultural and multilingual space of Britain. Finally, I shall examine the vital role of language; migrants' knowledge of English and their willingness to learn it; and their attitudes towards maintaining Slovak. I will analyse language and its functions in their new life: how and why users switch and mix codes, and play with words in conversation and social media-e.g. through 'translating' typically Slovak expressions-but also how they express sarcasm, make hints, and reinterpret metaphors.