Language and Education in transnational trajectories. Voices of Russian speaking youth between SU, Israel and Germany

Putjata G.

Zusammenfassung

The paper focuses on language and education in transnational trajectories and presents a qualitative study with Russian speaking youths. Following the research on "transnational family" and "transnational education" it challenges the traditional understanding of mobility as an exceptional phenomenon with its risks. Instead, this article focuses on benefits and resources and presents an exploratory research with youths who have experienced multiple educational transitions across national borders. The qualitative data allow deep insights into the process of multilingual development and self-perception as multilingual speaker in transnational trajectories. Multilingual communication in these narratives appears as self-evident: children rely on different linguistic resources in educational settings and perceive them as legitimate. The resulting self-perception as multilingual speaker is not linked to advantages or disadvantages and no separation is made between "heritage", "mother" or "school" language as discussed in national research frame. Interpreted in theoretical framework these narratives reveal a pragmatic perception of language rather than one of belonging and nation.