Lenka Kast (UCL) - 2023-24 Students
lenka.kast@ucl.ac.uk

Exploring the trajectories of Slovak migrants in the UK: Linguistic ethnography of negotiated identities

My PhD project investigates the self-perceptions of Slovak migrants in the UK in relation to their sense of belonging and negotiated identities, and the central role language plays in these processes.

I’ve been looking at the migrants’ adaptation processes and practices as well as how they have negotiated 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.

Deconstructing the concept of belonging is core to my analysis, focusing on migrants’ maintenance of links with traditions they perceive as ‘Slovak’, and the values associated with these practices. Furthermore, I am exploring ways in which individuals experience the transition from traditional / conservative Slovak society to the multicultural and multilingual space of Britain.

Finally, I examine the vital role of language; migrants’ knowledge of English and their willingness to learn it; and their attitudes towards maintaining Slovak. Analysis of language and its functions in their new life is crucial: how and why users switch and mix codes, and play with words in their discourse, e.g. through ‘translating’ typically Slovak expressions—but also how they express sarcasm, make hints, and reinterpret metaphors.

Primary supervisor: Dr Sue Walters

Secondary supervisor: Dr Katarzyna Zechenter