Dynamics of sociocultural and linguistic identity in the process of socialisation in a multicultural society

Abstract

The relevance of the problem of socialisation in multicultural space is extremely high. Its significance is connected with the processes of globalisation and increasing migration. In this situation, the sociocultural and, especially, linguistic identity can be analysed as a bonding and bridging social capital that helps or complicates socialisation, depending on the specifics of the social situation. These assumptions were checked in the empirical research of the sociocultural and linguistic identity of the three groups of ethnic Germans: living in Russia, in the CIS and those who moved to Germany. The obtained data showed the bilingualism of the majority of respondents. At the same time, respondents from Russia and Germany consider both Russian and German languages as native, while respondents from the CIS no longer regard German as their mother language. For them, ethnic, not linguistic, identity is the most essential for socialisation in a multicultural society. For Germans living in Russia, on the contrary, both languages help in communication and in professional activity. For the Germans, who now live in Germany, the Russian language helps in understanding their sociocultural specifics. The future is associated with the German language. Our respondents answer that the main group of socialisation for them is the family. This was especially marked in the answers of respondents living in Russia and Germany. So, we can state that in a complex multicultural environment, the family for them is not only a group for socialisation, but also an object of identity, partly playing the role of psychological defence and support in a changing world. The obtained results also showed a tendency towards individualisation. For the respondents from Russia and Germany, the main identity groups, besides family, are professional groups and groups with common interests. Thus, it can be concluded that linguistic identity plays the role of both bonding and bridging social capital. In positive socialisation, sociocultural identity plays the role of a bridging rather than a connecting capital. Mixed linguistic identity is predominantly a positive moment, increasing socialisation in a multicultural environment.

Keywords: Socialisation, transitivity, identity, multicultural world.