Keynote presentation from Prof. Jean-Marc Dewaele, Birkbeck, University of London on The linguistic, emotional and psychological challenges facing foreign language users. Keynote given at Participation Lab workshop on Migration, Care, Language & Identity: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, University of Reading, 3 November 2016.

1. The linguistic, emotional &
psychological challenges facing
foreign language users
Jean-Marc Dewaele

2. The challenges
• Linguistic: not knowing the words, being
unsure about the exact meaning, about
appropriateness in context, about the way to
pronounce them correctly…
• Conceptual: Emotion words & concepts vary
across cultures / languages: apparent
translation equivalents in 2 languages can
differ in emotionality, scripts differ, cultural
values…
• Psychological: Language & social anxiety,
Personality as in/dependent variable, identity

3. Loving a partner in an LX (Dewaele &
Salomidou, to appear)
• Half of 429 participants experienced emotional
communication problems at the start of their
relationship (33% of participants claimed they
experienced no difficulty)
• Communication difficulties are often linked to
lexical & conceptual limitations in LX & lack of
emotional resonance
• Difficulties typically disappeared in months & LX
could become the language of the heart
• Speed & depth of affective socialisation in LX was
linked to gender and personality

4. Loving a partner in an LX (Dewaele &
Salomidou, to appear)
• Participant 1: “I would say that I still have problems
communicating my anger because I can't fully explain why
I'm angry. With happy emotions, it is easier to show
through touch, etc., but with anger, it is difficult because
one needs to explain why he or she is upset.”
• Participant 2: “My partner would try to say affective things
in my L1 because he thought that would be special or
would mean more to me. But it was actually the other way
around, because he didn’t actually speak the language,
those expressions (things like 'I love you') wouldn’t really
have much effect on me, rather they would sound quite
forced and strange.”
• Participant 3: “Lingua franca was English, and sex was
more important than language”.

5. Costa & Dewaele (2012): Psychotherapy across
languages. (Equality & Diversity Research Award (2013) British
Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy)
- 101 therapists (of which 19 monolingual), Mixed-methods
- Multilingual therapists better able to attune ; Monolingual
therapists more likely to collude (=> wanting to please)
Dewaele & Costa (2013) 182 multilingual former clients
• 1) Multilingualism of therapist linked to greater empathic
understanding;
• 2) Clients viewed their multilingualism as an important aspect
of their sense of self & of their therapy;
• 3) Language switches in therapy are more frequent when the
emotional tone is raised: strategic use when discussing
episodes of trauma & shame => gain proximity or distance
according to the need

6. Rolland, Dewaele & Costa (to appear)
• 109 multilingual clients with mono/multilingual therapists
• 59 clients had never discussed their languages with their
therapist: It left some inhibited.
• Others mentioned it straight away: ‘I told her from the start that
I wanted therapy to be in English – but that I consider her
knowledge of Russian very helpful’ (ID28).
• Reasons for switching: I refer to my maternal grandmother as
my “Mormor” in therapy (this means mother's mother in
Danish). It feels good to be able to use what is, for me, the
right word. It would be strange and alienating to refer to her as
my grandmother or maternal grandmother. To me, she is my
Mormor (ID95)
• => exhort therapists to make room for code-switching

7. Immigrants’ language anxieties
(Sevinc & Dewaele, 2016)
• Heritage language anxiety & Majority
language anxiety with different interlocutors
among 3 generations of 116 Turkish
immigrants (76 female, 40 male) in the Netherlands
• 1st-2nd-generation immigrants experienced
more MLA, while 2nd-3rd generation
immigrants suffered more from HLA
• => concept of foreign language anxiety should
be expanded beyond confines of classroom to
include daily interactions of immigrants

8. Feeling different in different
languages?
• Ilan Stavans, Mexican-American author of Jewish
origin, On Borrowed Words. A Memoir of Language
(2001): “Changing languages is like imposing another
role on oneself, like being someone else temporarily.
My English-language persona is the one that
superimposes itself on all previous others. In it are the
seeds of Yiddish and Hebrew, but mostly Spanish...But
is the person really the same?...You know, sometimes
I have the feeling I’m not one but two, three, four
people. Is there an original person? An essence? I’m
not altogether sure, for without language I am nobody”.
(p. 251)

9. Feeling different? (Dewaele, 2015)
• 1005 participants who had answered question on
feeling different & most of other relevant variables
(BEQ Dewaele & Pavlenko, 2001-2003)
• 710 females 295 males. Average age 35 years
• ‘Do you feel like a different person sometimes when
you use your different languages?’ coded according
to degree of agreement:
• 5-point scale: 1: did not feel different at all, 2: ‘no
but’, 3: unsure, 4: ‘yes but’, 5: ‘yes’ without
hesitation

10. Feeling different? (Dewaele, 2015)
• U-shaped pattern 50% participants responding ‘absolutely yes’, 25%
responding ‘absolutely no’.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
absolutely no
no but
unsure
yes but
absolutely yes

11. Participants’ words (Dewaele, 2015)
Unambiguous ‘yes’ :
•Angelika (Female, 24, Swedish L1, English L2, Japanese
L3, French L4): Yes! When speaking in Japanese I adapt to
the Japanese culture very much. My voice becomes higher
(more feminine) and I speak with a light voice just like a
Japanese woman. I make sure to cover my mouth with my
right hand and I do not look people in the eyes (especially
not men). When I speak Swedish or English I am much
more straightforward. I make sure to look people in the
eyes and I try to behave like a normal European woman

12. Participants’ words (Dewaele, 2015)
Categorical “no”:
•Maguelone (Female, 24, French L1, English L2, German
L3, Spanish L4): Not at all. To me it seems very natural to
speak another language because I have not lived in France
for several years. I am used to speaking English every day
and it does not make any difference to me. When I speak
German it is a little different: I do not feel like "a different
person" but I am probably less natural and I feel a little
awkward: I speak slower and probably not in a very natural
way.

13. Why do bi- & multilinguals feel
different when switching languages?
(Dewaele, 2015)
• They do not always know
• Own unique explanations, linking feelings of
difference to un/conscious behaviour & unique
contexts in which they use their languages
• These feelings can be dynamic in nature
• Age, education levels & foreign language
anxiety: only independent variables
significantly positively linked to feelings of
difference

14. Emotions as cultural products
• To Europeans, Americans talk in an up-beat tone of voice and
when asked how they are doing, they would say ”awesome” =>
the American way of having emotions can seem exaggerated
and unnatural to us
• Consequence at job talks, in judging letters of reference…

15. Emotions are cultural products
• Cultural context characterized by distinct
emotional patterns (Mesquita & Leu 2007)
• People across different cultures have different
emotional experiences
• People’s emotions “acculturate” when moving
to new culture (Leersnyder et al 2011)
• The more migrants are exposed to a cultural
context, the higher their emotional fit to that
culture (both host culture & heritage culture)
(De Leersnyder, Mesquita & Kim, 2013)

16. Cultural differences (US - Japan) in intensity of
emotions (Kitayama, Mesquita, & Karasawa,
JPSP, 2006)
SOCIALLY DISENGAGED
SOCIALLY ENGAGED
POSITIVENEGATIVE
Anger
Irritated
Ill Feelings
Ashamed
Guilty
Indebt
Proud
Strong
Euphoric
Close
Respectful
Helpful

17. The psychological aspects of
immigration
• Culture shock : “Anxiety that results from losing all
of our familiar sign & symbols of social intercourse”
(Oberg 1960: 177)
• Culture shock = part of transition shock: natural
consequence of individual’s inability to interact with
new environment effectively (Bennett 1977)
• Self-shock: “the double-binding challenge of
identity” (Zaharna 1989: 501)
• Acculturative stress (Berry 1990)

18. Migration & loss
“Migration calls into question established
personal identity, the sense of self in the
world & the boundary between inner &
outer reality. Migrants tend to articulate
their experience by recourse to the body
metaphor ‘I feel as if half of myself is
missing’” (Jones 2000: 118)

19. More nuanced views on culture shock
• Adler (1972): “not a disease for which adaptation
is the cure, but is at the very heart of the cross-
cultural learning experience, self-
understanding & change” (p. 29)
• Adler (1975): “a movement from a state of low
self- & cultural awareness to a state of high
self- & cultural awareness” (p. 15)
• Kim (2001: 21) “Cross-cultural adaptation is (...) a
double-edged process, one that is
simultaneously troublesome & enriching”

20. Key to successful cross-cultural
adaptation
• Kim (2001) ‘internal conditions of the strangers’
themselves’ play important part in cross-cultural adaptation:
preparedness for change, ethnic proximity between the
immigrant & the natives, & adaptive personality.
• Openness: ‘enables strangers to minimize their resistance &
to maximize their willingness to attend to new & changed
circumstances (…) & to perceive & interpret various events &
situations without making ethnocentric judgments’ (p. 84).
• Personality strength: ‘internal capacity to absorb shocks
from the environment & to bounce back without being
seriously damaged by them’ (p. 85).
• Positivity: an optimistic outlook on life and the ‘capacity to
defy negative prediction’ (p. 85).

21. Personality traits
• Traits “refer to consistent patterns in the way
individuals behave, feel, and think” (Pervin &
Cervone 2010: 228).
• “Big-Five”: Extraversion/Introversion;
Neuroticism/Emotional Stability;
Conscientiousness; Agreeableness; Openness =>
at summit of hierarchy
• Many “lower-order” personality traits: often
correlated with Big-Five traits but also explain
unique variance

22. Effect of nature & nurture on
personality traits
• McCrae et al (2000): Big Five have a biological basis and
are not influenced directly by the environment
• Furnham & Heaven (1999): person’s personality is
determined by interplay of internal physiological factors +
external social factors
• Pervin & Cervone (2010) studies have demonstrated an
effect of sociocultural & historical changes on personality
trait scores

23. Multicultural Personality Questionnaire
• Van Oudenhoven & Van der Zee (2002)
multidimensional instrument measuring multicultural
effectiveness (Big Five)
• 91–item questionnaire with 5-point Likert scales
• MPQ scales are tailored to predictions regarding
multicultural success

24. MPQ dimensions
• 1) Cultural Empathy: ability to empathize with
feelings, thoughts & behaviours of individuals from
different cultural background.
• 2) Openmindedness: open & unprejudiced attitude
towards outgroup members & towards different
cultural norms & values.
• 3) Social Initiative: approach social situations in
active way & take initiative.
• 4) Emotional Stability: tendency to remain calm in
stressful situations vs a tendency to show strong
emotional reactions under stressful circumstances.
• 5) Flexibility: ability to learn from experiences, from
mistakes & adjustment of behaviour whenever it is
required.

25. Dewaele & Van Oudenhoven (2009)
• 79 young teenagers from London
• 41 “Third Culture Kids” (TCKs), young
teenagers of African, Arabic, Caucasian & Asian
origin who were born outside UK, moved to
London & found themselves in English-
speaking school.
• 38 locally born, British teenagers of
Caucasian & Asian origin.

26. Link between language knowledge &
personality traits (Dewaele & Van Oudenhoven 2009)
1,0
1,5
2,0
2,5
3,0
3,5
4,0
4,5
C
ulturalEm
pathy
O
penm
indednessSocialInitiative
Em
otionalStability
Flexibility
Score
Bilinguals
Multilinguals
p=.054
*
*
***

27. Korzilius, Van Hooft, Planken & Hendrix
(2011)
• Investigated link between FL knowledge & personality profile
• Adjustment of international employees of multinational
company + control group of non-international employees
• Participants knowing more FLs scored significantly higher on
Openmindedness & Emotional Stability
• Significant positive correlation between self-assessed
knowledge of FLs & Cultural Empathy
• International employees (knew 2.7 languages on average)
scored higher on Openmindedness & Flexibility than Dutch
employees working in The Netherlands (1.6 languages on
average)
• Non-international employees scored highest on Emotional
Stability

28. Dewaele & Stavans (2014)
• 193 Israelis: 126 female, 67 male; age 13-
72, M = 31.
• All lived in Israel, 124 born in Israel
• 36 with Israeli-born parents, 20 with 1
foreign-born parent, 137 have 2 immigrant
parents
• 47 bilinguals, 69 trilinguals, 63
quadrilinguals, 14 pentalinguals
• L1s: Hebrew: 110, Russian: 25, English: 23,
Spanish: 11, Amharic: 8

29. Parents’ origin Dewaele & Stavans (2014)
(p < .05) Cultural Empathy, Openmindedness & Social Initiative

30. Discussion: Immigrant parent/s
• Participants with 1 immigrant parent: more Cultural Empathy,
Openmindedness & Social Initiative
• Participants with 2 immigrant parents less Openmindedness
compared to those with local parents
• => growing up in a linguistically & culturally homogeneous
family (local or of immigrant origin) lower Cultural Empathy,
Openmindedness & Social Initiative
• => growing up in a family with mixed linguistic & cultural
background enhances openness, awareness & tolerance of
differences
• => obvious psychological benefits to growing up in a
multilingual & multicultural family

31. Effect of language dominance on personality
dimensions Significant (p < .05) difference on Emotional
Stability Dewaele & Stavans (2014)
*

32. Discussion: Language dominance
• => glimpse of impending cultural/linguistic change
(continuum) affecting Emotional Stability
• LX-dominant (Hebrew) = complete acculturation
into Israeli society concomitant with a certain
amount of deculturation in L1 language/culture
(Kim 2001) => lower Emotional Stability
• Multidominants: bicultural, have acculturated
into host culture while retaining their L1 roots
• L1-dominant (Hebrew L1): exposed to limited
amount of foreign cultures through FL classes &
contact with their foreign-born classmates. Feel
emotionally stable.

33. Link between language knowledge & personality
traits (Dewaele & Stavans, 2014)
No effect for multilingualism but proficient & frequent users
of at least 2 languages scored significantly higher on
Cultural Empathy & Openmindedness

34. Relationship between total proficiency +
frequency & Cognitive Empathy: ANOVA: total frequency (F
(2, 1922) = 3.8, p < 0.023), total proficiency (F (2, 1934) = 1.5, p = 0.15)
(Dewaele & Li Wei 2012)

35. Multilingualism & Tolerance of Ambiguity
(Dewaele & Li Wei 2013)
• 2,158 mono- & multilinguals from around the world
• Monolinguals & bilinguals scored significantly lower
on TA compared to multilinguals
• High level of global proficiency & frequent use of
various languages => higher TA
• Stay abroad > 3 months => higher TA
• Growing up in multilingual family: no effect on TA
• => high level of multilingualism shapes individuals’
perception & processing of information about
ambiguous situations

36. Effect of multilingualism on TA
F (5, 1984) = 8.7, p < 0.0001, η2 = 0.021 Dewaele & Li Wei (2013)

37. Conclusion
• Immigrants face a number of linguistic, pragmatic,
cultural, psychological challenges
• Acculturation is linked to personality but personality
dimensions are also shaped by environmental
factors, including language & culture
• In best cases, immigration & acculturation can be
linked to more Cultural Empathy & Openmindednes,
but it can negatively affect Emotional Stability
• Hybrid individuals: linguistically & emotionally multi-
competent (Dewaele 2016)

38. Some references
• Costa, B. & Dewaele, J.-M. (2012) Psychotherapy across languages:
beliefs, attitudes and practices of monolingual and multilingual therapists
with their multilingual patients. Language & Psychoanalysis 1, 18-40.
• Dewaele, J.-M. (2015) Why do so many bi- and multilinguals feel different
when switching languages? International Journal of Multilingualism
• Dewaele, J.-M. (2016) Multi-competence and personality. In Li Wei & V.
Cook. The Cambridge Handbook of Linguistic Multi-competence.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 403-419.
• Dewaele, J.-M. & Salomidou, L. (to appear) Loving a partner in a Foreign
Language. Journal of Pragmatics
• Dewaele, J.-M. & Stavans, A. (2014) The effect of immigration,
acculturation and multicompetence on personality profiles of Israeli
multilinguals. The International Journal of Bilingualism, 18, 203-221
• Rolland, L, Dewaele, & Costa, B. (to appear) Multilingualism and
psychotherapy: Exploring multilingual clients' experiences of language
practices in psychotherapy. International Journal of Multilingualism
• Sevinc, Y. & Dewaele, J.-M. (2016) Heritage language anxiety and
majority language anxiety among Turkish immigrants in the Netherlands.
International Journal of Bilingualism