This paper reports on a linguistic ethnographic study focusing on a multilingual Italian-Turkish couple living in Istanbul. By examining naturally occurring conversations across the Italian, Turkish, and English languages, the paper examines how the participants' language repertoires are shaped by their experiences, and the phases they go through to become competent communicators.
Nazli Deniz Barutcuoglu
Ph.D. Student
Department of Foreign Language Education
Bogazici University
DYNAMIC LANGUAGE REPERTOIRES: THE CASE OF AN ITALIAN-TURKISH COUPLE IN ISTANBUL
Although the Italian presence in Istanbul dates back to medieval times, and the Italian Levantines in Istanbul have been living here since the 10th century (Özkan, 2018; Oban, 2007), this community has never been a remarkably large population. Still, with a century-old college, some churches and a cultural center, there is a continuous Italian presence in Istanbul. In recent years, a new group has been added to this picture, as well. Post-globalization Italian immigrants have moved to Istanbul for different purposes such as studying abroad, employment or marriage. They have become a part of the international and local community and they take active part in professional and social life. As such, they find themselves in situations in which they have to communicate using English and Turkish on a regular basis. This leads to the gradual development of their dynamic communicative competence in their multiple languages through formal and informal learning.
In the framework of the linguistic ethnographic project "Contemporary Linguistic Diversity in Istanbul," (Bogazici University Project Code 15561SUP, 2019-2021) this paper focuses on these new Italian residents of Istanbul in order to investigate an under-studied language constellation as used in naturalistic settings. Focusing on an Italian-Turkish couple living in Istanbul, this paper will present preliminary findings of the project drawing on data from observations, interviews, and audio-recordings of naturally occurring conversations across the Italian, Turkish, and English languages. By examining these interactions, the paper examines how the participants' language repertoires are gradually shaped by their experiences in this multicultural city, and it aims to provide first-hand accounts of the phases they go through in order to become competent communicators in an ever-changing setting.
