ABSTRACT
Through the lens of migrants’ identity practices, this chapter presents a brief overview of the main themes of this book: personality traits, acculturation, emotions, and multilingualism. The discussion centres on the scope of this research, illustrating the most crucial theoretical considerations coming from the relevant fields. Inspired by personal observations, previous findings, and migrants’ narratives, this book aims to determine the extent to which multilingualism and multiculturalism are dynamic and multidimensional processes. The core belief is that these phenomena are characterised by mutual influences between languages, cultures, and personality aspects, where the acquisition of new linguistic and cultural traits does not erase previous ones. The analysis conducted here will centre on migrants’ linguistic practices, acculturation attitudes, and personality profile, following the assumption that these factors are all reciprocally related. Additionally, this contribution intends to function as a multi-sourced compendium of relevant previous work on multilingualism and multiculturalism. The hope is that it will guide the reader in developing a broader picture of individuals’ experience across languages and cultures, orienting future research towards a multidisciplinary approach, as this is believed to be the best way to investigate the complexity of multilingual and multicultural identities.
