ABSTRACT
Recent research highlights the connection between students’ multilingual identity and their academic outcomes. This study aims to deepen our understanding of this relationship by identifying which aspects of multilingual identity, such as the value attributed to home languages or the representation of a future multilingual self, most strongly influence academic performance and whether these factors differ by age. We conducted two studies in two distinct German public schools, one primary and one secondary. Using metalinguistic abilities in one of the school languages (German or Spanish) as an indicator of academic outcomes, we also assessed students’ multilingual identity through Haukås et al.’s Ungspråk questionnaire and language portraits. The findings reveal that stronger metalinguistic abilities were linked to students perceiving their languages as co-existing harmoniously within their repertoires. Moreover, students’ capacity to reflect on the role of different languages in shaping their identity and the perceived interconnectedness of these languages significantly contributed to better metalinguistic abilities. For younger students, metalinguistic abilities were linked with the perceived importance of home language(s), whereas for older students, the value of school languages for their future played a more crucial role. These results are discussed in terms of the experiences and beliefs that foster children’s learning and development at school.
