Friederike Grosse

My PhD thesis explores the complex linguistic identities which are constructed by young people attending a complementary language school in London. In this study, over a period of 4-5 months, I am investigating the way in which young people attending a German Saturday school use language to construct and negotiate their identities. It is a linguistic ethnographic study based in one North-London Saturday school. The research focuses on four students’ language practices within the environment of the Saturday school. By sharing my findings with teachers in complementary schools, I aim to help to increase their awareness of their students’ organic linguistic repertoires and complex identities.