The Return
Nadia Borg is 16. She was born in Malta, moved to Leeds at age four, and returned to Malta last August after twelve years in England. At home she speaks English with her parents; at school she switches to Maltese, though she says she 'thinks in English'. Her grandmother expects her at Sunday lunch and at the village festa, where Nadia feels watched. A school report says she has 'limited Maltese' and is 'not mixing', recommending withdrawal from Maltese lessons. Nadia tells a friend she feels 'too Maltese for England and too English for Malta'. Her parents disagree about whether she should 'become more Maltese'. The school's inclusion coordinator asks a sociologist to explain Nadia's situation and to review whether the report's language is defensible. The coordinator has one meeting with the family and no other return-migrant case in the school for comparison.
1. Explain Nadia's identity using primary and secondary socialisation and at least one sociological theory of the self or identity.
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Nadia's primary socialisation took place mainly in an English-speaking family and in Leeds, so English became the language of intimate interaction and internal speech. Her secondary socialisation in Malta now demands Maltese in school, peer groups and the village festa. Return migration is not simply a return to a previous self; it is a resocialisation episode in which earlier dispositions and new expectations clash.
Mead's idea of the generalised other helps: Nadia carries one generalised other from her English peer world and encounters another in Malta. She can anticipate both audiences, which produces role conflict rather than simple failure. Goffman's presentation of self adds that she code-switches and manages impressions: English at home, Maltese at school, a more guarded self at the festa. Her phrase 'fake Maltese' suggests a felt discrepancy between performance and identity, not necessarily a lack of competence.
The report's implied model is assimilationist: it assumes she should become culturally singular. A better sociological account treats her identity as negotiated and hybrid, while recognising that her sense of belonging is shaped by family, school and community reactions.
2. Critique the school report's terms 'limited Maltese' and 'not mixing'. What alternative concepts and evidence would a sociologist use?
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'Limited Maltese' may be true of academic written Maltese but false of communicative competence. Nadia switches to Maltese at school, so she has some productive ability; the report collapses proficiency, confidence and preference into a deficit label. 'Not mixing' may describe peer-group closure or the school's expectations rather than a personal failure. It could reflect language anxiety, being watched at the festa, or exclusion by established friendship groups.
Alternative concepts are code-switching, cultural capital, hybridity and othering. Code-switching is a skilled, context-sensitive practice, not a deficiency. Cultural capital explains why her English and Leeds schooling may be valued in some classrooms and devalued in others. Hybridity treats her as combining repertoires rather than lacking one culture. Othering asks whether the school is measuring her against an unexamined Maltese norm.
The sociologist would seek evidence beyond the report: a language diary for one week, Nadia's own account, parents' accounts, two teachers' observations, and a peer sociogram. The aim is not to deny difficulty but to distinguish language support needs from moral judgements about belonging.
3. The coordinator has one meeting with the family and no comparison case. What modest research design could still test the school's interpretation?
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A modest case study is possible: one semi-structured interview with Nadia, one with her parents, and short interviews with two teachers; a one-week language diary recording situations, languages used and comfort levels; and a review of school language-support records. The coordinator should not claim representativeness. The design tests the report's interpretation by triangulating perspectives and by looking for disconfirming evidence.
If Nadia reports extensive Maltese use with friends but anxiety in formal writing, 'limited Maltese' is too global. If teachers report that she is excluded by peers, 'not mixing' shifts from individual deficit to group dynamics. Without a comparison case, the coordinator can still use a negative-case logic within the school: is there another student with a similar language profile who is described differently? If not, the absence should be stated.
The output should be a short case report with limits: what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what support would be more appropriate than withdrawal from Maltese lessons. The meeting with the family should be treated as data, not as a verdict.