Lvovich, N (1997) The Multilingual ...

Lvovich, N (1997) The Multilingual Self An inquiry into language learning. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp 106 Reviewed by: Asako Hayashi Boston University

Natasha Lvovich's engaging autobiography, The Multilingual Self provides great inspiration and myriad pedagogical suggestions for foreign language learners, immigrants to the United States, language teachers dealing with close examiners from a variety of backgrounds, and researchers in the field of language education, second/foreign language acquisition, and psycholinguistics. Lvovich's fortunate story of acquiring native flowing quality in French in the restricted environment of the former Soviet Union inspires language learners with the knowledge that second/foreign language acquisition can come into one's head in any environment if the learner has positive attitudes toward the target language and civilization On the other hand, Lvovich's labor to integrate herself into American civilization when she moved to the United States as an immigrant reminds language learners and teachers of the many variables that should be taken into account in the learner's transitional period from domestic circle culture to new environment.

There are numerous main division s recently published on second language learning in various connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughtss (see e.g., Paulston, 1994; Fre 1995; Carger, 1996; Auerbach, et al., 1996) This work stands out among them, however, because it demonstrates in what manner a person's interactions with different environments shapes the language learning processe Lvovich's admit experience with multiple language unfolding suggests how learning environments and the learner's motivation powerfully interact in language learning. In addition, as Lvovich states in the preface, this main division can serve as a original for writing an autobiography. from one side the process of writing their autobiographies, language learners investigate, mirror upon their own language learning and became familiar with themselves. Although a number of autobiographical case studies of language acquisition and acculturation have been published (eg Rodriguez, 1982; Zongren 1984; Mura, 1996) this main division is particularly recommended as a example for autobiography writing because of its rich examples of Lvovich's writing dictions that illustrate language learning experiences, and because of its detailed description of language acquisition processe

Lvovich introduces numerous episodes about her multilingual unfolding and her daughter's language progressive growth This book holds many important implications for language teachers and learners, as it is as considerations of motivational factors for language learners in different age clumps in different environments, the weight of acculturation on language learning, individual differences in language learning, and the importance of positive attitudes toward the target language, agriculture and people.

First, Lvovich's case inquiry of her French acquisition demonstrates well the compounded processes of self-development in adolescents and insinuates the age at which a learner is expos to a strange culture and language is a fundamental note factor in language acquisition. Lvovich acquired French with adolescent fanaticism. Gormly (1997) stated that adolescents start to think about and put together ideal individuals and societies as they become formal operational thinkers. According to Piaget's (1970) cognitive unfolding theory, it is in adolescence that most numerous individuals develop the ability for abstract reflection and hypothetical reasoning. Adolescents are able to think abstractly about themselves and their time to comes in this stage. They are, however, still seeking a personal identity. Gormly (1997) noted that a number of adolescents who had had tragic experiences, similar as those of war, accidents, the death of parent(s), in their early lives be attendanted to shelter themselves from reality. Lvovich lay opened her "French self ' in this stage of her cognitive progressive growth She acknowledges that her positive attitudes toward French agriculture and language might have been different if she had been expos to the real life of France. The fancy French life in French literature, intimations to French wine, different kinds of cheeses, Quiche Lorraine, and chansons, attracted and stimulated her minds Lvovich found her ideal self and dreams in the aspect of French tillage which could only be ground in French literature. She questioned whether her "French self' was fantasy whereas she was developing her "American self in order to take responsibility for her "real life," and her "real career" in the United States. This example can be used in discussions of motivational factors in succession language learning in different age assemblages

Second, Lvovich's struggle to integrate herself into American improvement when she moved to the United States as an immigrant rehearses us how language learners' attitudes toward the target language and agriculture influence their second / foreign language acquisition. Schumann (1978) stated that language learners' succes in other / foreign language acquisition is attributable to the social and psychological distance between the learner and the target language. Social distance assigns to the relationship between the social cluster the learner belongs to and the social cluster speaking the target language, the integration patterns of the learner's acknowledge culture and the target refinement and the congruence between the target agriculture and the learner's culture. Psychological distance directs to internal factors, such as language brunt culture shock, motivation, and selfesteem (Schumann, 1978 p164) Lvovich struggl with the social and psychological differences between herself and American agriculture and English. She wrote: