Linguistic Autobiographies or Making Sense of One`s Language Learning Experience. Case Study

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer insights into one type of personal/autobiographic narrative as a special form of accounting, considered not only an object, but also a means/tool of research in education. The paper starts from the general idea that linguistic autobiographies constitute an important source of information about the experience second/foreign language learners pass through, as well as about the way in which they come to make sense of it. One case study constitutes the basis for our analysis, in an attempt of identifying the reasons for which languages are learned, acquired, (re)used in everyday life various settings or, on the contrary, abandoned. The analysis is followed by the presentation of some possible implications that the practice and study of linguistic autobiography may have in language teaching and in student education, in general.