In this book, Kozminska explores how Polish migrants living in Britain create perceptions of themselves and groups using sounds and experiences. Kozminska’s main proposal is that migrants who occupy a transnational space fall on a spectrum of identity creation based on their alignment with their country of origin. This alignment is reflected in language ideologies concerning the languages they use and are also seen in phonetic information.
Kozminska categorized Polish migrants who closely identify and align with Poland as Polish-Poles. Notably, Polish-Poles create an unchanging identity by having the fact they were born in Poland and their ability to speak Polish define their identity. Polish-Poles also solely align with Polish contexts. On the other end of the spectrum, Cosmopolitans focus on actions and the ‘here and now’ to create their identity and align with a global context while associating Poland with their childhood, family, and private life, not their public life. Finally, Kozminska defines the In-Betweens as migrants who, like Polish-Poles, identify as Polish but align with a global context like Cosmopolitans. Kozminska also found that both Cosmopolitans and In-Betweens tend not to align with negative experiences and practices in their current country of residence. Overall, Kozminska shows that perception and alignment with the country of origin have significant implications on migrant identity, but Kozminska also shows that it is related to language ideology.
In addition to identifying differences in identity creation, Kozminska shows how these categories of Polish migrants differ in language ideology. Polish-Poles often try to avoid using English as much as possible, and with other Poles, they believe that using English reflects someone trying to be something they are not. Cosmopolitans, however, openly use and mix both English and Polish, associate English with ambition, learning, and knowledge, and are open to utilizing English and Polish. In-Betweens also have the same perception of English as Cosmopolitans but have negative perceptions of mixing English and Polish (like Polish-Poles). Through Kozminska’s discourse analysis and interviews, they showcase the different language ideologies that migrants navigating transnational spaces have, and she also shows that these language ideologies and alignment with home country and country of residence show up in phonetic data.
Kozminska shows how language ideology and identity differences appear in speakers’ Voice Onset Time (VOT) and fall-rise intonation patterns. During interviews, Polish-Poles only used standard Polish VOT and fall-rise. Meanwhile, Cosmopolitans and In-Betweens utilized standard English VOT and fall-rise. However, they utilized Polish VOT and fall-rise patterns when discussing negative experiences in their current local context and disassociating from harmful practices in the local context.
The book’s primary strength is Kozminska’s findings on how alignment with the home country affects not only identity creation but also language ideology and language use in migrants navigating transnational spaces. Kozminska’s findings open the door to similar studies focused on other contexts. Another strength is the book’s transdisciplinary nature, as Kozminska incorporates and blends findings and theories from multiple fields.
