Linguistic and Cultural Acquisition in a Migrant Community

Edited by Prof. David Singleton, Prof. Vera Regan, Ewelina Debaene

Publication date:

04 July 2013

Publisher

Multilingual Matters

Dimensions:

210x148mm
6x8"

ISBN-13: 9781847699893

This book provides a linguistic and cultural profile of the Polish diasporic communities in three different European countries: Ireland, France and Austria. The eight contributing chapters present original research on the acquisition and use of the languages of the respective host communities and also explore related elements of cultural acquisition. A number of aspects of second language acquisition are considered, notably the acquisition of phonology, lexicon and discourse, as well as aspects of sociolinguistic competence. In addition, varying approaches and research methods are reported on, each of which was chosen in consideration of the particular research issue addressed and the particular circumstances under which the research was carried out. These range from psycholinguistic approaches to second language acquisition to variationist approaches, and include both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

D. Singleton & V. Regan: Introduction

E. Debaene: Emigration Versus Mobility: The Case of the Polish Community in France and Ireland

V. Regan: The Bookseller and the Basketball player: Tales from the French Polonia

N. Nestor: The Positional Distribution of Discourse Like - A Case Study of Young Poles in Ireland

B. Bidzińska: The Polish Diaspora in Austria: Identity, Integrations and Attitudes Towards Native Language and Culture

E. Debaene & J. Harris: Divergence, Convergence and Passing for a Native Speaker: Variations in Use of English by Polish Migrants in Ireland.

A. Skrzypek: The Direction of Causality in the Relationship Between Phonological Short-term Memory and L2 Lexical Knowledge: The Case of Adult Polish Learners of English in Ireland.

R. Kopečková: Segmental Acquisition in Polish Child and Adult Learners in Ireland

P. Walsh & D.Singleton: Variation in English Lexical Acquisition Among Polish Migrant Children in Ireland

This book is an exciting and comprehensive, multidimensional study looking into the acquisition and use of languages in migrant communities from both the linguistic and cultural perspectives. It offers a unique comparative insight into language acquisition and maintenance among Polish migrants to Ireland and France, being the first project of its kind. Full of fascinating psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic findings, the book is an invaluable and novel contribution to the migration studies.