In situations of language endangerment, the ability to understand a language tends to persevere longer than the ability to speak it. As a result, the possibility of language revival remains high even when few speakers remain. Nonetheless, this potential requires that those with high levels of comprehension received sufficient input as children for…

Focuses on intrasentential codeswitching among locally born inhabitants of Brussels, Belguim. The disappearance of intrasentential codeswitching is shown to be related to knowledge of standard Dutch. Apart from this, intrasentential codeswitching is probably no longer a generalized practice in Brussels because the codes involved symbolize social…

The motives for the integration of French elements into Lubumbashi Swahili are investigated. Based on an analysis of three different texts, it is argued that the mixing process is carefully regulated and controlled to serve several communicative functions. (18 references) (Author/LB)

Presents a study of mixed language use within the frame of interactional sociolinguistics by looking at how adolescents of Turkish background living in Germany have developed their own patterns of bilingualism. Analyzes transcripts of Turkish-German mixed speech and shows that the switching and mixing oscillates between local sequential functions…

Analyzes conversation 501 from the Koge (Denmark) project for the four adolescents speakers' use of five to six different language varieties. Code choice patterns are shown to function in a range of ways. Suggests the multifaceted behavior of the Turkish-Danish adolescents is languaging, which is in principle what other human beings do.…

Focuses on the analysis of six-year-old Finnish-speaking children's second-language acquisition during their first year of Swedish immersion in kindergarten. (JL)

Describes Tongan language proficiency, language usage, and attitudes toward the language among the ethnic Tongans of Wellington, New Zealand. Although the language is strongly preferred and maintained by the Tongan community, incipient language shift, increasing English proficiency, and code switching are evident among younger people. (40…

Individual bilingual language performance in occasional songs is examined with focus on the use of Danish and English by a female member of a Danish-American organization in both song-writing and organizational written recordkeeping. The findings confirm the hypothesis of a conditioning effect of features of genre and social role on the…

Preliminary results from a large research project on the use of Frisian and Dutch in the official domain in Friesland focuses on language use in contacts between civil servants and customers in service encounters. Language patterns observed include convergence, neutrality, switching, and asymmetry. (CB)

Code switching is analyzed as part of a "familylect," which is code switching as it occurs in the spoken language of a multilingual family with four members. Seven different language codes are involved. Through a linguistic and extra-linguistic analysis, an attempt is made to answer three questions connected with code switching: when,…

Deals with the negotiations of social relations among adolescents at a critical point in their development of a bilingual identity. Based on a general study of bilingual Turkish-Danish folkskole pupils' development of language choice and code switching, finds that the seventh grade is a pivotal stage in their linguistic development. (Author/VWL)

Shows that sociolinguistic patterns reflect and transmit sociopolitical patterns. The modernization of Israeli Palestinian society, resulting in a heterogeneous social structure, will probably lead to little conformity to any one social code. Supporting evidence is found in the differentiation of Hebrew and English words in Palestinian Arabic. (24…

Following previous reports, this paper contains additional information about the multilingual situation in the multiethnic town of Bukavu in Zaire. Focus is on codeswitching, an important characteristic of the overall dynamic picture of linguistic interaction. Myers-Scotton's markedness model is discussed. (13 references) (Author/LB)

In describing the different types of codeswitching used in Dakar, this paper questions the frequent assumption that the use of two languages within a single conversation violates a norm. In Dakar there is a fluid and unmarked switching between Wolof and French, "Urban Wolof," that has become the most common mode of speech among urban…

The macro-dimension of code switching is examined as observed in a sociolect of Swahili used by academic staff from the University of Dar es Salaam. It is argued that the specific sociohistoric background of Tanzanian society accounts for the social valency of Campus Kiswahili. (Author/LB)