Trilingual Women as Language Mediators in the Family: A Sicilian-Australian Case-Study

Autor/in	Rubino, Antonia
Titel	Trilingual Women as Language Mediators in the Family: A Sicilian-Australian Case-Study
Quelle	In: Australian Review of Applied Linguistics, (2004) 18, S.25-49 (25 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0155-0640
Schlagwörter	Family (Sociological Unit); Multilingualism; Foreign Countries; Females; Case Studies; Immigrants; Language Usage; Language Maintenance; Italian; English (Second Language); Second Language Learning; Romance Languages; Code Switching (Language); Communication Strategies; Language Proficiency; Family Relationship; Australia; Italy + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Familie; Mehrsprachigkeit; Multilingualismus; Ausland; Weibliches Geschlecht; Case study; Fallstudie; Case Study; Immigrant; Immigrantin; Immigranten; Sprachgebrauch; Sprachpflege; Italienisch; English as second language; English; Second Language; Englisch als Zweitsprache; Zweitsprachenerwerb; Romanische Sprache; Kommunikationsstrategie; Language skill; Language skills; Sprachkompetenz; Australien; Italien
Abstract	In the process of language shift from the immigrant languages to English, everyday communication within the family can become increasingly problematic due to strong divergences in the linguistic competences of the older and the younger generations. This article explores the process of language mediation between different generations, as it occurs within a Sicilian-Australian family belonging to the last wave of Italian mass immigration to Australia. Through a corpus of spontaneous conversations, the study focuses on the role played by a second generation woman as a mediator within her family. The linguistic analysis shows that, in order to overcome communication breakdown, she makes full use of her competence in all three languages: Italian, Sicilian and English, and employs codeswitching extensively as a conversational strategy to accommodate participants with different language abilities. Furthermore, while she maintains Dialect as the language of the most inner family circle, she shifts to Italian as the more "learnable" language that can contribute to cohesion in the extended family. (Contains 5 notes.) (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Applied Linguistics Association of Australia. Available from: Monash University ePress. Building 4, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton 3800, Victoria, Australia. Fax: +61-3-9905 8450; e-mail: epress@lib.monash.edu.au; Web site: http://publications.epress.monash.edu/loi/aral
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10