A linguistic odyssey: one family's experience with language shift and cultural identity in Germany and France

• Autores: David Antal
• Localización: International journal of the sociology of language, ISSN 0165-2516, Nº. 133, 1998, págs. 143-168
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Describing his, his wife's, and his three childrens experiences äs an American family settled in Germany, the author retraces the childrens linguistic development, which exemplifies the decisive influence of the language(s) spoken in school (English-German bilingualism) and, in the long term, by theparents at hörne (English by thefather, French by the mother).

    A striking difference between countries ofresidence, due apparently to their official approach to "foreigners," emerges from their experience: after moving to France and having a year ofschooling there, the children "feit" French. But despite continuous residence in Germany, despite intense, early contact with the German language and German playmates and classmates, and despite the fact that the three children are today partly perceived by their California relatives and by others äs "German," they have never claimed tofeel German or German-American. English rather than German has become their main language, with French a dose second.