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They speak what language to whom?! Acculturation and language use for communicative domains in bilinguals

Hammer, Kate (2017) They speak what language to whom?! Acculturation and language use for communicative domains in bilinguals. Language & Communication 56 , pp. 42-54. ISSN 0271-5309.

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Abstract

This paper investigates the extent of second language (L2) use across four communicative domains in 149 highly educated L2-competent sequential Polish-English bilinguals resident in the UK.1 The domains under investigation include: work, household, interest group, and peer group. Work and interest group count as public domains, while household and peer group count as private domains. The independent variables include acculturation level, social network profile, predicted future domicile, and length of residence. The instruments include an online questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The results show that bilinguals who acculturate to a higher level use the L2 more frequently, even in private domains. The findings also suggest that bilinguals who operate in majority L2-speaking social networks, use the L2 more frequently during informal conversations with other L1-speakers at work.

Metadata

Item Type: Article
Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Acculturation, communication, bilinguals, domains, L2 use.
School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
Depositing User: Katherine Hammer
Date Deposited: 26 Sep 2017 10:19
Last Modified: 30 Jul 2025 10:17
URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/19825

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