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    Acculturation as the key to the ultimate attainment? The case of Polish-English bilinguals in the UK

    Hammer, K. and Dewaele, Jean-Marc (2015) Acculturation as the key to the ultimate attainment? The case of Polish-English bilinguals in the UK. In: Forsberg Lundell, F. and Bartning, I. (eds.) Cultural Migrants and Optimal Language Acquisition. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, pp. 178-202. ISBN 9781783094028.

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    Abstract

    This chapter focuses on the variables predicting L2 attainment in 149 migrants (L1 Polish and L2 English) who relocated to the UK in early adulthood. They are highly educated sequential bilinguals who have been resident in the UK for an average of eight years following migration. Independent variables analysed in this chapter are divided into three categories: 1) post-migration sociolinguistic aspects, namely, acculturation level and frequency of L2 use following migration; 2) possible temporal predictors of the L2 attainment, namely, age of onset, age at migration and length of domicile in the host country; and 3) socio-biographical variables, namely, context of L2 acquisition, education level, age, gender and motivation behind migration. The results showed that acculturation level is strongly linked to L2 attainment.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Book Section
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Acculturation, bilingualism, cultural migrants, proficiency, second language acquisition
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Jean-Marc Dewaele
    Date Deposited: 11 Aug 2015 08:54
    Last Modified: 09 Aug 2023 12:36
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/12741

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