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Sociolinguistic variation in Austria and the German-speaking part of Switzerland has traditionally been described in very different terms. In Austria, the linguistic range between the standard language and the local dialects has been referred to as a ‘standard-dialect-continuum’, whereas the German-speaking part of Switzerland has often been cited as the typical example of a ‘diglossic’ language community. The sociolinguistic situation in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, which is part of a primarily Bavarian-speaking country but also of the Alemannic dialect region, has not been thoroughly examined in any studies up to date. In this paper, we present results from an online-survey in Austria and Switzerland on the everyday use of dialect and the standard language. According to our informants' estimates, the sociolinguistic situation in both Austria and German-speaking Switzerland is characterised by a significant percentage of dialect use. Still, the standard language is regarded quite differently in the two countries. A considerable proportion of the Swiss informants perceive the standard language as a ‘foreign language’. However, this does not seem to be a common attitude among the Austrian informants. The main difference between the two countries lies in the observation that Austrians feel they use an intermediate form between dialect and the standard language, a so-called ‘Umgangssprache’, in many situations, whereas the Swiss indicate that they speak their local dialect or the standard language under specific communicative circumstances. However, the German-speaking Swiss population, as well as the informants from Vorarlberg, do not seem to use an intermediate form. The situation in Vorarlberg is particularly interesting. On the one hand, as far as the status of dialect and the dichotomy of dialect and standard are concerned, Vorarlberg patterns similarly to the German-speaking part of Switzerland. On the other hand, people from Vorarlberg have to adapt to their Bavarian-speaking fellow countrymen and women and switch to standard German in intra-national communication (e.g. at the workplace or on national help lines). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German-speaking part of Switzerland is one of the country's regions where distinct dialects coexist with the standard variety. This situation poses a challenge for immigrant children: most of their daily input does not correspond to the language variety that is essential for educational achievement, namely Standard German. Current academic measures concentrate on the decreed use of the standard variety in all contexts and all subjects at school. However, the use and knowledge of the local dialect are important for social inclusion. Therefore, immigrant children need to learn to cope with both varieties. In this study, we look at how immigrant children – driven by the need to be affiliated to a group – make use of the different varieties and languages in their everyday lives. This analysis should provide a useful insight into how language competence and use support the social phenomena of inclusion and exclusion, and how arrangements for the facilitation of language acquisition could take actual linguistic practices into consideration. Der Sprachgebrauch in der Deutschschweiz ist durch das Nebeneinander von Dialekt und Standard geprägt. Diese Situation stellt für Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund eine besondere Herausforderung dar: Der Großteil ihres sprachlichen Inputs entspricht nicht der Sprachvarietät, die für ihren Bildungserfolg wesentlich ist, nämlich Standarddeutsch. Momentane schulpolitische Anweisungen konzentrieren sich auf den ausschließlichen Gebrauch der Standardsprache in allen schulischen Kontexten und Fächern. Da jedoch Kenntnisse des Dialekts und die Fähigkeit, diesen angemessen einzusetzen, entscheidend für die soziale Integration sind, müssen Migrantenkinder mit beiden Varietäten umzugehen wissen. In diesem Beitrag widmen wir uns der Frage, wie die Kinder – ausgehend von der Notwendigkeit ihre Gruppenzugehörigkeit zu demonstrieren – die verschiedenen Varietäten im Alltag verwenden. Diese Analyse bietet Einblicke, wie Sprachkompetenz und Sprachgebrauch die sozialen Phänomene Integration und Ausschluss beeinflussen und wie Sprachfördermaßnahmen die Sprachpraktiken der Kinder miteinbeziehen können. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]