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In the present contribution, which follows on from the discussion already initiated, problems of profiling the bilingual discourse of understanding are discussed. Aspects of the shaping of the discourse are addressed on the basis of previously undiscussed evidence from the bilingual journal “Region”. The discourse makes an original contribution to reconciliation between the Germans and the Poles. The discourse is profiled in a specific way. In the discourse under investigation, aspects are addressed that concern Germans and Poles in mutual contact.

The objective of the present study is to offer an overview of a phenomenon pervasively diffuse in Sardinia: code-alternation in the linguistic production of immigrants during their various interactions with Sardinian speakers. Indeed, code-switching represents one of those linguistic strategies to which immigrants turn to in the different phases of L2 acquisition, in order to fulfill their communicative needs and compensate for their lack of linguistic competencies in the interethnic communication in the country in which they temporarily live. In this survey, however, the purpose is not that of analyzing code-alternation Italian/English, Italian/Spanish, etc., but rather the inclusion of the Sardinian dialect variety among the languages that the immigrants adopt during their different social interactions with the natives. The use of the Sardinian dialect variety on the part of immigrants undoubtedly represents one of those discourse procedures to which migrant people resort to assimilate culturally and linguistically as rapidly as possible with the dominant group (Loi Corvetto 2000).The study is based on taped interviews from a corpus of naturallyoccurring speech composed of almost thirty hours of conversation, in which the participants were unaware that they were being recorded, since it is believed that only in these circumstances could the recorded samples be considered to illustrate spontaneous and unselfconscious speech. From a methodological point of view, the aim is to take into consideration the bilingual discourse Italian-Campidanese of the Italian L2 learners from a morpho-syntax perspective; more specifically, the objective is to identify: (a) the morphological and syntactic characteristics of the Italian-Campidanese bilingual discourse of the Italian L2 learners and attempt to characterize which morphological and syntactical categories can be switched and with which frequency; (b) which syntactical boundaries are considered 'grammatical' and which on the other hand are those considered as 'non-grammatical' or 'impossible', (c) the possible existence of grammatical constraints and models that may govern the compatibility of constituents of the two codes in contact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The socio-cultural settings of English-language and English-medium classrooms are intrinsically bi/multilingual and bi/multicultural as both learners and teachers bring their multiple identities and home-community languages and sociolinguistic practices into the classroom. However, more often than not in such contexts, monolingual ideologies are the guiding principle for the top-down language education policies of "one-language only" which often create conflict and tension. In a postcolonial context, this paper looks at how monolingual ideologies and policies construct L1 as "the linguistic other" in face-to-face interaction in English classrooms which are defined as "English-only". It also shows how the essentialisation of the English classroom's socio-cultural spaces as non-local is met with resistance through the use of L1 which is informed by the local/national ideologies and constructs English as "the other". Against such a conflict scenario, it finds that code-switching is employed by the participants in some classrooms to achieve pedagogical goals and to resolve the tension which also deconstructs the positioning of both English and L1 as "the linguistic other". The paper employs multilayered analyses and draws on data from ethnographic research based in the classroom and community contexts. The data includes, amongst other, transcripts of classroom interactions and opinions of teachers and students about their language choices in such interactions. The findings of the paper suggest that an appreciation of the potential of the positive power, the constructive resistance and the resource argument of L1 use in English classrooms can lead to deconstructing the essentialist meanings of "the linguistic other". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines bilingual discourse markers in a language contact situation. The focus is on how English-dominant, bilingual, and Spanish-dominant New York Puerto Ricans integrate English-language discourse markers into their Spanish-language oral narratives. The corpus comprises 60 Spanish-language oral narratives of personal experience extracted from transcripts of conversations with New York Puerto Ricans. After a review of the study of discourse markers in language contact situations, the use of English-language discourse markers is compared to the use of Spanish-language markers in the texts. The discussion considers the question of whether English-language discourse markers are more profitably identified as instances of code-switching or of borrowing. Finally, the essay explores how bilingual speakers integrate English discourse markers in their narratives with a pattern of usage and frequency that varies according to language proficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]