Chapter 6. What is the target variety?
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Andrea Ender
Abstract
The coexistence of dialect and standard varieties is a challenge for adult learners of German as a second language in the Swiss context. This paper presents data from three individuals showing how they handle the two varieties in their second language system. The insights gathered on their use of dialect and/or standard in free speech and in elicited language tasks illustrate that these second language users differ substantially in the respective extent of incorporation of dialect and standard into their second language system (showing more use of standard, of dialect, or a high amount of mixing). The three individuals thereby serve as examples of the possible range of how second language learners deal with variation depending on their social experiences, their social expectations about the surrounding linguistic community, and their intended position within it. The results also reveal that even though acquisition of variation is generally intricate, some variant forms, such as relative clause markers, are more complex and used with less ease than others.
Abstract
The coexistence of dialect and standard varieties is a challenge for adult learners of German as a second language in the Swiss context. This paper presents data from three individuals showing how they handle the two varieties in their second language system. The insights gathered on their use of dialect and/or standard in free speech and in elicited language tasks illustrate that these second language users differ substantially in the respective extent of incorporation of dialect and standard into their second language system (showing more use of standard, of dialect, or a high amount of mixing). The three individuals thereby serve as examples of the possible range of how second language learners deal with variation depending on their social experiences, their social expectations about the surrounding linguistic community, and their intended position within it. The results also reveal that even though acquisition of variation is generally intricate, some variant forms, such as relative clause markers, are more complex and used with less ease than others.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Bridging the gap between language acquisition and sociolinguistics 1
- Chapter 2. The effects of exposure on awareness and discrimination of regional accents by five- and six year old children 43
- Chapter 3. How do social networks influence children’s stylistic practices? 65
- Chapter 4. Child acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 91
- Chapter 5. Acquiring attitudes towards varieties of Dutch 117
- Chapter 6. What is the target variety? 155
- Chapter 7. The relationship between segregation and participation in ethnolectal variants 185
- Chapter 8. Socializing language choices 213
- Chapter 9. Language acquisition in bilectal environments 235
- Chapter 10. Acquisition of phonological variables of a Flemish dialect by children raised in Standard Dutch 267
- Chapter 11. Developmental sociolinguistics and the acquisition of T-glottalling by immigrant teenagers in London 305
- Author index 343
- Subject index 345
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Chapter 1. Bridging the gap between language acquisition and sociolinguistics 1
- Chapter 2. The effects of exposure on awareness and discrimination of regional accents by five- and six year old children 43
- Chapter 3. How do social networks influence children’s stylistic practices? 65
- Chapter 4. Child acquisition of sociolinguistic variation 91
- Chapter 5. Acquiring attitudes towards varieties of Dutch 117
- Chapter 6. What is the target variety? 155
- Chapter 7. The relationship between segregation and participation in ethnolectal variants 185
- Chapter 8. Socializing language choices 213
- Chapter 9. Language acquisition in bilectal environments 235
- Chapter 10. Acquisition of phonological variables of a Flemish dialect by children raised in Standard Dutch 267
- Chapter 11. Developmental sociolinguistics and the acquisition of T-glottalling by immigrant teenagers in London 305
- Author index 343
- Subject index 345
