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Chapter 11. The standard-dialect repertoire of second language users in German-speaking Switzerland

Abstract

The coexistence of dialect and standard language is a pronounced characteristic of everyday life in the Swiss German context. This paper examines the linguistic repertoire of second language users in the Swiss context and how they deal with dialect-standard variation in a structured interview situation with a dialect speaker and a standard language speaker. The data from eight second language users, with English or Turkish as their first language, illustrate different patterns in the use of dialect, standard, and a mixture of both codes. Among the eight selected speakers, high ability to discriminate dialect from standard language can be observed, and only some L2 users show frequent mixing of dialect and standard, which violates the strict separation of the two codes according to L1 speaker norms. Furthermore, the L2 speakers only rarely change their usage of the codes according to their interlocutor. The results reveal that integrating dialect and standard language in the L2 repertoire is challenging. L2 users – depending on their constructed identity within the Swiss German community and influenced by their L1 social categorization of codes – compose their linguistic repertoire with more or less openness to dialect, standard, or integrated use of both codes.

Abstract

The coexistence of dialect and standard language is a pronounced characteristic of everyday life in the Swiss German context. This paper examines the linguistic repertoire of second language users in the Swiss context and how they deal with dialect-standard variation in a structured interview situation with a dialect speaker and a standard language speaker. The data from eight second language users, with English or Turkish as their first language, illustrate different patterns in the use of dialect, standard, and a mixture of both codes. Among the eight selected speakers, high ability to discriminate dialect from standard language can be observed, and only some L2 users show frequent mixing of dialect and standard, which violates the strict separation of the two codes according to L1 speaker norms. Furthermore, the L2 speakers only rarely change their usage of the codes according to their interlocutor. The results reveal that integrating dialect and standard language in the L2 repertoire is challenging. L2 users – depending on their constructed identity within the Swiss German community and influenced by their L1 social categorization of codes – compose their linguistic repertoire with more or less openness to dialect, standard, or integrated use of both codes.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Section 1. Child language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation
  5. Chapter 1. Child language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation 11
  6. Chapter 2. Input effects on the acquisition of variation 21
  7. Chapter 3. The alternation between standard and vernacular pronouns by Belgian Dutch parents in child-oriented control acts 51
  8. Chapter 4. Testing interface and frequency hypotheses 81
  9. Chapter 5. Acquiring social and linguistic competence 103
  10. Chapter 6. Children’s sociolinguistic preferences 129
  11. Chapter 7. Variation in stress in the Jamaican classroom 161
  12. Section 2. Second language acquisition and dialectal variation in adults
  13. Chapter 8. Second language acquisition and dialectal variation in adults 185
  14. Chapter 9. Navigating variation amid contested norms and societal shifts 199
  15. Chapter 10. Usage, evaluation and awareness of French sociolinguistic variables by second-language learners during a stay abroad 227
  16. Chapter 11. The standard-dialect repertoire of second language users in German-speaking Switzerland 251
  17. Chapter 12. Identity, authenticity and dialect acquisition 277
  18. Chapter 13. Adult learners’ (non-) acquisition of speaker-specific variation 295
  19. Index 317
Sociolinguistic Variation and Language Acquisition across the Lifespan
This chapter is in the book Sociolinguistic Variation and Language Acquisition across the Lifespan
https://doi.org/10.1075/silv.26.11end

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Section 1. Child language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation
  5. Chapter 1. Child language acquisition and sociolinguistic variation 11
  6. Chapter 2. Input effects on the acquisition of variation 21
  7. Chapter 3. The alternation between standard and vernacular pronouns by Belgian Dutch parents in child-oriented control acts 51
  8. Chapter 4. Testing interface and frequency hypotheses 81
  9. Chapter 5. Acquiring social and linguistic competence 103
  10. Chapter 6. Children’s sociolinguistic preferences 129
  11. Chapter 7. Variation in stress in the Jamaican classroom 161
  12. Section 2. Second language acquisition and dialectal variation in adults
  13. Chapter 8. Second language acquisition and dialectal variation in adults 185
  14. Chapter 9. Navigating variation amid contested norms and societal shifts 199
  15. Chapter 10. Usage, evaluation and awareness of French sociolinguistic variables by second-language learners during a stay abroad 227
  16. Chapter 11. The standard-dialect repertoire of second language users in German-speaking Switzerland 251
  17. Chapter 12. Identity, authenticity and dialect acquisition 277
  18. Chapter 13. Adult learners’ (non-) acquisition of speaker-specific variation 295
  19. Index 317
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