Sociolinguistics of migration

In questo contributo si inquadra e si ripercorre anzitutto una nozione su cui Gabriele Iannàccaro si era espresso in alcuni suoi ultimi lavori, quella di disagio linguistico nei parlanti delle nuove minoranze linguistiche (§ 1.). Successivamente, vengono proposte alcune riflessioni che prendono spunto dagli ambiti di ricerca della sociolinguistica e della linguistica
acquisizionale, con un’attenzione particolare al rapporto tra acquisizione e apprendimento di lingue seconde e di heritage languages (§ 2.); tali osservazioni sfociano in una discussione sulla teoria dell’interdipendenza e delle soglie di James Cummins (§ 3.), che ha avuto un ruolo rilevante nelle politiche linguistiche adottate in alcune regioni.

The functioning of many education systems around the world was disrupted during the Covid-19 crisis. Even the idyllic atolls of French Polynesia – although far from the main centers of contagion – have not been spared, so the school and families were induced to adapt and to find new strategies of collaboration. This paper is based on the study of 19 families living in Tahiti, and it analyse the discourses of Polynesian parents charged with new responsibilities associated with school support during the crisis. The results obtained reveal that attitudes linked with such new tasks are closely correlated with the socio-economic status, and that the educational style of parents, during confinement, favoured directive and empowering traits. Finally, the study shows that Polynesian parents maintained a conflicting relationship with pedagogical continuity, confirming an overall trend, observed in other postcolonial contexts.

Migrazione secondaria e repertori linguistici complessi: il caso degli italo-nigeriani in Inghilterra This chapter discusses how Italian-Nigerians reshape their complex linguistic repertoire as a result of secondary migration to the UK. The parents in these families first migrated from Nigeria to Italy, where they spent a long time and obtained the Italian citizenship, and subsequently migrated again to the UK with the whole family. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with 6 participants, children of six families, on their reported perception of their families' use of languages in Italy and the UK. The first results reveal that these participants maintain the use of Italian in communication with siblings, friends in Italy and friends in the UK who have had a similar migration trajectory. Within the family, the eldest siblings are the main agents of maintenance of Italian. Italian is perceived as linguistic capital useful for their future career, or in case they decide to return to Italy. English is the most important language in the UK and seen as cultural capital by the participants. The other Nigerian languages are used by parents among themselves, but not passed actively to children.

Oggetto del volume sono le biografie linguistiche di persone trasferitesi in Alto Adige (Südtirol) dai paesi successori alla Jugoslavia dal 1985 al 2015. Esaminando a livello contenutistico e formale i discorsi epilinguistici di parlanti che hanno vissuto e vivono in spazi sociolinguistici altamente complessi, la ricerca si propone di contribuire allo studio della ristrutturazione dei repertori in situazioni di contatto. Due sono le unità di analisi specifiche, identificate tramite i metodi della sociolinguistica interpretativa. Da un lato, si analizzano i glottonimi e le apposizioni usate per riferirsi alle varietà linguistiche d’origine. Ne emerge un quadro dei modi di posizionarsi dei partecipanti nei confronti dei recenti interventi di pianificazione linguistica in area balcanica. Dall’altro, si ricostruiscono gli spazi comunicativi narrati di tre intervistate attraverso l’esame delle loro storie di dialoghi. Questi racconti mostrano come le narratrici, attingendo a schemi interpretativi circolanti nella società altoatesina o resistendo loro, diano un senso vis-à-vis con la ricercatrice al cristallizzarsi di nessi più o meno inamovibili tra codici, luoghi e interlocutori nella regione d’arrivo.

This paper explores the language ideologies of three middle-class migrant Greek families in Luxembourg, one 'established' family and two 'new' crisis-led migrant families, all of whose children attend Luxembourgish state schools. While the families differ in terms of migration trajectory, their language ideologies converge. The findings of this ethnographic study show that all parents view multilingualism as an asset and relate it to culture, identity and job opportunities. The parents' ideologies are shaped both by their desire to improve their social standing and by societal discourses on the values of languages in the job market and in the Higher Education. Luxembourg's official trilingualism is seen as a symbol of national cohesion and it is viewed as a commodity on the job market. Thus, the development of children's multilingualism in French, German and English is seen as a 'commodity' which, they hope, will enable children to compete in the new globalised, transnational and post-industrial/services market.

Il capitolo è stato scritto da Cecilia Andorno e Silvia Sordella. Le autrici desiderano ringraziare Riccardo Regis per l'attenta rilettura di una prima versione di questo capitolo, e Mauro Tosco per le informazioni riguardo ad alcune delle lingue menzionate. 891011 8. Probabile riferimento al Nigerian Pidgin English (Oyètadè/Simpson 2008). 9. Possibile riferimento allo Scots, dialetto germanico vicino all'inglese parlato in Scozia, di cui la madre del ragazzo è originaria. Non possiamo tuttavia escludere che si faccia riferimento invece a un dialetto celtico scozzese (Scottish gaelic). 10. I ragazzi usano per lo più il termine berbero, che fa più propriamente riferimento a un gruppo di lingue, le cui tre maggiori varietà sono il tarifit, il tamazight e il tashelhit (Ennaji/Sadiqui 2008): queste ultime denominazioni più specifiche sono scelte da due ragazzi. 11. Lingua nominata da un ragazzo in riferimento alla lingua usata con il padre burkinabé, possibile riferimento al fulbe nella varietà parlata localmente.

Il volume adotta la prospettiva degli alunni di origine straniera per ricostruire gli effetti sociolinguistici del fenomeno migratorio in Italia, in termini di vitalità, mantenimento e uso delle lingue immigrate. Un testo per sociolinguisti, studiosi degli aspetti linguistici della migrazione, docenti e soggetti attivi nella mediazione linguistico-culturale.

Le camfranglais est cette langue hybride issue du contact entre les langues autochtones camerounaises, le français, l’anglais, le pidgin-English et même les langues immigrées parlées au Cameroun. Si plusieurs études ont analysé la situation de cette langue au Cameroun, ce livre est le tout premier qui se propose d’analyser de manière systématique les pratiques langagières des camfranglophones en contexte diasporique. Il explore les nouveaux espaces du camfranglais en focalisant l’attention sur les principaux pays d’immigration des Camerounais en Occident, ainsi que sur les zones fufuldéphone et anglophone du Cameroun. Les auteurs analysent les pistes interprétatives qui sous-tendent l’émergence du camfranglais hors des frontières du Cameroun, mais aussi dans les réseaux sociaux enrichis par les discours électroniques, à travers une démarche interdisciplinaire qui embrasse aussi bien la sémiotique et l’ethnologie, que la sociolinguistique de l’immigration et de la globalisation. Un ouvrage novateur sur la dynamique sociolinguistique en Afrique.

This paper explores the entanglement of language with issues such as discrimination and the reproduction of social hierarchies. It unpacks this interplay to show how the use and abuse of language serve as the main mechanism of inclusion, exclusion and limitation of migrants in the labour market, contributing to certain migrant groups and their descendants remaining in the bottom stratum of society. It investigates how language use can both empower and disqualify migrants, creating ethnic pools of work. This paper draws on interviews with a successful middle-aged Cape Verdean man, Pedrinhu, to illustrate this language impact. He came to Luxembourg at a young age and his sports skills helped him to be fast-tracked to acquire Luxembourgish citizenship. He talks about his migration trajectories, his sociolinguistic life and his job interactions with Cape Verdean workers at a private employment enterprise where he now holds a high position. He seeks "to empower" Cape Verdean migrants, challenging some of the institutionalised linguistic demands of the state employment agency he collaborates with; at the same time, he is aware of the reproduction of inequality and the ethnic stratification of his enterprise. The paper concludes by highlighting the ambivalences of multilingualism and empowerment interventions in accessing resources, such as work, in the condensed migration contexts of Luxembourg.

This paper focuses on the Cameroonian immigrant community, one of the most linguistically
diverse countries on earth and the only African country to have known three former
colonial languages. The paper deals with two main topics. First the restructuring of linguistic
repertoires by Cameroonian immigrants before and after the migration in Italy, as well as
their language attitudes towards the numerous idioms within their linguistic space. Second,
the position and function of Cameroonian local languages in the complex Cameroonian
community linguistic repertoire. The survey involved 492 Cameroonian students and 50
Cameroonian families based in different Italian cities. The first results of the research reveal
that the high prestige of former colonial, official, European languages (French and Italian)
tend to undermine Cameroon local languages.