Multilingualism and English
The Canton of Zurich as a linguistic paradigm
Published on 22. February 2013
Book
Hardback
414 pages
978-3-631-63920-7 (ISBN)
Description
This study examines the use of English in Switzerland from a multilingual perspective based on a corpus of 400 interviews collected in the German speaking Canton of Zurich. It presents a framework for explaining the linguistic interaction that arises as a result of the use of a «globalizing» language in a multilingual context. It has given the relationships that obtain between the various Swiss national languages a hierarchical character. The proposed Swiss framework indicates - viewed through a macro-sociolinguistic lens - that the present linguistic situation in Switzerland seems to reflect a growing symbiotic relationship between English and the Swiss vernaculars.
More details
Series
Edition
New edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berlin
Germany
Edition type
New edition
Illustrations
40 graphs, 49 Graphiken
89 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 153 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
645 gr
ISBN-13
978-3-631-63920-7 (9783631639207)
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-02291-9
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Agnieszka Stepkowska received her PhD from Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, in 2004. She is a lecturer at the School of English, the University of Social Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. Her research interests focus on translation studies, multilingualism and the sociology of language. She has published a book on English loanwords in Polish naval vocabulary and numerous papers on various topics.
Content
Contents: English in Rivalry - The Nature of a Dominant Language - Standard and Varieties - No-man's-Language - Linguistic Pragmatism - Multilingual Perspective of Language Contact - Macro-sociolinguistic Aspects of Contact Linguistics - Mechanisms of Language Change - The Ecology of Languages - The Quality of Swiss-style Diversity - English in Switzerland - Switzerland: a Paradigmatic View - Language Policy and Protection - Schooling - Research: the Canton of Zurich - Towards a Linguistic Paradigm.