This thesis is a comparative investigation into the use of Italian of an extended Italian family in language contact situation in three countries: the United States, Australia and France. This study is undertaken and described in the context of the different policies on migrant integration and minority languages in the three migration countries. / The investigation uses the ‘Case Study’ methodology in the format of an embedded multiple case-study project. / The third generation was made the focus of the study to investigate Fishman’s “intergroup social dependency” theory. According to this theory, when the immigrant experience is viewed from a perspective of three or more generation time depth, the immigrant group generally loses its language due to its dependency on the host society for its survival. Fishman contends that only an effective and strict ‘compartmentalisation of language functions’ between the minority language and the host language can help the minority group maintain its language. / The findings indicate that for people of Italian background living as a minority group in language contact situation compartmentalisation is not a viable alternative. Nor do they consider the ‘maintenance’ of their community language important. When in the migration country bilingualism is valued, it is the standard variety of the heritage language that is chosen for maintenance and further learning. / The study presents recommendations towards the achievability of bilingualism beyond the limitations of compartmentalisation.

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine two groups of healthy older Dutch English bilingual migrants in a New Zealand setting to investigate whether they were showing signs of L2 attrition with accompanying L1 reversion post-retirement, and (b) to identify possible factors which might play a role in the incidence of any L2 attrition and concomitant L1 reversion. Previous research has focused on similar groups of migrants in the Australian context, while New Zealand based research has focused on language shift and maintenance amongst three generations of migrants. The research design involved an analysis of sociolinguistic life, using questionnaires. These included self-assessments of L1 and L2 proficiency at three key times: on arrival in New Zealand, at time of ultimate attainment and post-retirement. Further, an analysis of assessments of respondents’ L1 and L2 proficiency pre-and post-retirement completed by interviewees’ adult children moderated respondents’ self-reports. The findings revealed a considerable overlap between participants’ self-reports and assessments by their adult children. The study also revealed a relationship between participants’ level of prior education and their ultimate attainment in the L2, with those who had come to New Zealand having learned English at Secondary School English very likely to have achieved a “good” or “very good” level of L2 proficiency. Conversely, those who had not learned the L2 at secondary school prior to arriving in New Zealand, were less likely to have achieved a “very good” level of ultimate attainment as evident both from self-reports and assessments by adult children. The design also included a linguistic analysis of elicited free speech. Data focused on key indicators of age, gender, social class, prior education, occupation and predominant linguistic environment pre- and post-retirement. Free speech was examined for code-switching, response latency and L1 structure in respondents’ spoken L2. Results indicated that a majority of respondents showed minimal if any signs of L2 attrition with concomitant L1 reversion, both as evidenced by their spoken L2 and as indicated by self-reports and assessments by adult children. Any signs of L2 attrition which were found appeared linked to respondents’ level of prior education and L2 proficiency on arrival in New Zealand. Being exposed to a predominantly L1 social environment post-retirement also appeared to result in a lifting of the threshold for L2 lexical items, resulting in a slightly increased response latency in the spoken L2. Three participants said they experienced some problems expressing their healthcare needs to medical professionals, to the extent that they were searching for words. All stated they “got there in the end” but needed more time to paraphrase their health needs. Two subjects avoided the use of the L2 during the interview, even when prompted in English. Three respondents engaged in significant codeswitching from L2 to L1 and vice versa, with two engaging in what Muysken (2000) terms “congruent lexicalisation”. Adult childrens’ reports indicated that the respondents in question had always spoken in this manner, but to a greater extent now, post-retirement. Overall, a number of the healthy older subjects interviewed for the study were showing some signs of increased response latency and lexical retrieval problems when expressing themselves in the L2, but none to the degree that they were no longer able to communicate in that language.

This study introduces themes and trends apparent from notable research and literature regarding the value and usefulness of bilingual teaching methods in the ESOL classroom, and the perceptions of ESOL managers and teachers regarding these, both from an international and a New Zealand perspective. From this, a shortage of awareness and research in the New Zealand context was identified, which created an opportunity for further research. The study aimed specifically to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of Auckland based ESOL-school professionals regarding the value of teacher bilingualism and the use of other languages in the ESOL classroom. The basic method employed was a survey involving the distribution of questionnaires to 60 Auckland language school teachers and 20 Auckland language school managers, and included both qualitative and quantitative type questions. The study probed the foreign language skills and overseas work experience of the managers and teachers, and investigated whether these factors had influenced their perceptions regarding the value of teacher bilingualism and the use of other languages as an ESOL teaching tool. The study identifies the perceptions of Auckland ESOL professionals regarding these issues and analyses further differentiating factors likely to have influenced these perceptions. It identifies differences of opinion between managers and teachers and investigates reasons for these. The study analyses the linguistic composition of the Auckland language school clientele and considers implications for the industry resulting from the identified perceptions of ESOL professionals. Finally, the study offers suggestions for further future research, in the interest of improvement and enhancement of the industry.

The study aims to contribute to a debate on the benefits of exposing children to early second language acquisition and maintenance of their mother tongue in early childhood settings. The study uses a qualitative interpretative approach, using a case-study method. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used, and data collected were thematically analyzed.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Merrill Swain.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Univ., Diss.--Hamburg, 2005. / 1. Bilingualism and bilingual first language acquisition -- 2. Early mixing -- 3. The theoretical framework -- 4. Code-switching -- 5. Data -- 6. The analysis of early mixing -- 7. The analysis of code-switching -- 8. Findings and conclusions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Sydney, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed 28 March 2008). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Dept. of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print form.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Sydney, 2007. / A thesis presented to the University of Western Sydney, College of Arts, School of Humanities and Languages, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Iowa, 2005. / Supervisor: Stephen G. Vlastos. Includes bibliographical references (p. 206-211).