David Singleton

Vera Regan

Ewelina Debaene

This book provides a linguistic and cultural profile of the Polish diasporic communities in three different European countries: Ireland, France and Austria. The eight contributing chapters present original research on the acquisition and use of the languages of the respective host communities and also explore related elements of cultural acquisition. A number of aspects of second language acquisition are considered, notably the acquisition of phonology, lexicon and discourse, as well as aspects of sociolinguistic competence. In addition, varying approaches and research methods are reported on, each of which was chosen in consideration of the particular research issue addressed and the particular circumstances under which the research was carried out. These range from psycholinguistic approaches to second language acquisition to variationist approaches, and include both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Linguistic and Cultural Acquisition in a Migrant Community

Maeve Conrick

Isabelle Lemée

Multiculturalism and Integration provides new insights into the important issues of diversity, reasonable accommodation and identity construction in multicultural societies by examining the experiences of Canada and Ireland. While these two societies share many historical and cultural links, their differences help reveal the range of possible approaches to these important issues. Multicultural and multilingual diversity in contemporary Ireland are fairly recent phenomena, whereas Canada’s policies and practices addressing cultural and linguistic diversity are several decades old. This basic difference has influenced their laws, language policies, education systems, cultural creations, and national identities as they have worked to accommodate multiculturalism. The volume brings together an international group of scholars working in a variety of fields including politics, law, sociolinguistics, literature, philosophy, and history. Their interdisciplinary approach addresses the complex factors influencing integration and multiculturalism, painting detailed and accurate portraits of these issues in Canada and Ireland.

Vera Regan

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