Читать книгу Bilingual Couples in Conversation - Silja Ang-Tschachtli - Страница 43

As the overview of previous work has highlighted, research on the language choices of bilingual couples indicates that, depending on the personal background of each partner and on their relationship history, there are a multitude of factors that interact in determining their relationship language. Consequently, my first aim is to see which factors are of prime importance for the ten bilingual couples within this specific setting, whether the prominence of these factors has shifted over the course of their relationship, and whether this has led to any changes in their language use. To this end, the couples were asked which language they usually speak to each other, as well as if, and why, they ever mix languages. Nine of the couples responded that they mostly use English, while only one couple (Deborah/Joshua) uses both languages regularly. The inclination towards English that most couples demonstrate can partly be explained by the selection of the participants for this study: The language of the interviews was English, and I specifically looked for couples whose relationship language was English or a mixture of both languages, as I wanted to examine proficient L2 speakers of English (though it may be noteworthy that I did not happen to come across any couples who spoke mostly (Swiss) German to each other in my search for participants). Nevertheless, it is somewhat surprising just how little German most of the couples claimed to speak to each other, considering that their place of residence is Switzerland, and that most of the native English speakers know at least some (Swiss) German; a number of them even speak the language fluently. This high propensity to use the non-community languagenon-community language can probably be attributed to the fact that the mother tongue of one of the partners is English. The non-community language does not seem to be an unusual choice for couples consisting of speakers of (Swiss) German and of English (see Piller 2002a; Gonçalves 2013), yet it appears to be used far less commonly when other nationalities or mother tongues are involved.22 Even so, the reasons for the couples’ language choice may be manifold, and I will attempt to shed light on them by discussing their answers while bearing in mind previous research on the subject.

According to previous studies, the most important factors in the language choice of bilingual couples are both partners’ proficiencyproficiency in their L2, their country of residence, their habits, as well as their attitudes towards both languages. Although the interplay between these factors can be quite complex, there are a number of similarities between the couples in this study with regard to these factors. When they met, all English-speaking partners, apart from Joshua _E, were residing in an English-speaking country,23 mostly their country of origin, and they had had little or no prior exposure to German. One of them, Richard _E, had studied the language briefly at school, and David _E had enrolled in a German course at university (but failed the course, see example 5.1 below), while the others had no knowledge of German. In contrast, all of the Swiss participants had studied English formally for several years, primarily at a grammar school: 7 of them had a Swiss Academic Baccalaureate (“Matura”) in English, and 2 were in the process of obtaining their Academic Baccalaureate when they met. The only Swiss participant without an Academic Baccalaureate, Sarah _SG, was taught English for three years in secondary school, and later attended a language school in Australia for a few months. Moreover, 6 of the Swiss interviewees were pursuing a university degree in English literature and linguistics when they met their partners. In addition to their extensive formal educationlanguage acquisitionformal in English, all Swiss partners had also been exposed to English in a natural environmentlanguage acquisitionnatural. In fact, all of the Swiss participants except for Deborah _SG and Sophia _SG were spending an exchange year in an English-speaking country at the time of their first meeting (Sophia did, however, live in America for a year when she was 11). Considering the fact that the Swiss participants — possibly with the exception of Deborah _SG — were much more fluent in their L2 than their partners when they met, it is hardly surprising that they started out using English as their couple language. The interviewees’ reports confirm that their language skills had the greatest influence on their language choice at the beginning of their relationship.

At some point in their relationship, however, the couples were confronted with a new situation, as the English-speaking partners decided to move to Switzerland permanently (with the exception of Tim _E, who was only staying in Switzerland temporarily at the time of the interview). Thus, the community languagecommunity language changed, and, as a consequence, the German skills of the Anglophone partners improved. A number of them have even become fluent in German, although, according to their reports, they have not quite reached the level of skills that the Swiss partners have attained in their L2 (again, Joshua _E is the exception to this). The difference in language skills may partially account for (but may also be a result of) the fact that most of the couples adhered to English as their primary couple language. Moreover, the Swiss partners might have felt more confident and comfortable using their L2 than the English speakers, due to the formers’ formal education combined with their exposure to English in a natural environmentenvironmentnatural. It has been suggested that a combination of natural and instructed learning tends to result in a comparatively strong sense of L2 ownership (Piller 2002a: 99), which may have been the case for the Swiss partners in this study.

Indeed, a number of participants name insufficient language skills in (Swiss) German as a reason for still using English as their relationship language. As an example, David _E states that he and his wife speak English to each other almost exclusively because of his low proficiency in German:

The example shows that David explains his (reportedly) rather poor L2 skills with his lack of formal schooling in German. Before meeting Susanne, he had even attempted to learn the language, but unsuccessfully, which may explain his low motivationmotivation to speak it at present. Susanne implies that his level of motivation was not high enough because he had not yet met her at that point in his life. David speaks haltingly throughout his turn, using a lot of hesitation markershesitation marker (uh 7 times, well 2 times), pauses, lengthening (“a:nd” [246]) as well as false starts (“I” [244]) (all underlined). This indicates that the subject of his limited language skills in German makes him feel uncomfortable or frustrated, and probably also, in turn, less interested in speaking the language. Responses from other interviewees suggest that a low level of proficiency in Swiss German may lead to frustration in both partners, for instance if they are not able to discuss complex subjects with each other, or if one of them feels that the other one gives up and reverts to English too quickly (see below).

Besides language proficiency, an important reason for the couples not having transitioned at least partially to the community language is that they were already accustomed to communicating in English when they took up residence in Switzerland. The participants’ answers underline the important role of habithabit, as many of them believe that they speak English to each other “cause it was English at the start” (Richard _E 253), and “because that’s what [they] […] always did” (Katia _SG 585–587). When the English-speaking partner migrated to Switzerland, most of the couples already regarded English as their relationship language and as an essential component of their couple identityidentitycouple. This also explains why many couples still find it difficult to switch to (Swiss) German even for a short period of time, although they would want to do so in order for the non-native speaker to improve his or her language skills. The following example illustrates this:

Dean and Monika enumerate several reasons why they rarely speak German to each other, although Dean states that he would, in theory, like to do so (500). The couple repeat three times that it is “hard” for them to speak (Swiss) German to each other (500, 509), and suggest that, because they are so accustomed to communicating in English, it requires a great deal of concentration for them to speak a different language to each other. More importantly, English is the language of their shared past, their language of intimacy, while German lacks this emotional quality. Monika says emphatically that this is especially the case for Standard German, which is not at all an intimate language for her (511). This highlights that the diglossic language situationdiglossia in Switzerland may keep the couples from shifting to the community language, as the non-native speakers initially learn Standard German, yet many Swiss do not view this as their mother tongue and might feel uncomfortable using Standard German as a language of intimacy (see section 2.3, “Diglossia and the ideology of dialect”).

Other couples report similar difficultieschallengeslinguistic in their attempts to switch to German, since both partners feel that this language does not allow them to establish an emotional or intellectual connection (Robert/Stephanie, Courtney/Martin, Sophia/Richard, Philipp/Karen). As an example, Stephanie _SG and Robert _E occasionally decide to speak German to each other in order for Robert to improve his language proficiency, but they often do not succeed in having an extended conversation, because they become increasingly frustrated with the lack of intimacy during their interactions:

Robert and Stephanie both struggle with the absence of an emotional connection and the inability to express feelings precisely, but also with the challenges of having an intellectual exchange in German.

The three examples above underline that the attitude and motivationmotivation of the partners also play a crucial role in their language choice. While many of the English speakers claim to be motivated to speak (Swiss) German in order to improve their language skills, they and their partners find it difficult to put their intentions into practice. Martin _SG reports that he and his partner sometimes decide to speak German to each other for at least half an hour, but that it usually ends up being “five minutes, a few sentences” (171). In their case, Courtney’s _E rather basic German skills cause Martin to revert to English in order to explain grammar rules to her. Others report similar problems with switching to German, which they fail to do even for a short period of time, despite their best efforts. Besides habit and proficiency, this failure to follow through with their intentions may partly be due to the fact that there is often no real necessity for the Anglophone partner to become proficient in (Swiss) German, and that the local varietyvarietyof Swiss Germandialectregional has little ideological or economic value outside of Switzerland (see chapter 2, “Language situation in Switzerland”).

Another relevant factor that causes the couples to continue communicating in English is that many of the Swiss partners have a high motivation and a personal interest in speaking English with their partners. Philipp _SG says that English seems an obvious choice as their couple language, since he and his wife got to know each other in the United States, and he “was there for … language purposes” (Philipp _SG 233). Simon _SG also states that he and Claire speak English to each other out of self-interest, as she prefers using her mother tongue at home, and he benefits from the frequent exposure to the language:

Claire appreciates the fact that she does not have to speak German at home, as she uses the language at work all day. Meanwhile, Simon feels that he profits personally and professionally from speaking English with his wife. He later claims that some of his fellow English teachers even envy him a little, because he is able to practice English at home, while they only use the language at school (787). Indeed, many of the Swiss participants express very positive attitudesattitudes towards their partner’s mother tongue, which are rarely matched by the Anglophone participants despite their generally positive views on bilingualism, biculturalismbiculturalism, and their host country (see chapter 7, “‘This uh foreign girl with a great accent’: Attitudes and attraction”, for an extensive discussion). The Swiss participants appear to have a very high level of motivation to maintain English as their relationship language, partially owing to the high prestigeprestige of English and its status as a world language. Consequently, the couples are inclined to continue communicating in English, even if some of the Anglophone partners have reached a fairly high level of proficiency in (Swiss) German over the years. This underlines that, as the partners’ relationship progresses and their L2 skills develop, language proficiency becomes less of a constraint, while habit, attitudes, and motivation gain in importance.

Motivation and attitude also play a crucial role in the language choice of the only couple who did not start out speaking English, Joshua _E and Deborah _SG. Their situation differs from the other nine couples’ in many ways. For one, they met in Switzerland, and Joshua already spoke Standard German fairly fluently when they began a relationship. Moreover, he had personal and professional motivation to speak German due to his work as a missionary and his involvement in the church. In contrast, Deborah reports that, while she has always liked English, she also has some hesitations about speaking the language, as she did not get along at all with her grammar school English teacher, who was American. She therefore preferred to speak Standard German to Joshua when they first met. In the first few years of their relationship, Joshua and Deborah took a number of conscious decisions to change their mode of communicating, based on what was most suitable to their life situation at the time. First, Joshua decided that he wanted to learn the local variety, and Deborah started speaking Swiss German to him, until he became fluent enough to use it himself. Later on, Joshua wanted Deborah to overcome her inhibitions about speaking English, and they started speaking both languages to each other, and also mixing them. Occasionally, they would also speak dual-linguallydual-lingual, i.e. in their respective mother tongues (see Piller 2002a: 150). This meant that Deborah would speak Swiss German and Joshua would respond in English, a manner of communicating that was often considered odd by those around them. When they became parents, the couple decided that each of them should make an effort to use solely his or her mother tongue, in order to raise their childrenchildrenraising bilingual according to a “one parent, one language” strategyone parent, one language strategy. Since then, they have reduced their code-switching considerably, at least when their children are present, though Joshua occasionally still finds it difficult to use English exclusively. As a matter of fact, he found both of their attempts at shifting towards English challengingchallengeslinguistic, despite that fact that these were made on his own initiative, and that English is his native tongue. He attributes these difficulties to the force of habithabit:

Despite these challenges, Deborah and Joshua have been effective in their language planning and have managed to implement their ideas to a great extent. Their example shows that, while habit is an important factor, couples can successfully change their mode of communicating if they are determined enough to do so. Moreover, it demonstrates that English is not necessarily the default language, even if it is spoken fluently by the non-native partner, as long as both partners are motivated to communicate in the other language and have a positive attitude towards it.