Читать книгу Bilingual Couples in Conversation - Silja Ang-Tschachtli - Страница 9

The main aim of this book is to paint a comprehensive picture of the communication in a bilingual, bicultural relationship between proficient, culturally aware bilinguals. In this context, a number of questions present themselves. Which language(s) do the couples choose to communicate in, and what are the reasons behind this choice? To what extent do they mix languages, and what influences their mixing behaviour? What are the partners’ attitudes towards their bilingual, bicultural relationship? How do partners in a bilingual relationship express positive and negative emotions? How do fluent bilinguals swear, and what affective attachment do expletives in both of their languages have for them? What role do humour and laughter play in their conversations, and what do the couples laugh about? And, finally, do their different mother tongues and their gender have an effect on a variety of areas of their communication?

In order to answer these questions, I give a detailed account of several areas, investigating various aspects pertaining to each of these areas. On the one hand, I use qualitative research methods to give an overview of the couples’ language, experiences, thoughts, and attitudes towards a variety of aspects pertaining to their bilingual, bicultural relationships. Hence, I look at which language(s) the couples choose to communicate in what situations, what the reasons for this choice are and how and why their couple language has evolved over the course of their relationship. This includes their language mixing and factors that influence their mixing behaviour. I also consider the interviewees’ attitudes towards various aspects of their bilingual, bicultural relationship and the manner in which they deal with expressing positive and negative emotions in their second language. Moreover, I look at the bilinguals’ reported language preference for swearing, their emotional attachment to swearwords in both languages and their reactions to their partner’s use of swearwords. I also discuss the challenge of conveying and understanding humour in a second language, as well as the role of humour and playful language in the couples’ communication. All of these areas are explored by means of a content analysis as well as a close linguistic analysis of the couples’ speech and interaction.

On the other hand, I use quantitative research methods to investigate a number of hitherto rather neglected areas in the language of fluent bilinguals. I examine the bilinguals’ language switches with regard to a variety of features and determine whether there are any differences in the participants’ mixing behaviour arising from their mother tongue or their gender. I explore the manner in which they convey positive and negative emotions during the interviews, and look at the frequency with which they use emotion words, the suprasegmental features and terminal pitch accompanying emotion words, and the correlation between the use of emotion words and the bilinguals’ gender and mother tongue. Moreover, I examine their use of swearwords during the interviews and the role which their mother tongue and gender play in their swearing behaviour. Finally, I also look at who and what triggers laughter in the bilinguals’ speech, their use of laughing and smiling voice quality, similarities in the partners’ laughing behaviour and humour styles, but also differences in their laughing behaviour based on their mother tongue and gender.

Thus, my study encompasses both the analysis of participants’ actual language use and modes of communication as demonstrated in the interviews, and the analysis of the couples’ own reports about their linguistic behaviour and their relationships. Throughout, I tend to follow a grounded theory approach, taking my own material as the basis from which I observe behaviours and set up taxonomies, albeit bearing previous findings in mind, rather than superimposing existing theoretical frameworks onto my material. In my analysis, I explore intercultural, linguistic, as well as self-reflective and psychological aspects. This combination of different research methods and the broad range of topics that are examined will ensure a comprehensive picture of the modes of communication utilized by the bilingual couples.