Bilingual Couples Talk

Studies in Bilingualism #25

by Ingrid Piller

This sociolinguistic study of the linguistic practices of bilingual couples describes the conditions, processes and results of private language contact. It is based on a unique corpus of more than 20 hours of private conversations between partners in bilingual marriages. Adding to its breadth of coverage, these private conversations are supplemented with larger public discourses about international couplehood. The volume thus offers a corpus-driven investigation of the ways in which ideologies of gender, nationality and immigration mediate linguistic performances in private cross-cultural communication. The author embraces social-constructionist, feminist and postmodern approaches to second language learning, multilingualism and cross-cultural communication. In contrast to other titles in the field which have focused almost exclusively on the socialization of bilingual children, this book explores what it means to one's sense of self to become socialized into a second language and culture as a late bilingual.

Genres: Nonfiction

326 pages, Hardcover

First published October 10, 2002

Reviews

[Ellisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book fascinating. Even though the data was collected just over two decades ago, it still feels very relevant, especially the conclusions drawn from the data. Most of “the data” that we get to see is in the form of conversations recorded by these couples, which are intriguing and often amusing to read.
As a bilingual and a language instructor, the messages echoed a lot of what I already knew of the field, but felt relevant in that we get to see how bilingualism impacts so many aspects of the participants’ lives.
As someone who finds it fun to switch between my languages frequently when I can, I was saddened to read how many participants had such a negative view of language mixing. Yet some participants felt like how I feel about it, and I felt validated and enthusiastic reading their thoughts.
I recommend it to any curious bilingual. Ingrid Piller is bilingual and shares that insight. There are some small mistakes in the English but they do not hinder comprehension and who are we to expect double monolingualism from any bilingual?