Linguistic Intermarriage in Australia

This book examines the experiences of couples with different language backgrounds and different cultural origins as they negotiate love, partnership and parenting. It is based on the author's doctoral research into the attitudes and experiences of the English-speaking background (ESB) partners of non-English-speaking background (NESB) migrants in Sydney, Australia. In particular, it seeks to understand how these English speakers negotiate being in a romantic relationship with someone who has a different first language. It explores how those from an ESB reconcile the negative perspectives of Anglophone culture towards other languages, with their desire to be a good partner who respects the linguistic differences in their relationship. The book is organised into six chapters, which move from a focus on the language of the individual, to the languages of the couple, and then to the wider family. The main finding is that although ESB partners had very different beliefs and attitudes towards language learning to their migrant partners, they attempted to compensate for these differences in various ways. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars in the fields of language education, minority languages, and language policy and planning.

Explores how English speakers negotiate romantic relationships with a partner who has a different first language Provides a complementary narrative to a field where the focus is almost always on minority languages and cultures Uses 30 research interviews to explore issues of language, communication and family

Autorentext

Hanna Irving Torsh is Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Linguistics in the Faculty of Human Sciences at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. She won the 2019 Michael Clyne Prize for her doctoral thesis and was awarded a Macquarie Research Excellence Scholarship in 2012. Hanna contributes to the peer-reviewed sociolinguistic research site, Language on the Move.

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction: Linguistic intermarriage in Australia.- Chapter 2: Intermarriage, migration and language: what we know.- Chapter 3: I couldn't understand a word: the linguistic repertoires of the English-speaking background partners.- Chapter 4: There's a bit of give and take each way: Challenges of linguistic difference.- Chapter 5: Unequal proficiencies, unequal expectations: The gendered nature of family language work.- Chapter 6: Navigating pride and shame in linguistic intermarriage.