Introduction Probing the background

Abstract

The issue editors draw the sociological, historical, political, and linguistic backdrop against which the experience of Americans in Europe should be read, both as pari of the local scenery (living as mixed couples, or as American couples permanently established in a European country, raising bilingual and bicultural children), and as individuals who in some instances are seen to reflect the particular Status ofthe US in the worid The authors concentrate mainly on data cottected in France and Scandinavia, where most ofthe relatively scarce material on Americans' daily lives and language use abroad can be found, and discuss the possible reasons for the lack of research in thisfield