Language Choice as a Power Resource in Bilingual Adolescents' Conversations in the Danish Folkeskole

Abstract

This paper deals with the negotiations of social relations among adolescents at a crucial point in their development of a bilingual identity. Based on a general study of bilingual Turkish-Danish Folkeskole pupils' development of language choice and code-switching, we find that the seventh grade is a pivotal stage in their linguistic development. Sudden abrupt changes in the language choice patterns of girls in particular seem to take place in the seventh grade. We take a qualitative look at the negotiations in a group conversation among seventh grade boys and a group conversation among seventh grade girls, and we find both similarities and differences. Among the similarities is the fact that social relations seem to determine language variation (in casu language choice) with both genders - considerably more so than at younger ages. Among the differences it is found that the power struggles among the girls are surprisingly tougher than among the boys. The girls' group has a clear winner and a clear loser, whereas the boys' group deals with the power struggle in a more playful way.