Types of language contact and the acquisition of language

Abstract

The type of contact between two speech communities speaking different: language varieties is one important factor affecting the pattern of acquisition of the varieties by sub-groups within each community. The study reported here examines the relationship between types of contact and (1) age and educational level of sub-groups of the community acquiring the language(s) of the contact community, and (2) the manner in which the language(s) is (are) acquired. The description of types of contact relies on proposed definitions of international contact language, intranational contact language, and non-contiguous language. In order to examine the relationship between types of contact and acquisition patterns, a study of multilingualism in Slovenia, one of the six republics of Yugoslavia, was conducted. The study concludes that: international contact languages tend to be acquired at school at somewhat lower educational levels than non-contiguous languages, which are also acquired at school; intranational contact languages tend to be acquired outside the school setting and are spoken by individuals at all educational levels; younger Slovenes tend to speak non-contiguous languages more than older Slovenes, who tend to speak languages of adjacent speech communities.