ERIC Number: EJ1371264
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-4632
EISSN: EISSN-1747-7557
Chinese Graduate Students in Catalonia: Learning Catalan within the Social Networks in a Bilingual Society
Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, v43 n10 p935-950 2022
Social networks have been investigated as an important factor to understand social and language innovations for decades. Most researchers focus on one-language-dominated societies when studying social networks' influence on language practice while studies on bilingual societies remain scarce. In this study, we examine how Chinese graduate students in Catalonia with L2 Spanish acquire Catalan in their social networks. In-depth interviews have been carried out individually with 23 participants and conversation recordings were collected. The data were processed using qualitative approach and conversation analysis. Participants' interactions with Catalan NSs can be categorised into 3 groups: active engagement (communicating mostly in Catalan), semi-active engagement (Spanish and Catalan translanguaging), and passive engagement (listening to others talking in Catalan without intervention). The Catalan NSs in their social networks help them with their Catalan learning in 3 aspects: 1) providing useful information; 2) giving instant feedback and corrections; 3) acting as authentic and idiomatic oral expression example. Participants are also aware of the drawbacks of learning a target language in a bilingual society, that the interactive opportunities may decrease due to the common use of Spanish and some NSs may speak a mixture of Spanish and Catalan, which has negative impacts on their Catalan acquisition.
Descriptors: Graduate Students, Student Attitudes, Social Networks, Asians, Second Language Learning, Second Language Instruction, Foreign Students, Study Abroad, Romance Languages, Discourse Analysis, Error Correction, Feedback (Response), Network Analysis, Spanish, Native Speakers, Learning Processes, Oral Language, Code Switching (Language), Language Usage, Classification, Bilingualism, Chinese, Native Language, Student Characteristics, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: China; Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A