This sociolinguistic study of the linguistic practices of bilingual couples describes the conditions, processes and results of private language contact. It is based on a unique corpus of more than 20 hours of private conversations between partners in bilingual marriages. Adding to its breadth of coverage, these private conversations are supplemented with larger public discourses about international couplehood. The volume thus offers a corpus-driven investigation of the ways in which ideologies of gender, nationality and immigration mediate linguistic performances in private cross-cultural communication. The author embraces social-constructionist, feminist and postmodern approaches to second language learning, multilingualism and cross-cultural communication. In contrast to other titles in the field which have focused almost exclusively on the socialization of bilingual children, this book explores what it means to one's sense of self to become socialized into a second language and culture as a late bilingual.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii Transcription ix 1. Researching bilingual couple talk: A discourse-analytic approach to language contact 1 2. What we know: Bilingual couples in linguistic research 19 3. “It needs to be natural”: Building a corpus 37 4. The couples 59 5. “I speak English very well”: Linguistic backgrounds 75 6. “We speak bilingually”: Language choice 133 7. “We are citizens of the world”: Identity and cross-cultural couplehood 183 8. “Talk is essential”: Doing couplehood 221 9. “The doors of Europe will be open to them”: Private language planning 245 10. “I’m a hybrid”: Hybrid identities, multiple discourses 265 Notes 277 References 281 Couples index 301 Name and subject index 303