First and second language socialisation processes among Polish immigrant adolescents in Ireland : ethnography and case study

Abstract

Due to the dramatic increase in the population of immigrants in Ireland in recent years, the sociolinguistic dynamics of Irish classrooms has changed considerably. This thesis takes a Language Socialisation (LS) perspective on the experiences of young Polish immigrants, and on the response of schools and society. The dual focus on linguistic forms and sociocultural contexts allows us to integrate the analysis of micro and macro levels of investigation, insofar as the examination of naturalistic interactions among individuals provides empirically grounded access to broader issues of sociocultural reproduction and transformation in Irish society