1st Edition

Multilingualism in Italian Migrant Settings

By Luca Iezzi Copyright 2025
158 Pages 37 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

158 Pages 37 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

158 Pages 37 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Multilingualism in Italian Migrant Settings investigates the plural linguistic practices of the migrants in a particular refugee centre in Italy, the CAS ( centri di accoglienza straordinaria ; “extraordinary refugee centre”). This book offers a practical and rigorous study of contact situations surrounding migrants from areas with complex repertoires. Language is inherently connected to... Read more

List of figures and tables

Acknowledgements

INTRODUCTION: Beyond borders: global changes and linguistic challenges in migratory contexts

CHAPTER 1: The European migrant crisis

1.1  Migrations and migratory policies in Europe

1.2  Unauthorised migrations in Italy

1.3  Migration and language

CHAPTER 2: The sociolinguistics of (im)migration

2.1  Multilingualism, speech community, and repertoires

2.2  The sociolinguistics of (im)migration across time and space

2.3  Multilingualism in postcolonial countries

2.4  Status and function of a language

2.4.1        Geopolitical factors

2.4.2        Socio-demographical factors

2.4.3        Linguistic factors

2.5  Language ideologies and attitudes

CHAPTER 3: Language contact 

3.1  Language maintenance and shift

3.2  Contact in speech

3.2.1        Structural approaches to CS

3.2.2        Functional approaches to CS

3.3  From CS to grammaticalisation

3.4  Contact in language

3.4.1        Matter replication

3.4.2        At the boundary between switching and matter replication

3.4.3        Pattern replication

3.5  Structure, function and cognition: the usage-based approach

CHAPTER 4: Linguistic ethnography and multilingualism  

4.1  Objectives of the research

4.1.1        Research methods

4.2  Data transcription

4.2.1        Language transcription

4.2.2        Graphic and phonetic correspondences

4.2.3        Morphemic glossing

4.3  The pilot study

4.3.1        The CAS

4.3.2        Methodology

4.3.3        Data analysis

4.3.4        Discussion

4.4  The main study

4.4.1        Informants and linguistic biographies

4.4.2 Other subjects

CHAPTER 5: The urban variety of Punjabi

5.1  Population in Pakistan

5.2  The languages of the Pakistan

5.2.1        English, the conquerors’ language

5.2.2        The privileging of Urdu as national language

5.2.3        Urdu and Punjabi

5.3  Urban Punjabi

5.3.1 Borrowing vs CS

5.3.2 Instances of switching phenomena within the urban variety

5.4  Discussion

CHAPTER 6: Italian within the speech community 

6.1  Code choice in the CAS (centro di accoglienza straordinaria)

6.2  Instances of code mixing within the urban variety

6.3  Discussion

CHAPTER 7: Ideologies and attitudes 

7.1  Language proficiency in the CAS(centro di accoglienza straordinaria)

7.2  Interviews

7.3  Ideologies and attitudes

7.3.1        Urdu

7.3.2        English

7.3.3        Italian

7.3.4        Minority languages

7.4  Some reflections on the linguistic repertoire of the migrants

CONCLUSIONS: Beyond challenge: understanding multilingualism in a time of change

References

Appendix I: Questionnaire

Appendix II: GDPR

Index

Biography

Luca Iezzi is a postdoctoral fellow at “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy). His major research interests include the sociolinguistics of immigration in Italy, contact phenomena in spoken and written communication, as well as maintenance and shift of minority languages in societal and educational contexts. He has authored various research articles and book chapters on these topics. He has also taught English, and holds several Cambridge TESOL certifications.