| Ethnolects are language varieties that are specific for an ethnic group. In my research project I study Dutch spoken by adolescents with a Turkish or a Moroccan background. I focus on the pronunciation, whereas another PhD at the Meertens Institute in Amsterdam studies the grammar. We want to find out which features are characteristic for these ethnolects and how we can explain them. Therefore we look at for example the influence of the mother tongue and processes of second language acquisition, but also at the influence of dialects like the Amsterdam dialect and the dialect of Nijmegen. Furthermore, we are interested if (some of) these features spread to peers with a non-immigrant Dutch background. By collecting and analyzing spontaneous speech and experimental data we try to get a clear picture of these ethnolects. What I like about this project is that there are so many different types of influence on ethnolects. That makes it complex, but also very fascinating. Furthermore, I like it that it is a current topic nowadays with the debate about integration. Maybe these boys do know how to speak standard Dutch, but choose to speak it differently as a way of identity marking. It is interesting to try to find out what it is that makes their speech different and how this can be explained. |
