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COMPLEJIDAD DE LAS VIVENCIAS SOCIOLINGSTICAS DE LOS JVENES DE ORIGEN INMIGRANTE EN CATALUA Mireia Trenchs Parera Research project Recercaixa 2010ACUP 00344 (Obra Social la Caixa) 21 de septiembre de 2012 Espaol segunda lengua en contextos de inmigracin round table chaired by Fermn Sierra Martnez Slide 2 In Catalonia where there exist a wide range of bilingual Catalan-Spanish practices and a Catalan-medium schooling aiming for intercultural education, language practices by locals and immigrants, appropriateness of linguistic policies, and the successful reversal of language shift from a minority language have been trending topics for a few decades. Interested in the linguistic behaviors of immigrants, the research group GREILI-UPF has explored what sociolinguistic reality is experienced by secondary school students of immigrant Latin-American and Chinese origin. Research methods have included interviews and ethnographic observation in schools. At first sight, informants responses reveal a view of a bilingual environment loosely resembling a diglossic society in which the vernacular language or language variety is spoken at home, Catalan dominates academic settings, and both languages (and Mandarin in the case of Chinese students) are present in relationships with peers. The belief that Catalan is proper of formal contexts becomes reinforced since Catalan adults still follow an old rule of language accommodation to Spanish with foreigners and Spanish speakers. A closer look at the data uncovers less clear-cut language domains, the complexity of the daily experiences lived by these young immigrants and the existence of robust multilingualism. Slide 3