Cover not available

In:Advances in Interdisciplinary Language Policy
Edited by François Grin, László Marácz and Nike K. Pokorn
[Studies in World Language Problems 9] 2022
► pp. 297–316

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload Book PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload Book EPUB
authorization required

Chapter 15
The role of intercomprehension in short-term mobility experiences in multilingual contexts

 | University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne
Published online: 21 January 2022
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/wlp.9.15fio
Abstract
Intercomprehension is a common and well-known mediation choice in established contexts of multilingualism such as bilingual families or neighbouring languages. However, in the context of mobility experiences this multilingual communication strategy is relatively rarely used and almost unstudied. The aim of this chapter is to verify if and how oral intercomprehension is used in non-established multilingual contexts. The study covers the very specific case of two Italian adoptive families whose parents are involved in a short-term mobility experience to the child’s home country (Chile) before going back to Italy together as a family. The conversational analysis of the families’ interactions in Chile reveal that both families spontaneously resort to intercomprehension as one of their main mediation strategies, especially in the family where mutual intelligibility between Italian and Spanish had been reinforced by previous language learning. In addition, our findings show that the use of intercomprehension favours the children’s participation in family interactions over the use of other mediation choices. Since the use of intercomprehension spontaneously decreases over time in favour of the child’s use of the parents’ language, this mediation choice can be considered as a transitional and propaedeutic communication strategy whose cooperative character creates strong cohesion between speech participants.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Intercomprehension, mobility and inclusion
  • 3.The use of intercomprehension in established multilingual contexts
  • 4.The role of intercomprehension in adoptive families’ short-term mobility experiences
    • 4.1Multilingualism in the context of adoption
    • 4.2Data and method
    • 4.3Quantitative analysis
    • 4.4Qualitative analysis
    • 4.5Main findings
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Note
  • References
References (43)
References
Bahtina, Daria, Ten Thije, Jan. D. & Wijnen, Frank. (2013). Combining cognitive and interactive approaches to lingua receptiva. International Journal of Multilingualism 10(2), 159–180. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beerkens, Roos. (2010). Receptive multilingualism as a language mode in the Dutch-German border area. Münster: Waxmann.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biichlé, Luc. (2014). L’« arabe français » ou comment se dessinent en France les contours d’une variété locale d’arabe maghrébin. Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales 30(3–4), 201–217. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blanche-Benveniste, Claire & Valli, André et al. (1997). Eurom 4 : méthode d’enseignement de quatre langues romanes. Florence: Nuova Italia Editrice.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Blees, Gerda J., Mak, Willem M. & Ten Thije, Jan. D. (2014). English as a lingua franca versus lingua receptiva in problem-solving conversations between Dutch and German students. Applied Linguistics Review 5(1), 173–193. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Börestam, Ulla. (2002). ‘Interscandinavian comprehension and Scandinavian language community: real or ideal?’, in E. Caduc & E. Castagne (Eds.), Pour une modélisation de l’apprentissage simultané de plusieurs langues apparentées ou voisines (pp. 129–136). Nice: Publications de la Faculté des LASH de Nice.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2011). Språkbytare och språktänjare. Nordisk språkgemenskap ur andraspråksperspektiv. Sprog I Norden 42(1), 83–107.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bradlow, Ann R. & Bent, Tessa. (2008). Perceptual adaptation to non-native speech. Cognition 106(2), 707–729. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brosch, Cyril. (2015). On the conceptual history of the term Lingua Franca. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies 9(1), 71–85. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Castagne, Eric & Meulleman, Machteld. (2016). ‘Jules Ronjat, un des précurseurs du programme ICE’, in P. Escudé (Ed.), Autour des travaux de Jules Ronjat, 1913–2013 : Unité et diversité des langues, théorie et pratique de l’acquisition bilingue et de l’intercompréhension (pp. 161–178), Paris: Edition des archives contemporaines.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cavalli, Marisa, Coletta, Daniela, Gajo, Laurent, Matthey, Marinette & Serra, Cecilia. (2003). Langues, bilinguisme et représentations sociales au Val d’Aoste. Rapport de recherche. Introduction de Bernard Py. Aosta: IRRE-VDA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conti, Virginie & Grin, François. (2008). S’entendre entre langues voisines : vers l’intercompréhension. Geneva: Ed. Georg.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Council of Europe. (2001). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment. Cambridge: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Doyé, Peter. (2005). L’intercompréhension. Guide pour l’élaboration des politiques linguistiques éducatives en Europe – De la diversité linguistique à l’éducation plurilingue. Strasbourg: Conseil de l’Europe.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dresemann, Bettina. (2007). ‘Receptive multilingualism in business discourses’, in J. D. Ten Thije, & L. Zeevaert (Eds.), Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic analyses, language policies and didactic concepts (pp. 179–195). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duranti, Alessandro, Ochs, Elionor & Schieffelin, Bambi B. (2012). The Handbook of language socialization. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Limited.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dürmüller, Urs. (1994). Multilingual talk or English only? The Swiss experience. Sociolinguistica 8, 44–64. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Escudé, Pierre & Janin, Pierre. (2010). Le point sur l’intercompréhension, clé du plurilinguisme. Paris: CLE International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fiorentino, Alice. (2017). Strategies for language maintenance in transnational adoption: which role for the parents? Journal of Home Language Research (2), 5–22. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2018). Usages opérationnels de l’intercompréhension dans une Europe multilingue: pour favoriser la mobilité et l’inclusion. Thèse de doctorat en Sciences du langage : linguistique et phonétique générales, Reims: Ecole doctorale Sciences de l’homme et de la société en partenariat avec le Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherches sur les Langues et la Pensée (CIRLEP).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2020). Receptive multilingualism and second language acquisition: the language transition process of adopted children. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (forthcoming). ‘‘We had to make a choice’ – The contentious debate over language shift in transnational adoptive families’, in M. Hornsby & W. McLeod (Eds.), Transmitting minority languages: complementary reversing language shift strategies.
Fogle, Lyn Wright. (2012). Second Language Socialization and Learner Agency. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gafaranga, Joseph. (2010). Medium request: talking language shift into being. Language in society 39(2), 241–270. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gooskens, Charlotte & Hilton, Nanna Haug. (2013). ‘The effect of social factors on the comprehension of a closely related language’, in J.-M. Tirkkonen & E. Anttikoski (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th Scandinavian Conference of Linguistics. Publications of the University of Eastern Finland. Reports and Studies in Education, Humanities, and Theology 5, 201–210.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Herkenrath, Annette. (2011). Receptive multilingualism in an immigrant constellation: examples from Turkish-German children’s language. International Journal of Bilingualism 16(3), 287–314. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hyltenstam, Kenneth, Bylund, Emanuel, Abrahamsson, Niclas & Park, Hyeon-Sook. (2009). Dominant-language replacement: the case of international adoptees. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition 12(2), 121–140. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
van Klaveren, Simone, De Vries, Joanne & Ten Thije, Jan D. (2013). Practices and Potentials of Intercomprehension. Research into the efficiency of intercomprehension with regard to the workflow at the Directorate-General for Translation of the European Commission. Master’s dissertation, Intercultural Communication Department of Language, Literature and Communication. Utrecht: University of Utrecht.
Klein, Horst G. & Stegmann, Tilbert D. (1999). EuroComRom – Die sieben Siebe: Romanische Sprachen sofort lesen können. Aachen: Shaker.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lavric, Eva, & Bäeck, Bernhard. (2009). English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese? Code choice and Austrian export. International Journal of Multilingualism 6(1), 37–67. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lüdi, Georges. (2007). ‘The Swiss model of plurilingual communication’, in J. D. Ten Thije & L. Zeevaert (Eds.), Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic analyses, language policies and didactic concepts (pp. 159–177). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (2013). Receptive multilingualism as a strategy for sharing mutual linguistic resources in the workplace in a Swiss context. International Journal of Multilingualism 10(2), 140–158. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marx, Nicole. (2010). ‘Eag and multilingualism pedagogy. An empirical study on students’ learning processes on the internet platform English after German’, in P. Doyé & F.-J. Meissner (Eds.), Lernerautonomie durch Interkomprehension: Projekte und Perspektiven (pp. 225–236). Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Meissner, Franz-Joseph & Reinfried, Marcus. (1998). Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik. Konzepte, Analysen, Lehrerfahrungen mit romanischen Fremdsprachen. Tübingen: Narr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
O’Driscoll, Jim. (2001). A face model of language choice. Multilingua – Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication 20(3), 245–268. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pym, Anthony. (2018). Introduction: Why mediation strategies are important. Language Problems Language Planning 42(3), 255–266. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rehbein, Jochen, Ten Thije, Jan D. & Verschik, Anna. (2011). Lingua receptiva (LaRa). Remarks on the quintessence of receptive multilingualism. International Journal of Bilingualism 16, 248–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ribbert, Anne & Ten Thije, Jan D. (2007). ‘Receptive multilingualism in Dutch-German intercultural team cooperation’, in J. D. Ten Thije & L. Zeevaert (Eds.), Receptive Multilingualism: Linguistic analyses, language policies and didactic concepts (pp. 73–101). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ronjat, Jules. (1913). Essai de syntaxe des parlers provençaux modernes. Mâcon: Protat.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Shin, Sarah J. (2013). Transforming culture and identity: transnational adoptive families and heritage language learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum 26(2), pp. 161–178. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, Susan, McRoy, Ruth, Freundlich, Madelyn & Kroll, Joe. (2008). Finding families for African American children: The role of race & law in adoption from foster care. New York: The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ten Thije, Jan D. & Zeevaert, Ludger. (2007). Receptive multilingualism: linguistic analyses, language policies and didactic concepts. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Verschik, Anna. (2012). Practising receptive multilingualism: Estonian–Finnish communication in Tallinn. International Journal of Bilingualism 16(3), 265–286. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Corino, Elisa, Marcella Costa, Alice Fiorentino & Sandra Garbarino
2025. Language alliances and language policy. European Journal of Language Policy 17:1 ► pp. 141 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 24 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue