Language Dynamics of the Italian Community in Australia

Multilingual societies, like Australia, offer different opportunities for in-depth sociolinguistic studies. One of the most important aspects of a language contact situation is the issue of language shift, and its ramifications. It is within the framework of language shift and language maintenance that the present thesis is structured. The discussion on what is meant by language shift and language maintenance will be taken up in detail in Chapter 2. In this chapter I will summarize the arguments for the maintenance of any language, with particular reference to the languages spoken in Australia.[…]