The acquisition and use of German in a dialect-speaking environment: facets of inclusion and exclusion of immigrant children in Switzerland

The German-speaking part of Switzerland is one of the country's regions where distinct dialects coexist with the standard variety. This situation poses a challenge for immigrant children: most of their daily input does not correspond to the language variety that is essential for educational achievement, namely Standard German. Current academic measures concentrate on the decreed use of the standard variety in all contexts and all subjects at school. However, the use and knowledge of the local dialect are important for social inclusion. Therefore, immigrant children need to learn to cope with both varieties. In this study, we look at how immigrant children - driven by the need to be affiliated to a group - make use of the different varieties and languages in their everyday lives. This analysis should provide a useful insight into how language competence and use support the social phenomena of inclusion and exclusion, and how arrangements for the facilitation of language acquisition could take actual linguistic practices into consideration.