This paper “The Code-Switching of bilingual Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, German-speaking children – a linguistic study of preschool children with a migration background in Graz kindergartens” deals with the language behaviour of bilingual Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian children between the ages from four to five who are living in Austria. It investigates bilingualism and the alternation between two specific languages. The analysis was based on the geographical territory in Graz, in other words, in two Kindergartens of Graz. A total of interviews has been handed out to the parents of children.
At the beginning, the theoretical scope of the thesis is determined. The first chapter describes elementary pedagogy in Austria. It outlines the principles of the Austrian kindergarten in the area of linguistic development, that is, the framework conditions of the Austrian kindergartens in which bilingual children develop their linguistic capacities and skills.
In the following chapter third, the acquisition of two languages is examined in more detail. The core of this chapter is the explanation of the acquisition of first and second language. The early childhood acquisition is described in more detail and then the successive acquisition of one or more languages acquired thereon is explained.
In the fourth chapter the Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian language is presented detail. Furthermore, this chapter provides an overview of the history and origin of the language/s. The similarities and the differences of the languages are described.
Finally, the five chapter discusses the phenomena of code-switching, interference and transmission. The transfer of one language into the other is explained in more detail.
The main part of this work is the analysis of the studied children, who gradually acquire German as a second-language in kindergarten.
In conclusion, it can be said that the surroundings have a great influence on second language acquisition and that the first language exerts an enormous influence for the development of the first language.
To the Podcast on uniTUBE
Review-Documentation
Double Peer Review (Full Text, Pre-publication) + Scientific Board Selection
