Family - Intercultural couples (Can love speak without words?) - Language choice

4 important questions on Family - Intercultural couples (Can love speak without words?) - Language choice

How do intercultural couples decide which language to use and what factors contribute to their language choice?

Bilingual couples prefer the majority language. Language choice is however sensitive to context and differs across various domains and genres of social interaction.

What does the assumption that one language needs to be chosen over the other by a bilingual couples not reflect?

The range of choices available or made available to them in reality.

Which factors are equally and sometimes more important in language choice than the place of living?

Level of language proficiency, the power of the languages chosen, the dependency of the partners, the language ideologies of the couples involved and the society in which they are living. Language choice could also be just a shared habit, developed and subject to change over the duration of a relationship. The choice of the language of the partner who migrates to the place of the other partner can also be a means of compensation for the sacrifice he or she has made.
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Which factors influence language choices of the children of bilingual parents?

The linguistic repertoire and language use of parents or the main carers of the children, the language(s) used by the school or nursery, and the sociolinguistic situation of the community at large and of the minority language community.

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