Sinhala-French Language and Culture Contact: A case Study on Sinhalese Children of Sri Lankan Origin in France

Abstract

This study examines the language and culture contact among Sinhalese children of Sri Lankan origin residing in France. Its main objective is to draw a sociolinguistic portrait of these children through their language practices and their linguistic representations. Taking the shape of an empirical and qualitative research, the study focuses on two 7-years- olds and the main method of data collection used was thematic drawing followed by an interview upon the drawing. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with family members in order to support the data collected from children. The results uncover a form of “Sinhala-French-English” trilingual speech which illustrates the multilingual skills of our young interviewees. In addition, the study brings to light their social, cognitive and linguistic representations vis-à-vis their bilingual and bicultural context, revealing a sense of imbalance in the face of alterity. The current research encourages other longitudinal or expanded studies to better understand these lesser-known immigrants in France.