Title  Losing a language. Bilingualism in the Portuguese community in South Africa
Author  Vera Coelho
Supervisor  Isabel Falé
Year  2020
Institution  University Aberta
Degree  Masters
Area  Portuguese as a non-native language
Keywords  Bilingualism, typology, Portuguese communities, language loss, contexts, Portuguese emigration, Portuguese heritage language, second language, South Africa
URI  http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/10064

Abstract

The flow of migrants around the world has always taken Portuguese people to different places for various reasons. Adjacent to the process of adaptation in this migratory flow is the adaptation to the local language. In this process, many individuals become bilingual and often lose their language. This study focuses on the Portuguese who emigrated to South Africa, who became bilingual and who suffered a total or partial loss of language. This work is dedicated to a much-discussed and topical subject that has led to more research and development: bilingualism. Types of bilingualism and the concepts of first, second and heritage language are topics developed here, as well as language loss. The definition of this concept and the reasons and contexts that lead to this loss are also explored here, as well as a description of Portuguese emigration in South Africa.