Ein- und Ausblicke in den deutsch-griechischen Sprachgebrauch zwei- und mehrsprachiger Kinder und Jugendlicher im Großraum München

Abstract

The population of Greek origin in the Greater Munich area has changed considerably over recent decades. Different phases of migration, family and educational biographies, and institutional frameworks now shape a heterogeneous multilingual reality. Against this background, the monograph examines how children and adolescents use Greek and German in family life, leisure activities, and digital spaces, and what significance they attribute to both languages. The perspectives of parents and teachers from the Greek Language Courses (TEG) are also considered.

The findings do not indicate a simple opposition between the languages but rather multilingual repertoires shaped by domain and situation. Greek is particularly prominent in family and emotional contexts, whereas German plays a central role in certain leisure and digital domains. Both Greek and German are generally regarded as important. For the group studied, the Greek Language Courses constitute a significant institutional space for language and education, although the study did not focus on demonstrating an effect of instruction.

The findings apply to the group studied and are not directly generalisable. Nevertheless, the study provides an empirical basis for further research into multilingual socialisation, language maintenance, and domain-specific language practices in migration societies. For education policy, it supports heritage-language provision and resource-oriented multilingual education. Its scientific and policy relevance therefore extends beyond the Greek–German language pair: the questions and perspectives developed are also relevant to other multilingual populations and educational contexts in which family language transmission, social participation, and institutional language education interact.