Language and the young. Analysis of linguistic variables in the "Catalan Youth Survey 2012"

This article presents the results of the seven questions posed in the Catalan Youth Survey (EJC) 2012 which refer to matters related to language: initial language, customary language and language of use in five different situations (with friends, at school, at the university or at work, with the partner, with the children and with a stranger). This static photograph is complemented by three dynamic elements. In the first place, results of the 2012 Survey are compared with those of 2007 to obtain an idea of the impact made by demographic and contextual changes in language practice. Secondly, changes in language use are analysed to discover which contexts lead to maintaining or changing language in the different situations. Finally, whenever possible a transitional perspective has been adopted with the aim of obtaining indications about the interaction between a young person’s linguistic pathway (the route from initial language to customary language) and other pathways that characterise the stage of their youth (educational, work-related and emancipation).