Procedure for data collection

As Scontras, Fuchs and Polinsky (2015: 16) observe, first ‘we must understand the complexities of the multilingual experience before we can analyse its exponence in language users’. The methodological approach adopted for the present research incorporated features of the social network approach, i.e. studying language in the situational context of speech community (Milroy 1987). An ethnographically-oriented procedure for the bilingual data collection was followed. Data collection was carried out in situ in Chile and in Greece in four fieldwork trips and it was conducted in two rounds corresponding to two trips in each country (see Table 5.1). The first round dealt with elicitation of production data and the second one with interpretation data.

Table 5.1. Fieldworks for data collection in Chile and in Greece in chronological order

Field trips Country Period Duration Main action

1st _{Chile Nov. 2015 - Feb. 2016 3 months Interviews, narratives}

2nd _{Greece Mar. - Apr. 2016 10 days Narratives}

3rd _{Greece Dec. 2016 10 days Anaphora resolution}

4th _{Chile Jan. - Feb. 2017 1}1/2 _{month Anaphora resolution}

An asset for the transatlantic data collection process was my fluency in Greek (native) and Spanish (near-native) as well as my familiarity with the Chilean sociocultural context due to previous residence in Chile. My status as a researcher in the data- collection process was that of both an insider and an outsider (Milroy 1987). Each participant received personalised attention in a spirit of trust. Absolute confidentiality

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and anonymity were guaranteed in order to avoid ethical issues. A meaningful understanding of the speakers was facilitated by approching them and interacting with them in their own social environment, which contributed to ecological validity. The participants in the Chilean context were recruited through personal contacts, word of mouth and snowball sampling. The study reached the wider community of Greek-Spanish bilinguals in Chile and, given the relatively small number of speakers (see §1.2), the data obtained are considered to be largely representative. Another aspect related to the present study is that Greek is a highly regarded European language within the Chilean society. The positive stance towards the language and its speakers, along with the small size of the Greek-speaking population, allowed a well- disposed response from the participants smoothing the way for an effective approach to their sociolinguistic profiles and linguistic behaviour.

Data collection was completed during two field trips in Chile, whose duration was three months and six weeks respectively. Before and during the first fieldtrip, contact was established with a number of (potential) participants. All pertinent institutions (e.g. Greek communities and the Greek Embassy) were informed about the study and requested to spread the word on participants’ recruitment. A detailed sociolinguistic profile was collected for each bilingual participant through a comprehensive (though not exhaustive) background questionnaire and an oral biographical interview (§5.2.3). Prior to the first fieldtrip in Chile, many of the participants who had informally consented to participate in the study were contacted by email. All relevant information was sent to them, together with a consent form and the background questionnaire (Appendix A, B). They were requested to read and sign the consent form and to complete the questionnaire, to send those back by email and to notify their availability for the interview. All texts, information and instructions were given in the language which was more convenient to the participant. In the case of older participants who were not familiar with electronic means of communication, contact was established through telephone calls, with them or their relatives. In the latter cases, the forms were filled out during the meeting, in which all information was presented to these participants orally.

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The first round of data collection in Chile was accomplished with one-to-one oral interviews. Detailed sociolinguistic information and the narratives using the picture- story task were elicited and saved in digital recordings (Tascam DR05 V2 recorder). In the next fieldwork trip, the second round of data collection focused on the interpretation task, which was conducted in person with roughly the same participants. In all cases, the interviews took place in naturalistic settings and were individual to give each participant complete attention and to avoid potential pressure from third parties. In some occasions, the participants were also seen (and recorded) together with relatives in customary interaction before or after the main interview. The meetings were held at a prearranged time in a location proposed by the participants. In most cases, people suggested their homes and less frequently so their workplace. Occasionally, the meetings took place at quiet cafes and a couple of times at a park. The meetings with the participants lasted from 30 minutes to 4 hours with most meetings lasting around 1.5 hour. The interviews of the first round were longer than those of the second one due to the biographical interview, for which there was not a restricted time frame. The participants keen to talk were welcomed to do so for as long as they wished (see §5.2.3.2). In addition, the participants were volunteers; they only received small gifts from Greece or Cambridge, sweets or flowers when I was invited to their home and treats in cases of interviews in cafes.

The monolingual participants of Greek and Spanish were recruited through personal contacts in Athens and Santiago. They signed the consent form and answered a short questionnaire on their general and linguistic background to assure that they were monolingually raised and had minor/no knowledge of other languages. They performed the two tasks in the first and second round of data collection respectively, without participating in a biographical interview. The Spanish-speaking monolinguals were tested during the aforementioned field trips in Chile. The Greek monolinguals were tested during two additional field trips in Greece. The time lag between the two rounds for data collection in both countries (see Table 5.1) was due to practical reasons. Further details on data elicitation as well as on data manipulation after data collection are given in following sections.

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