Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2008
From the point of view of linguists interested in pidginization, creolization, or other language contact phenomena, the continued presence of large numbers of southern European and North African foreign workers (called Gastaibeitei in Germany) and their families in northern European countries presents almost laboratory conditions for the investigation of the initial and subsequent stages of foreign language acquisition and development. Of particular interest is the fact that many of the languages involved here (Turkish, Arabic, Greek, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese) are typologically and genetically distinct; thus the situation is ideal for the study of common features of language development. If a Creole were to develop here, it would provide extremely valuable evidence for or against proposed universals.