The study looked in detail at the management of language diversity among the descendants of Turkish immigrants and their families of origin in France, Germany and the Netherlands. I took a sociological approach to the use of self-reported language proficiency in early adulthood as an indicator of linguistic self-esteem (Bourdieu, 1991; Fishman 1991; Brizi?, 2006; Norton, 2006). Approaching reported language outcomes as a consequence of collective processes, I aimed to understand the extent to which linguistic self-esteem in each of the three countries was associated to other variables, both linguistic and non-linguistic. The data for the study were drawn from The Integration of European Second Generation (TIES), I first analyzed respondents’ linguistic starting point through indicators of parents’ linguistic capital and the respondents’ childhood language environment; second, I assessed current language dynamics, through language uses in the family; and third, I used other variables as indirect indicators of individuals’ language contact opportunities, specifically those related to social background and to the city where individuals’ grew up and currently live, with a particular focus on school experiences.

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descendants of Turkish immigrants, linguistic-self esteem, linguistic socialization experiences, bilingualism, language acculturation.