Reconsidering language shift within Singapore’s Chinese community: A Bourdieusian analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (248) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Bokhorst-Heng ◽  
Rita Elaine Silver
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Chinese Dialects

AbstractThe official narrative told by national census data in Singapore is that of massive language shift within one generation from a myriad of Chinese dialects towards Mandarin and English as dominant home languages. This story of shift is often told in ways that suggest the community completely and pragmatically transformed its practices and allegiances (

A Demographic Profile of the Chinese in Singapore

1981 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warwick Neville
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Chinese Language ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Demographic Profile ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Similar Elements

This paper attempts to appraise just one facet of the Chinese community in Singapore — its demographic character and the degree to which this is distinctive within the broader setting of Singapore society at large. The information available as the basis for such an analysis is limited and more definitive statements on trends and differences will be possible as the statistics compiled from the 1980 census become available.Important changes are occurring within the Chinese community which have considerable significance for the republic but for which there is no direct basis of comparison with other ethnic communities. These considerations have not been examined here but include the changing behaviour in matters of kinship, associations and societies, marriage, religion, and similar elements central to the Chinese community. Perhaps the most significant of these currently is the issue of language and the active promotion by government of Mandarin not only as the official Chinese language but as a substitute for dialects in circumstances where, until now, they have been dominant. Although surveys of language use have been carried out recently, these have been too small and too specialized to provide a basis for general conclusions, and again it is to be hoped that the 1980 census data will provide an updated benchmark for this parameter comparable to that of earlier censuses.

scholarly journals Language shift, bilingualism and the future of Britain's Celtic languages

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1559) ◽  
pp. 3855-3864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Kandler ◽  
Roman Unger ◽  
James Steele
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Transitional State ◽  
Endangered Language ◽  
Basic Model ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
Celtic Languages ◽  
Shift Dynamics ◽  
Demographic Trajectories

‘Language shift’ is the process whereby members of a community in which more than one language is spoken abandon their original vernacular language in favour of another. The historical shifts to English by Celtic language speakers of Britain and Ireland are particularly well-studied examples for which good census data exist for the most recent 100–120 years in many areas where Celtic languages were once the prevailing vernaculars. We model the dynamics of language shift as a competition process in which the numbers of speakers of each language (both monolingual and bilingual) vary as a function both of internal recruitment (as the net outcome of birth, death, immigration and emigration rates of native speakers), and of gains and losses owing to language shift. We examine two models: a basic model in which bilingualism is simply the transitional state for households moving between alternative monolingual states, and a diglossia model in which there is an additional demand for the endangered language as the preferred medium of communication in some restricted sociolinguistic domain, superimposed on the basic shift dynamics. Fitting our models to census data, we successfully reproduce the demographic trajectories of both languages over the past century. We estimate the rates of recruitment of new Scottish Gaelic speakers that would be required each year (for instance, through school education) to counteract the ‘natural wastage’ as households with one or more Gaelic speakers fail to transmit the language to the next generation informally, for different rates of loss during informal intergenerational transmission.

Quebec’s new language dynamic

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-134
Author(s):  
Charles Castonguay
Keyword(s):  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Relative Weight ◽  
Romance Language ◽  
French Speaking ◽  
French Colonies ◽  
English Speaking

Abstract Census data are used to monitor the efficiency of Bill 101 in reorienting language shift more favourably for French. Immigration from former French colonies or Romance-language countries is shown to be the major factor driving the increase in the share of French in the assimilation of Allophones since 1991. The schooling provisions of Bill 101 are seen to play a significant supporting role in this respect, but not those promoting French as language of work. It is further shown that the corresponding trend towards a greater share for French in overall assimilation has become seriously compromised by a growing Anglicization of Francophones themselves, notably in the Montreal metropolitan area. The resulting consolidation of the superiority of English as language of assimilation in Quebec is seen to explain in large part the emergence of a new language dynamic since 2001, combining a record decline in relative weight of Quebec’s French-speaking majority with a mild but equally historic increase in weight of its English-speaking minority.

scholarly journals Language shift among Kurds in Turkey: A spatial and demographic analysis

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sinan Zeyneloğlu ◽  
Ibrahim Sirkeci ◽  
Yaprak Civelek
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Demographic Analysis ◽  
Interregional Migration ◽  
The Future

This study explores language shift and interregional migration among Turkey’s Kurdish-origin population using census data as well as TDHS data. First, the geographical retraction of the Kurdish language between 1945 and 1965 is depicted using respective censuses as data sources. Second, patterns of intergenerational language shift and the effects of migration and education on this shift are elaborated utilising 2003 TDHS data and the 2000 Census data. Interregional mobility by birth regions and language concentration across Turkey has also been mapped. The Kurdish population in Turkey appears to be on the verge of near-universal bilingualism prompting concerns about the future of the language.ABSTRACT IN KURMANJIGuherîna zimanî di nav kurdan de li Tirkiyeyê: Nirxandineke mekanî û demografîkEv xebat, bi rêya tehlîlkirina daneyên serjimêriyê û herwiha daneyên TDHSyê, dikeve pey têgihiştina guherîna zimanî û koçberiya nav-herêmî di nav nufûsa kurd-regez a Tirkiyeyê de. Pêşiyê, bertengbûna coxrafî ya zimanê kurdî di navbera 1945 û 1965an de bi rêya tehlîla daneyan hatiye nîşandan. Paşê, awa û qalibên ziman-guheriya ji nifşekî bo nifşê din û tesîra koçberî û perwerdeyê li ser wê guherînê hatine nirxandin bi rêya bikaranîna daneyên TDHSya 2003yan û serjimêriya 2000an. Herwiha, hereketa mirovan ya ji herêmekê bo herêmeke din li gor herêma wan a jidayikbûnê, û paye û belavbûna zimanan li seranserê Tirkiyeyê hatiye bi nexşekirin. Wisa diyar e ku gelê kurd li Tirkiyeyê li ber duzimaniyeke seranserî ye, ku ev yek fikaran li dor paşeroja zimanî durist dike.ABSTRACT IN SORANI

scholarly journals Why bother maintaining languages?

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Teresa Ong
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Young Generation ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Chinese Dialects

Language maintenance and language shift are vital subfields in sociolinguistics. In Malaysia, past studies have observed a shift from Chinese dialects to Mandarin Chinese in the language use of many young generation Chinese, which has led to the endangerment of some dialects. This situation draws attention to the role and survival of Chinese dialects in Malaysian society, and thereby creates a need to discuss the reasons for maintaining them. However, this is not merely a question of continuing to speak Chinese dialects. More deeply, we need to have conversations about who we are, where our ancestors originated from, and how we can make Chinese dialects more worthwhile for maintenance. This article seeks to elicit support for the language maintenance of small language groups across the globe.

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