scholarly journals Living with diversity and change: intergenerational differences in language and identity in the Somali community in Britain

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (269) ◽  
pp. 15-45
Author(s):  
Sahra Bashir Abdullahi ◽  
Li Wei

Abstract The Somali community in Britain has been portrayed as largely homogenous and rather problematic, unwilling to integrate into mainstream British society, a perception that is reinforced by the media and government policies. The government policies tend to ignore the internal diversity and change that the community is experiencing. Drawing on data from a family language policy project, this paper aims to explore intergenerational changes in language preference and use and associated issues of identity within the Somali community in Britain. We look at how the changes in language preference and practice manifest themselves through reported language use and language policies at home, how the changes are affecting the British Somali youths in particular, and how ideas of Somaliness and Britishness are negotiated on an individual level, as well as on a community-wide level through Somali-led organisations. And we highlight the work that the community is doing to tackle issues of intergenerational language shift and Somali identity building. The study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the struggles of the Somali community in Britain in dealing with diversity and change, an understanding that is crucial to the development of appropriate policies regarding the community.

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 456
Author(s):  
Dian Purworini ◽  
Engkus Kuswarno ◽  
Purwanti Hadisiwi ◽  
Agus Rakhmat

Mediation by the government in the Royal Palace of Surakarta’s internal conflict was considered reasonable and appropriate policy by the media. The approach to the conflict did not emphasize a strong cultural aspect of that culture-based organization. This research aimed to examine how online news media reported on the Royal Palace of Surakarta’s internal conflict. Furthermore, this research used framing analysis as proposed by Stephen D Reese to analyze the news published in February 2014. The outcome indicated that there was framing construction of the government policies. The content of the news presented that framing processes occurred. Those started from the transmission of the various debated about government policy, then reinforced through elections sentence that supported certain policy and continued to the naturalization process. The final process was an important strategy to make mediation as an accepted policy that should be done by the government. In the conclusion, the perception to be formed was that government policies were appropriate, and so everyone should hold it. The conflict resolution could be achieved through the mediation as already conducted.


2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (22) ◽  
pp. e2100096118
Author(s):  
Alfred Kik ◽  
Martin Adamec ◽  
Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald ◽  
Jarmila Bajzekova ◽  
Nigel Baro ◽  
...  

Papua New Guinea is home to >10% of the world’s languages and rich and varied biocultural knowledge, but the future of this diversity remains unclear. We measured language skills of 6,190 students speaking 392 languages (5.5% of the global total) and modeled their future trends using individual-level variables characterizing family language use, socioeconomic conditions, students’ skills, and language traits. This approach showed that only 58% of the students, compared to 91% of their parents, were fluent in indigenous languages, while the trends in key drivers of language skills (language use at home, proportion of mixed-language families, urbanization, students’ traditional skills) predicted accelerating decline of fluency to an estimated 26% in the next generation of students. Ethnobiological knowledge declined in close parallel with language skills. Varied medicinal plant uses known to the students speaking indigenous languages are replaced by a few, mostly nonnative species for the students speaking English or Tok Pisin, the national lingua franca. Most (88%) students want to teach indigenous language to their children. While crucial for keeping languages alive, this intention faces powerful external pressures as key factors (education, cash economy, road networks, and urbanization) associated with language attrition are valued in contemporary society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 126-142
Author(s):  
Frederik H. Bissinger

Lithuanian language discourses and family language policies of Lithuanian families in Sweden: A case studyThis case study shares first insights of the family language policy of a Lithuanian family in Sweden. It identifies Lithuanian language discourses that might affect this policy and analyses discourse strategies applied by the family members. The aim is to shed some new light on the negotiation processes of family language policies that either support the maintenance of an ethnic language as the means of intra-family communication in immigrant contexts or, conversely, work against it. Applying a linguistic ethnographical approach, the study indicates that in this case the family language policy is mostly shaped by the mother in a protective and monolingual way in order to foster the maintenance of the Lithuanian heritage in anticipation of an external threat for Lithuanian language and identity. Litewskie dyskursy językowe a polityki językowe litewskich rodzin w Szwecji. Studium przypadkuNiniejszy artykuł przedstawia wstępne uwagi analityczne dotyczące polityki językowej litewskiej rodziny mieszkającej w Szwecji. Autor identyfikuje litewskie dyskursy językowe, które mogą mieć wpływ na jej politykę językową, i analizuje strategie dyskursu stosowane przez jej członków. Celem studium jest nowe spojrzenie na procesy negocjacji rodzinnych polityk językowych (family language policies), które mogą być pomocne w utrzymaniu ojczystego języka jako środka komunikacji w rodzinach emigrantów lub temu nie sprzyjać. Przedstawione badania opierają się na metodach etnografii lingwistycznej (linguistic ethnography) i wykazują, że w tym przypadku rodzinna polityka językowa jest kształtowana głównie przez matkę, jest jednojęzyczna i ma charakter ochronny – jest nakierowana na zachowanie litewskiego dziedzictwa kulturowego w związku z przewidywanymi zagrożeniami zewnętrznymi dla języka litewskiego i tożsamości litewskiej.


2017 ◽  
Vol 230 ◽  
pp. 371-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin He ◽  
Fen Lin

AbstractFollowing a well-established research tradition on court decisions, this study analyses 524 defamation cases in China from 1993 to 2013, explores the media's success possibilities, and investigates the role of party capacity, political influence and the medium effect. Contrary to the existing assertions, we find that the media are not necessarily losing. On average, from 1993 to 2013, the success rate of news media in Chinese defamation courts was 42 per cent, and this rate has been increasing since 2005. We also find that government officials and Party organs had consistent advantages in court, while ordinary plaintiffs, magazines and websites had less success. The medium of the media (i.e. print, broadcast, internet) makes a difference, as do the government policies governing the media. In addition, local protectionism exists, but it is less rampant than expected. These findings compel us to rethink the dynamics among the media, the courts and the state, and their implications on China's institutional resilience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 771-785 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatma Said ◽  
Hua Zhu

Aims and objectives: This paper investigates how children in multilingual and transnational families mobilise their multiple and developing linguistic repertoires creatively to assert their agency in language use and socialisation, and why these acts of agency are conducive to successful maintenance of the so-called “home”, “community” or “minority” language. Methodology: Close, qualitative analysis of mealtime multiparty conversations is carried out to examine children’s agency in language use and socialisation. Data and analysis: Twelve hours of mealtime conversations within one Arabic and English-speaking multilingual family in the UK were recorded over a period of eight months. The excerpts selected for analysis in this paper illustrate how agency is enacted in interaction. Findings: The data analyses of the family’s language practices reveal both their flexible language policy and the importance the family attaches to Arabic. The children in this family are fully aware of the language preferences of their parents and are capable of manipulating that knowledge and asserting their agency through their linguistic choices to achieve their interactional goals. Originality: This paper explores how Arabic is maintained as a minority language by second and third generations of Arabic-speaking immigrants in the UK through close analysis of conversations. Significance: The findings contribute to the current discussions of family language policy and maintenance by demonstrating children’s agentive and creative roles in language use and socialisation. Three factors are identified as the reason for the successful language learning, use and maintenance of Arabic: firstly, a family language policy that has a positive multilingual outlook; secondly, family relationship dynamics that connect and bond family members; and thirdly, the children’s highly developed ability to understand their parents’ language preferences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
OKTAFIANI HERLINA

The coronavirus has caused social, economic, and phsychological effects all over the world. Thisvirus is easy to spread and can pose a risk of death. Indonesia is one of the countries most affected bythis virus. At the beginning of its appearance, the information about those overflowed in the massmedia. The media inform about Covid-19 and government policies in handling the virus. This textbased qualitative research was conducted by framing analysis. Robert Entmant's framing scheme isused to describe the reality of reporting on government policies related to handling of Covid-19 inonline media. The data collection techniques is through observation, documentation, and literaturestudy. The research process is carried out by interpreting the stage of defining the problem,estimating problems, making moral decisions and emphasizing the solution. As a result, the newsframing of the handling of Covid-19 was built in line with the policies conveyed by the government inthe mass media. Public communication carried out by the government can determine the direction ofthe news narrative in the media. The policies taken by the government always have a political,economic, and health narrative. These three things become a narrative that can not be separated inthe news. The media often criticize government policies which are often inappropriate anduncoordinated so they are fed up with those informations sooner. The media should be able to givehope to the public to be optimistic and enthusiastic in dealing with the pandemic situation. Keywords: Covid-19, Coronavirus, Media, Framing


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Horia Siregar ◽  
Busmin Gurning

This study observed Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga. The objectives of the study are (1) to examine the factors affecting language maintenance (2) to find out the strategies in maintaining the Siladang language and (3) to find out the reasons of the Siladang people in maintaining their language. The method of this study was descriptive qualitative research. The participants were 20 Siladang people who live in Desa Sipapaga were taken by purposive random sampling. The research results are as follows (1) There are seven factors affecting Siladang language maintenance in Desa Sipapaga such as, Ethnolinguistic vitality, living together and see each other frequently, use of language in family domain (intra and inter marriage family, use of language in neighbor domain, use of language in religion domain, use of language in workplace domain, and practice traditional ceremony, (2) In maintaining the Siladang language, the Siladang people conducted some strategies such as; family language policy, using Siladang language in their daily life frequently, the using of Siladang language in cultural activity like in wedding ceremony. (3) The reasons of the Siladang people maintain their language are; they were proud of being Siladang people and speak Siladang language, and speak Siladang language shows their identity as Siladang people.   Keywords: language maintenance, Siladang


MedienJournal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Li Xiguang

The commercialization of meclia in China has cultivated a new journalism business model characterized with scandalization, sensationalization, exaggeration, oversimplification, highly opinionated news stories, one-sidedly reporting, fabrication and hate reporting, which have clone more harm than good to the public affairs. Today the Chinese journalists are more prey to the manipu/ation of the emotions of the audiences than being a faithful messenger for the public. Une/er such a media environment, in case of news events, particularly, during crisis, it is not the media being scared by the government. but the media itself is scaring the government into silence. The Chinese news media have grown so negative and so cynica/ that it has produced growing popular clistrust of the government and the government officials. Entering a freer but fearful commercially mediated society, the Chinese government is totally tmprepared in engaging the Chinese press effectively and has lost its ability for setting public agenda and shaping public opinions. 


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