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.

Language maintenance and language shift

1998 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonia Rubino ◽  
Camilla Bettoni
Keyword(s):  
First Generation ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Region Of Origin ◽  
The Impact

Patterns of language use by Sicilians and Venetians living in Sydney are here presented with particular attention to the maintenance of Italian and Dialect under the impact of widespread shift to English. Data gathered by questionnaire self-reporting are analysed according to four main variables: domain, linguistic generation, gender and region of origin. Results suggest that the original Italian diglossia between the High and the Low languages is well maintained, as Italian occupies the more public, formal and regionally heterogeneous space in the community, and Dialect the more private, informal and homogeneous one. Among the subjects’ variables, generation predictably accounts for the greatest variation, as both languages are used most by the first generation and least by the second. However, the original diglossia holds well also among the second generation. With regard to gender and region of origin, it would seem that, compared to men, women maintain both languages slightly better, and that, compared to men and Sicilians respectively, both women and Venetians maintain slightly better the original diglossia. We conclude that the position of Italian, although more limited, seems somewhat more solid than that of Dialect, and suggest some reasons for it.

The Maintainability of Acehnese by Its Speakers at the Eastern Coast of Serdang Bedagai

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadi Sahputra ◽  
Busmin Gurning ◽  
Syahron Lubis
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Negative Attitude ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Dominant Language ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Key Words Attitudes

This qualitative study is designed to find the Acehnese speakers’ attitude in maintaining Acehnese at the eastern coast of Serdang Bedagai Regency. The subjects are thirty intra-marriage Acehnese speakers living long time the districts. Questionnaire is used to find out their daily attitude in communicating and to gather the data about what language they use in the communications and interaction with their husband or wife, children, brothers and sisters, neighbors, and colleagues. Interview is used to find out the positive and negative attitude. These attitudes are influenced by some factors which are analyzed and can be maintained Acehnese at the eastern coast of Serdang Bedagai Regency, living in Acehnese multi-ethnics, use Acehnese in their family every day, and having pride of their own language, use Acehnese to their neighbors and their colleagues. Currently, the existence of Acehnese is the speakers of Acehnese are at the level of safe but in their children or their generation is at the level of unsafe and it leads to the language shift to a dominant language, that is, Indonesian language as well as Malay language and Javanese language or other local language which are the major population, which dominate the use of vernacular. This is due to the weaknesses of vernacular speakers or the loss of belonging to their own language. Key words: attitudes, language maintenance, language shift, maintainability, vernaculars

scholarly journals The impact of religion on language maintenance and shift

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seong Lin Ding ◽  
Kim Leng Goh
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Language Maintenance And Shift ◽  
The Impact

ABSTRACTThis article explores religious impact on language maintenance and language shift in two Hakka communities in Malaysia. While research has shown a trend towards language shift in these communities, whether religious institutions can play a role in heritage language maintenance remained unclear. The key findings are as follows: (i) language use patterns differ among various religious groups; (ii) this difference is due mainly to religious practices, that is, whether a heritage language is used as the ‘language of religion’; and (iii) most religious institutions, except Taoist temples and Basel churches, seem to fuel shifting. However, the tendency to move towards the ‘bi-language of religion’ threatens even the efforts of Basel churches. The study indicates interesting possibilities regarding religious impact but also shows, paradoxically, that the priority of Hakka-based religious institutions is to promote their religions, not to sustain the threatened heritage language. (Language maintenance, language shift, religious impact, Hakka Chinese community)*

scholarly journals How much does parental language behaviour reflect their language beliefs in language maintenance?

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanjiang Yu
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
First Language ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Methodological Issues ◽  
Know How ◽  
Migrant Families

It has been widely accepted that parental language beliefs play a crucial role in language maintenance. Studies show that Chinese immigrants are not exempted from language shift although they are frequently reported cherishing their language as an important part of their culture. This paper attempts to find out how parental language beliefs reflect their daily language behaviour. Eight recent Chinese migrant families had 60 minutes of conversation recorded each month for one calendar year. Their language use has been analyzed and compared with the information gathered from a home language use questionnaire. Results show that there is a substantial gap between parental language beliefs and their actual language behaviour. Although the parents state they strongly support mother tongue maintenance, within 28 months, the use of mother tongue had dropped significantly and there is very little evidence showing much effort from the parents to prevent this from happening. This could be either because they want their children to keep their first language but do not know how to do this, or, their language beliefs are different from their behaviour. This should raise methodological issues regarding how to interpret parental language beliefs properly in the research area.

Taalbehoud en Taalverschuiving

1997 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 75-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madeleine Hulsen
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Language Loss ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Three Generations ◽  
Dutch Language ◽  
High Level

The results are presented of a study in which sociolinguistic language use patterns and structural characteristics of the language of three generations of Dutch immigrants to New Zealand were investigated. Language maintenance is defined as the maintenance of the L1 at one or more levels of language use, while language shift can be defined as the change in language use by an individual or a group of speakers. In a sociolinguistic questionnaire, the subjects had to report on their use of the Dutch language in domains inside and outside the home. An oral interview was conducted to establish the amount of structural language loss. The results were found to support the hypothesis based on earlier work (e.g. De Bot & Clyne, 1994; Folmer, 1991) that predicted a high level of intra- and intergenerational language shift. Structural-linguistic language loss was found to be limited, which is also in line with other findings.

scholarly journals The patterns of language choice at the border of Malaysia-Thailand

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 176
Author(s):  
Mohammad Fadzeli Jaafar ◽  
Norsimah Mat Awal ◽  
Mohammed Azlan Mis ◽  
Norhayati Lateh
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Language Choice ◽  
Language Usage ◽  
Boundary Area ◽  
Thai Language ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Border Towns ◽  
Domain Concept

Any activities conducted at the boundary area between countries will only be successful if the community of speakers has mutual understanding in terms of language, especially those involving business. This study focuses on a community in the northern part of Malaysia near the Thailand border where majority of people are bilingual in Malay and Thai. This study aims to investigate the patterns of language used by speakers in the Malaysia-Thailand border, in the context of language maintenance and language shift. Both countries use different languages; with Malaysians use Malay and the Thais use Thai language. In this cross-border context, activities pertaining to business, visit or personal matters will have an impact on the development of the two languages. This study presents the findings on the language choice from a survey involving 202 respondents that was conducted in two border towns at the Malaysia-Thailand border, namely Rantau Panjang (Malaysian side) and Golok (Thailand side). By utilizing the domain concept that was introduced by Fishman (1972), this study focuses on two domains namely, business and family. In addition to the questionnaire, participant observations and interviews were also conducted as supplements. The data on the patterns of language choice were analyzed statistically. The findings show that although Malaysians and Thais speak two different languages, Kelantanese dialect, which is a variety of the standard Malay, was the most dominant language at the border. This study also found that age was a significant factor in determining the patterns of language use. The younger generations were using Kelantanese dialect and Thai language in domains where older people would only use Kelantanese dialect. This points to the occurrence of language shift at the border. However, the community at the Thai side of the border tends to choose Kelantanese dialect in their daily activities, which seems to indicate language maintenance in this area. These findings suggest that language can serve as a marker of identity, especially for those communities in Golok as most of them are originally from Malaysia. Finally, this study has contributed empirical data on language usage at the Malaysia-Thailand border.

scholarly journals A Sociolinguistic Study of the Use of Indian Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Nisha Anand
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Group ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Mother Tongue ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
Deaf Community ◽  
Dominant Society ◽  
Indian Sign Language

This paper discusses the “Language Use” pattern of ISL by the deaf community. This paper aims to understand the vitality of sign language within the community and to foresee whether ISL is likely to be maintained in coming future. As proposed by Boehm (1997:67), “The choices people make in regard to language use reflect trend towards either language maintenance and language shift. To some extent, this reveals the vitality of the language. Fase et al. (1992:6) says that, “It has been commonly found that when the mother tongue of the minority language remains dominant in communication within the ethnic group, it can be said that mother tongue has been maintained.” This survey also deals with the major issue faced by the deaf community in this speech dominant society, which is huge “communication gap” with the majority speaking people of our society.

Language Maintenance and Language Shift among Four Immigrant Minorities in the Nordic Region: A Re-evaluation of Fishman's Theory of Diglossia and Bilingualism?

1996 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Boyd ◽  
Sirkku Latomaa
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Language Contact ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
North Americans ◽  
Nordic Region ◽  
Sociology Of Language ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Way

In his (1972) book, The Sociology of Language, Joshua Fishman presents his often-cited typology of language contact situations in the form of a four-cell table: + or − diglossia and + or − bilingualism. Although criticism has been made of this typology and particularly of the predictions based on it, in this paper we operationalize Fishman's concepts of diglossia and bilingualism as presented in this book. We then examine results from a comparative study of language contact among four immigrant minorities in the Nordic region – North Americans, Finns, Turks and Vietnamese. Each of these groups was studied in at least two locations in the region, making a total of nine informant groups. By comparing the results for the generations, it is possible to see if there is evidence to support Fishman's predictions in the cases studied. The relatively stable levels of bilingualism found among the Americans and the Turks are not predicted by Fishman's typology, at least as we have operationalized it. The “stability” would seem to result more from the way these minorities have been received by the host societies than from the pattern of language use within the groups.

scholarly journals The Remains of the Danes: The Final Stages of Language Shift in Sanpete County, Utah

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-232
Author(s):  
Karoline Kühl ◽  
Elizabeth Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Linguistic Community ◽  
Latter Day Saints ◽  
Geographical Isolation ◽  
Linguistic Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
The Church

This article first presents an overview of the social and demographic phenomena specific to the language shift situation in Sanpete County, Utah, focusing on the biggest non-English-speaking group, the Danes. This overview includes the assimilation norms that were present in the community (including from the dominant religion, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), social and geographical isolation, and related issues of identity and language maintenance. Using interdisciplinary methods under the rubric of sociocultural linguistic research, our analysis presents an overview of the state of Danish in today’s Sanpete County, then further divides the Danish linguistic elements into two main categories: overt and covert. The analysis of these items makes use of the notion of postvernacular language use, as well as highlighting the female and domestic-related networks of transmission. This study of the Danish-language situation in Sanpete County offers a glimpse of the final stages of complete language shift, revealing information about a rare and under-examined linguistic community within the American context.

Michael Clyne & Sandra Kipp, Pluricentric languages in an immigrant context: Spanish, Arabic and Chinese. (Contributions to the Sociology of Language, no. 82). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999. Pp. xxi, 360. Hb DM 248.00, $160.00.

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-503
Author(s):  
Song Mei Lee-Wong
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Data ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Chinese Speakers ◽  
Present Volume ◽  
Sociology Of Language ◽  
Local Research

This volume is a highly detailed and thoughtful analysis of the language use of Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese speakers in one of the major cities of Australia, Melbourne. Bringing together census findings and other empirical data, this study addresses the issues of pluricentricity and language maintenance and language shift in an immigrant context. Australia, as one of the world's more successful countries in its national bilingual policy, has been a catalyst for local research in community languages. The present volume complements the earlier works of both authors, for instance, Clyne 1991 and Kipp 1981.

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