Heritage Language Maintenance and Japanese Identity Formation: What Role Can Schooling and Ethnic Community Contact Play?

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaya Oriyama
Keyword(s):  
Identity Formation ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Ethnic Community ◽  
Hybrid Identities ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Heritage Language Schools ◽  
Community Heritage ◽  
Language Schools

This study examines the role of schooling and ethnic community contact in ethnolinguistic and cultural identity construction and heritage language maintenance through the surveys and narratives of three groups of Japanese-English bilingual youths and their parents in Sydney, Australia, as a part of a larger longitudinal study from childhood. The bilingual youths were either born in Australia or immigrated there at a young age, and one or both of their parents are Japanese. All youths attended local Japanese community (heritage) language schools on weekends for varying periods of time while receiving Australian education (one group received some Japanese education as well) during the week. The bilinguals were grouped by types of schooling and community contact. The results show that community schools foster positive Japanese inclusive identity and heritage language development, especially with home, community, and peer support. Contrary to previous studies, positive attitudes toward hybrid identities and Japanese maintenance were found, regardless of the levels of Japanese proficiency. The development of identity and heritage language appear to be influenced not only by schooling and community, but also by wider socio-cultural contexts.

Students’ Parents’ Attitudes toward Chinese Heritage Language Maintenance

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Yoseph Edmundus Budiyana
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Chinese Students ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Chinese Heritage Language

The study aims to explore the Faculty of Letters’ Chinese Students’ parents’ attitude toward heritage language maintenance and the ways they help their children maintain their Chinese heritage language. The participants of this research consist of 33 fathers and 35 mothers. The finding of this study suggests that students’ parents’ weak Chinese competencies hamper the communication in Chinese heritage language with their family members such as children, spouses, siblings, and parents for its maintenance. The findings from this study also indicate that the Chinese students’ parents in the Faculty of Letters show positive attitudes toward their children’s heritage language maintenance and development

scholarly journals The Maintenance of Cakap Karo in Kelurahan Sempakata Medan

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 476-485
Author(s):  
Ingrid Gibretta Khairani Ginting
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Method ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Research Communication ◽  
Home Town ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Church ◽  
At Home

This research aims at describing the maintenance of Cakap Karo in Kelurahan Sempakata Medan which was focus on Karonese parents’ attitude toward heritage language maintenance for their children and their efforts to help their children maintain Cakap Karo as their heritage language in Kelurahan Sempakata Medan. This research is conducted by using qualitative method. Data were collected from twenty Karonese parents who had a child (or children) between the ages of 6-18 years old in 2019, using the questionnaire and interviews. The result revealed that all the parents in this study had positive attitudes and efforts toward their children’s heritage language maintenance. There are some parents’ effort to enhance children’s Cakap Karo skill that found in this research; communication use Cakap Karo at home, use Karonese books, educational Karonese vocabulary books and Karonese songs, bring to the church of GBKP (Gereja Batak Karo Protestan) and traditional ceremonies, and connect with Karonese relatives and friends in home town using internet. This study confirms that parents’ attitude and efforts play important role in language maintenance. Keywords: Maintenance, Cakap Karo, Parents’ attitude, Heritage Language, Kelurahan Sempakata

Chinese Education in the United States: Players and Challenges

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
School System ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
Chinese Education ◽  
Heritage Language Schools ◽  
Community Heritage ◽  
Language Schools ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The U.S

AbstractSince the turn of the twenty-first century, China has emerged as the second largest economy in the world. In the U.S., Chinese speakers became the second largest non-English-speaking population, and Chinese education obtained unprecedented opportunities in both the K-12 school system and higher education. Various players have contributed to this development, with the major ones being (1) the U.S.-government funded National Security Language Initiatives (NSLI), (2) the long existing Chinese community heritage language schools, and (3) China’s Confucius Institute (CI) program. The NSLI has created a number of meaningful projects such as the Foreign Language Assistance Program, the Teacher Exchange and Summer Language Institutes Youth Exchanges, the Flagship Program, and STARTALK, in which the Chinese language is the focus. The Chinese community heritage language schools have a history of over 150 years in the U.S. and are enrolling 200,000 Chinese students (estimated), more than the U.S. K-12 schools and higher education combined. China’s CI program has established 97 CIs and 357 Confucius classrooms in the U.S., which have reached millions of American people and students. However, the present data show that there lacks a coherent language policy in the U.S. education system. Although the above players have joined forces and made great contributions to the development of U.S. Chinese education, each of them is facing significant challenges. On the one hand, NSLI and Chinese community heritage language schools are both on the sidelines of the American public school system. On the other, with CI’s fast expansion, concerns and criticisms grow regarding its role in the context of U.S. higher education. Some of the concerns have been translated into negative actions and policies.

Asian Immigrant Communities' Civic Participation in Cultivating Bilingualism and Biliteracy in the United States

2019 ◽  
pp. 157-171
Author(s):  
Kwangok Song
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
The United States ◽  
Immigrant Communities ◽  
Asian Immigrant ◽  
Heritage Languages ◽  
Heritage Language Schools ◽  
Children's Literacy ◽  
Language Schools

This chapter discusses how Asian immigrant communities in the United States cultivate Asian immigrant children's literacy learning in their heritage languages. Although the United States has historically been a linguistically diverse country, bilingualism has not always been valued and acknowledged. Strong social and institutional expectations for immigrants to acquire the socially dominant language have resulted in language shifts among immigrants. Concerned about their descendants' heritage language loss, Asian immigrant communities make organized efforts to establish community-based heritage language schools. Heritage language schools play an important role in immigrant children's learning of their heritage language and culturally appropriate ways of behaving and communicating. It has also been noted that heritage language schools encounter several challenges in motivating heritage language learners. Heritage language schools should be considered as complementary education for immigrant students because they take critical responsibilities to support immigrant students' language and literacy development in their heritage languages.

scholarly journals Language attitudes of young Romanians in Catalonia (Spain): The role of heritage language maintenance programs

Multilingua ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-355
Author(s):  
Maria Adelina Ianos ◽  
Ester Caballé ◽  
Cristina Petreñas ◽  
Ángel Huguet
Keyword(s):  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Immigrant Population ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Heritage Language Maintenance ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Method Analysis ◽  
International Status

Abstract This article presents a mixed method analysis of the language attitudes held by secondary education students of Romanian origin, which are members of the second largest immigrant population living currently in Catalonia. The relevance of this data is based on the cardinal role played by attitudes in the success of any educational or linguistic policy (Lewis, E. Glyn. 1981. Bilingualism and bilingual education. Oxford, UK: Pergamon.) – a topic of special relevance in contexts with considerable migratory influxes, such as Catalonia, which aims to achieve social cohesiveness in a framework of interculturalism and multilingualism. The various initiatives implemented for this purpose include the heritage language maintenance programs, such as the “Romanian Language, Culture, and Civilization” (RLCC) program. The results showed that the young Romanians had the most favourable attitudes towards Spanish, followed closely by Romanian, and lastly Catalan, which was the least valued language. Furthermore, these attitudinal patterns were not determined by RLCC attendance. The insights provided by the in-depth interviews indicated various components and meanings associated with the attitudes towards the three languages. Namely, attitudes towards Spanish were primed by its international status and ease of learning, while attitudes towards Catalan were build on its integrative value and social status. Although esteemed for its emotional and symbolic bonds, Romanian seemed to be on a path towards invisibilization. Finally, the educational and social implications of these findings are discussed, emphasising the importance of involving and working with both the autochthonous and the Romanian immigrant population.

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