Fluidity in Language Beliefs:

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chryso Hadjidemetriou
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Local Varieties ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Everyday Communication

This chapter discusses how the revitalization efforts of Kormakiti Maronite Arabic (KMA) in Cyprus may have influenced the beliefs and ideologies of the community towards its language. KMA is spoken by some members of the Kormakiti Maronite community in Cyprus, where the official languages are Greek and Turkish. However, local varieties of Greek and Turkish are used by most people in everyday communication and the use of KMA has declined, especially in terms of intergenerational transmission. The chapter begins with a sociolinguistic profile of the KMA community focusing on: (i) subjective attitudes towards KMA and its speakers, and (ii) the ethnic identity value attached to KMA. Recordings conducted since 2006, when revitalization efforts began, enabled the author to observe a slight change in some speakers’ beliefs about their language, triggered by ongoing revitalization efforts.

“Are you Hungarian or Romanian?” On the Study of National and Ethnic Identity in Central and Eastern Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alina Curticapean
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Topical Issue ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The University

A personal note frames this essay. In recent years I have travelled with my Finnish colleagues from the University of Tampere to a number of international seminars and conferences organized in various European locations. While socializing with the other participants, my self-identification as Romanian has, on several occasions, prompted the question “are you Hungarian or Romanian …?“ No other options were ever offered, even though Romania has a quite sizeable Roma minority and a number of Saxons, though ever declining, still live in the country. At the same time, the ethnicity of my Finnish colleagues has never been questioned. True, Finns describe their country as a homogeneous place, yet Finland is a country with two official languages—Finnish and Swedish—ever praised for the treatment of its Swedish-speaking minority. And some other ethnicities—for instance, Roma and Sami—also live in Finland. Nobody interested? Or maybe there is more to it than simply a question of curiosity (or a lack of it). That the ethnicity of the Finnish participants was deemed irrelevant, whereas my ethnic identity seemed a topical issue for informal discussions during coffee breaks or conference lunches elicited my interest in the issue of national and ethnic identity. I have started to ask how collective identities, and especially national and ethnic identities, have been conceptualized and how those theoretical concepts have been deployed in the study of Central and Eastern European identities. Are there any differences in how Central and Eastern European identities are studied compared with Western identities?

scholarly journals Moscow Mari: Ethnic Culture in the Internal Diaspora

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 6-21
Author(s):  
Marina Vasilevna Kutsaeva
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Ethnic Culture ◽  
Ethnic Language ◽  
The World ◽  
Two Generations

The article deals with the problem of maintaining and preserving Mari ethnic culture in the conditions of an internal diaspora. The purpose of the article is to identify the conditions for maintaining and to determine the prospects for preserving Moscow Maris’ ethnic culture in Moscow’s multicultural urban space. Methods. In 2019–2021, the author of the article conducted a sociolinguistic survey in the Mari diaspora of the Moscow region; the selective sample includes 106 respondents (100 respondents belong to the first generation of the Mari diaspora, six to the second). One of the aspects of the survey was to study markers of ethnic identity in two generations of the diaspora. Results. The results, obtained in the interviews, reveal that Mari culture (knowledge and observance of Mari traditions and customs) is one of the key markers of ethnic identity in the first generation (coming only third after the small homeland and the Mari language markers). Respondents in the second generation demonstrate remnant knowledge of ethnic cultural practices due to a weak intergenerational transmission of the Mari language. The author concludes that in order to preserve ethnic traditions and customs in the diaspora, it is extremely important to maintain an ethnic language; at the same time, as the world practice of revitalizing minority languages shows, ethnic culture can be viewed as a source of initiation into an ethnic language, and later become a channel for its maintenance.

scholarly journals Belonging and Boundaries: Linguistic Diversity and Language Rights in Canada

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 81-98
Author(s):  
Ritendra Tamang
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Language Rights ◽  
Language Policies ◽  
Political Values ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Multilingual Societies ◽  
Alternative Spaces

This paper explores critical issues surrounding language rights in multicultural Canada and how language rights are connected to ethnic identity, representation, boundaries, and belonging. This paper focuses on language rights of allophones (those whose first language is neither English nor French) from the perspective of Canada’s language policies, including the socioeconomic and political values that allophone immigrants place on Canada’s official languages. Changes to Canada’s language policies since the 1970s have created alternative spaces for allophone groups to challenge the dominant status of English and French and to recreate ethnolinguistic identities and belonging simultaneously from various locations.Increases in international migration, in conjunction with changes to Canadian language policies over recent years, have generated new discussions and debates about language rights and the socioeconomic and political values that allophone immigrants place on English and French, Canada’s official languages. Canada is currently facing new challenges in ensuring that the identities of linguistic groups are recognised and that members of these groups are guaranteed equal participation in all social, economic, and political activities. Accordingly, the Canadian federal government has made important changes to its language policies. This paper will argue that changes to Canada’s language policies since the 1970s provide allophone immigrants with new opportunities to challenge the dominant status of English and French, as well as enabling them to reconstruct new identities and belonging simultaneously from multiple locations. Issues around language rights in multicultural and multilingual societies like Canada are significant, because these rights are connected to ideas about ethnic identity, belonging, representation, and boundaries.

scholarly journals DIASPORA ETNIK JAWA DAN TRANSMISI BAHASA JAWA ANTARGENERASI DI SUMATRA UTARA

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Wawan Prihartono
Keyword(s):  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Local Culture ◽  
Dutch Government ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Java Language ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
North Sumatra ◽  
Everyday Communication ◽  
Descriptive Method ◽  
Bahasa Indonesia

Diaspora Javanese ethnic to North Sumatra driven at the time of the Dutch government in large quantities create their identity loss there now . Java language in North Sumatra did not survive as it should be. Javanese ethnic, prefers to use the Indonesian language in everyday communication rather than the Javanese language as a consequence of assimilation with the local culture, namely the Malay culture. This study aimed to describe the intergenerational transmission of the Java language in North Sumatra as a reference for the vitality of the Java language in there . The study used a qualitative descriptive method . As a result, intergenerational transmission of the Java language in North Sumatra show gradations drastic decline from generation to generation . The older generation does not transmit an javanese language to the next generation so well that indicated the Java language in North Sumatra are threatened with extinction.    ABSTRAK Diaspora etnik Jawa ke Sumatra Utara dalam jumlah yang cukup besar yang digerakkan pada zaman pemerintah Hindia Belanda membuat etnik Jawa di sana kehilangan identitas bahasanya. Bahasa Jawa di Sumatra Utara tidak bertahan sebagaimana mestinya. Etnik Jawa lebih memilih menggunakan bahasa Indonesia dalam komunikasi sehari-hari daripada bahasa Jawanya sebagai konsekuensi pembauran dengan kebudayaan lokal, yaitu budaya Melayu. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mendeskripsikan transmisi bahasa Jawa antargenerasi di Sumatra Utara sebagai acuan vitalitas bahasa Jawa di sana. Kajian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Hasilnya, transmisi bahasa Jawa antargenerasi di Sumatra Utara menunjukkan gradasi penurunan yang drastis dari generasi ke generasi. Generasi tua etnik Jawa tidak mentransmisikan bahasanya kepada generasi berikutnya dengan baik sehingga diindikasikan bahasa Jawa di Sumatra Utara sekarang dalam kondisi terancam punah.

scholarly journals Greening the information desert

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
Una Cunningham ◽  
Jeanette King
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Digital Form ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Set Up ◽  
French Class ◽  
Direct Results ◽  
New Zealand Sign Language

Abstract Parents and prospective parents who speak a language other than English in New Zealand are in something of an information desert when it comes to how and why they might go about raising their children bilingually. While the official languages, Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, have special status among the languages of New Zealand, other languages are viewed very much as the responsibility of ethnolinguistic communities. To support the intergenerational transmission of minority languages in New Zealand, research-informed material has been created for dissemination in a website, an associated Facebook page and a series of lecture-workshops for parents and professionals which have been made available in digital form in this website. Workshops continue to be offered to professionals such as speech-language therapists, early childhood educators, midwives, doctors, and nurses who work with families with young children. Questions asked during these workshops help to select the myths about multilingualism we need to address in this outreach to irrigate and green the information desert. Already, a bilingual French class and a Swedish playgroup have been set up as direct results of the parents’ workshop events. Individual parents have reported feeling empowered to persevere in their efforts to raise their children as speakers of their language. Invitations to contribute to education programs for the professionals who work close to young children are beginning to arrive.

scholarly journals Polszczyzna w transmisji międzypokoleniowej w rodzinach jednolitych i mieszanych we Lwowskiem

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 143-160
Author(s):  
Ewa Dzięgiel
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
The Other ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Audio Recordings ◽  
Polish Language ◽  
The One ◽  
Everyday Communication ◽  
Mixed Families

The Polish language in intergenerational transmission in homogeneous and mixed families in the Lviv regionThe aim of this article is to analyse the conditions of intergenerational transmission of the Polish language in homogenous and mixed families in Sambir and Dobromyl in Ukraine. 21 families took part in the survey: 13 Polish couples, 6 Polish-Ukrainian and 2 Ukrainian of Ukrainian-Polish origin. The study is based on four layers of data: firstly, semi-structured interviews and unstructured interviews with children and young people from each family (7–25 years of age); secondly, interviews with parents and grandparents; thirdly, family observation and, additionally, interviews with neighbours and friends of the families. The database of analysed audio recordings consists of conversations with 92 respondents (approximately 120 hours).The comparison shows that in Polish families the home language is Polish. Mixed couples, in turn, adopt one of two solutions: parents either apply the one parent – one language strategy (5 couples), or talk to their children in Ukrainian (1 couple). In families who rely on the former principle, in conversations among more household members and among the children themselves the Ukrainian language usually has an advantage. In the case of two Ukrainian couples of Ukrainian-Polish origin, the transmission of the Polish language was discontinued in previous generations: in one case the young participants of the study learned Polish in their childhood from their great-grandmother, in the other – on their own. Children from the presented families (with the exception of the family from Nyzhankovychi near Dobromyl) attended Polish Saturday schools; they also take part in the life of the local Roman Catholic parishes.The interviews and observations lead to the conclusion that the oldest people play a very important role in the transmission of Polish to next generations, especially in three-generation families living in the same household. Close relations between grandchildren and their Polish grandparents strengthen the position of the Polish language in everyday communication and foster their positive emotional attitude to the language.The study also confirms that most young people of Polish descent have a positive attitude towards emigration to Poland, which stems from difficult economic and political situation in Ukraine. The position of the Polish language is twofold: it is associated with the tradition and past of one’s own family on the one hand, and with the future on the other. Polszczyzna w transmisji międzypokoleniowej w rodzinach jednolitych i mieszanych we LwowskiemCelem artykułu jest analiza uwarunkowań transmisji międzypokoleniowej języka polskiego w małżeństwach jednolitych oraz mieszanych w Samborze i Dobromilu na Ukrainie. W badaniu wzięło udział 21 rodzin: 13 małżeństw polskich, 6 polsko-ukraińskich i 2 ukraińskie o ukraińsko-polskim pochodzeniu. Na potrzeby opracowania wykorzystano cztery warstwy danych: po pierwsze – wywiady częściowo standaryzowane (ustrukturyzowane) oraz swobodne rozmowy z dziećmi i młodzieżą z każdej rodziny (7–25 lat), po drugie – z rodzicami i dziadkami, po trzecie – obserwacje życia codziennego rodzin, i dodatkowo – wywiady z sąsiadami i znajomymi opisywanych rodzin. Na bazę analizowanych nagrań audio składają się rozmowy z 92 respondentami (około 120 godzin).Zestawienie pokazuje, że w rodzinach polskich językiem domowym jest polski. W małżeństwach mieszanych wprowadzono jedno z dwóch rozwiązań. Rodzice albo stosują strategię jeden rodzic – jeden język (5 par), albo rozmawiają z dziećmi po ukraińsku (1 para). W małżeństwach wykorzystujących zasadę jeden rodzic – jeden język, we wspólnych rozmowach domowników, w tym dzieci między sobą, z reguły przewagę zyskuje język ukraiński. W wypadku małżeństw ukraińskich, transmisja języka polskiego została przerwana w poprzednich generacjach. Młodzi uczestnicy badania nauczyli się języka polskiego: w jednej rodzinie – w dzieciństwie od prababci, w drugiej – samodzielnie. Dzieci z przedstawianych rodzin (za wyjątkiem rodziny z Niżankowic pod Dobromilem) uczyły się w polskich szkołach sobotnich. Łączy je też udział w życiu miejscowych parafii rzymskokatolickich.Wywiady i obserwacje prowadzą do wniosku, że bardzo ważną rolę w przekazie polszczyzny następnym pokoleniom odgrywają seniorzy, zwłaszcza w mieszkających razem rodzinach trójpokoleniowych. Bliskie kontakty wnuków z dziadkami-Polakami wzmacniają pozycję języka polskiego w codziennej komunikacji, wpływają też na pozytywny emocjonalny stosunek dzieci do tego języka.Badania potwierdzają ponadto, że wśród młodzieży polskiego pochodzenia utrzymuje się orientacja emigracyjna (wyjazdy na studia i do pracy do Polski), na co ma wpływ trudna sytuacja gospodarcza i polityczna na Ukrainie. Pozycja języka polskiego jest dwojaka: z jednej strony jest kojarzony z tradycją i przeszłością własnej rodziny, z drugiej – z przyszłością.

Sites Unseen

2020 ◽  
pp. 211-230
Author(s):  
Jonathan E. Calvillo
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Religious Salience ◽  
Significant Bearing

This chapter argues that Catholics and evangelicals ultimately contribute to distinct constructions of ethnic space and of ethnic identity, in as much as ethnic space serves as a mechanism for ethnic identity construction. For Catholics, religion shapes the boundaries of ethnicity as a retrospective, locally anchored, communally embodied identity. For evangelicals, religion shapes the boundaries of ethnicity as a future looking, regionally dispersed, voluntarily selected identity. Catholicism, the author argues, tends to contribute to a more robust sense of ethnic continuity, while evangelicalism tends to contribute to a more robust sense of religious salience. The author argues that intergenerational transmission is a matter that both traditions continue to contend with as it has significant bearing on their ethnic futures. The chapter closes by reflecting on the adaptive ethnoreligious identities being forged by later generation Latinxs in light of the materials made available by earlier generations.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document