The purpose of this study is to investigate family factors in relation to young Chinese immigrants' code-switching and language maintenance. Specific attention is given to children's code-switching behaviour and how parents respond and the effect of parental response upon children's language choice in any subsequent utterance. Attempts are also made to identify the family factors that might have an effect on making language choice. Data were collected monthly through naturalistic tape-recording of families' conversations for one calendar year. Recordings of every other month were transcribed and coded for analysis. A questionnaire was used with the children's parents to obtain general family background information as well as to compare the parents' language beliefs and their actual language behaviour in real life.Results indicated that within an average of 28.1 months of stay in New Zealand, the use of Mandarin Chinese, their ethnic language, was dramatically reduced. In typical family conversations, the parents were using Mandarin Chinese in only 75.6% of their conversational turns and that figure for the children was 65.1%. If the amount of mother tongue use at home is an indicator, then the speed of shift in these families investigated appears to be relatively fast. Few parents, however, felt that their children were using too much English or ever attempted to stop them doing this, despite the fact that all the parents claimed that they very much wanted their children to maintain the ethnic language and were fully aware of the importance of their role as the main input source of their ethnic language. This seems to suggest that the marketplace value of the mainstream language is overtaking the core value of their ethnic language.Results also showed that parental use of English caused a substantially increased use of English from their children. There tended to be an "upgrading" towards English in the children's language choice suggesting that code-switching could be a temporary stage for the children along the gradual process of language shift. On the other hand, the parents were also found using more English after their children's code-switching. One of the reasons for this might be that the parents want to improve their English and regard their children as an ideal person to practise English with.With regard to daily communication functions, results showed that children often resorted to English for daily speech acts indicating that language function replacement has occurred for many daily communicative functions resulting from a gradually reduced use of the ethnic language.Many family factors were found to be affecting language use in the families: the presence of grandparents and the decision to return to their birth country for residence in the future were clearly correlated with increased use of the ethnic language; the parents' level of English language, on the other hand, was found to be related to the amount of English used, though with exceptions.These results strongly suggest that English is taking over the family domains that used to belong to the ethnic language. Parents who want their children to maintain their ethnic language need to put daily effort into action. Without painstaking daily effort, language shift will and probably is happening no matter how strong their theoretical beliefs might be.

Denna systematiska litteraturstudie behandlar ämnet modersmål eller som det också kallas heritage language. Syftet är att med hjälp av diverse vetenskapliga artiklar komma fram till vilken roll språket spelar i en individs utveckling. Detta anses vara viktigt då man i lärarutbildningen ofta lyfter fram den enskilda individen i ett klassrum och det är då viktigt att skapa en förståelse för de ungdomar i dagens Sverige som har ett annat heritage langauge än just svenskan. Artiklarna visar att de ungdomar som fått lära sig sitt heritage language känner en koppling till sin kultur medan de som inte har fått möjlighet till det känner att de saknar något. Genom sådana resultat har man därför kunnat komma fram till att inte bara finns det en stark koppling mellan ens språk, kultur och identitet men att den också är mycket viktig.

This study constitutes the first in-depth description and analysis of Texas Alsatian as spoken in Medina County, Texas, in the twenty-first century. The Alsatian dialect was transported to Texas in 1842, when the entrepreneur Henri Castro recruited colonists from the Alsace to fulfill the Texas Republic’s stipulations for populating his land grant located to the west of San Antonio. Texas Alsatian (TxAls)is a dialect distinct from other varieties of Texas German (Gilbert 1972: 1, Salmons 1983: 191) and is mainly spoken in Eastern Medina County in and around the city of Castroville. With a small and aging speaker population, it has not been transmitted to the next generation and will likely survive for only another two to three decades. Despite this endangered status, TxAls is a language undergoing death with minimal change. This study provides both a descriptive account of TxAls and discussions on extralinguistic factors linked to ethnic identity and language loyalty, which have enabled the maintenance of this distinctive Texas German dialect for 150 years. To investigate the extent of the maintenance of lexical, phonological, and morphological features, this study identifies the main donor dialect(s), Upper Rhine Alsatian, and compares its linguistic features to those presently maintained in the community, based on current data collected between 2007 and 2009 and Gilbert’s (1972) data collected in the 1960s. This discussion of TxAls is three-fold: (1) an analysis of social, historical, political, and economic factors affecting the maintenance and decline of TxAls, (2) a detailed structural analysis of the grammatical features of TxAls, supported by a description of its European donor dialect and substantiated by Gilbert’s (1972) data, and (3) a discussion of the participants’ attitudes toward their ancestral language, which have either contributed to the maintenance of TxAls, or are now accelerating its decline, based on responses to a survey developed for the TxAls community, the Alsatian Questionnaire. / text

This study examines the language choices of Tamil immigrants, part of a South Asian diasporic community, in Austin, Texas. The researcher posits reasons why Tamil language maintenance/shift occurs for this Tamil community in the United States English-dominant macrosociety. The study also examines the domains in which Tamil and English are used and the various sociolinguistic factors which influence the language maintenance/shift of Tamil. Tamil immigrant participants were selected by snowballing, a non-probability purposive sampling technique. This multi-modal study used both quantitative (a questionnaire) and qualitative data (participant interviews and participant observations). One hundred and nineteen questionnaires were collected of which 90 were used for this study. In addition, twelve first or second generation Tamil individuals were interviewed. Background for the study included reasons for emigration from the home country, Tamil diglossia, diaspora issues, identity issues, and language as a site of struggle. The theoretical framework included language as power, language as investment, and linguistic imperialism. Examining the language of instruction, participants interestingly evidenced a kline in English use from 67.1% in elementary grades, to 84.8% in the middle and high/secondary school, to 95.3% at the university level. Also, comparing language use as a child versus language use as an adult, there was a kline (continuum) moving from 'always using Tamil' in all domains as a child to 'equally in Tamil and English' in all domains as an adult. Participants were split as to why they used Tamil with some using it for privacy/secrecy and some using it for pride. A much smaller percent used Tamil for intimacy. Finally, with regard to language proficiency, participants evinced a declining kline from understanding, speaking, and reading, writing colloquial Tamil. The participants' proficiency in literary Tamil was also a declining kline with only 16.7% understanding, 17.8% reading, and even less speaking (8.9%) or writing (7.8%) literary Tamil. The results of this research study and an analysis of Moag’s 31 factors for maintenance/loss of Tamil, showed that the prospects for the continued maintenance of Tamil in Austin were limited. Finally, this study provided valuable sociolinguistic insight into this little-studied South Asian diasporic community in Austin, Texas. / text

This case study examines the attitudes of Jarainese people (an indigenous group in Gia Lai province of Vietnam) towards bilingual education related to bilingualism, the maintenance of the native language, its use in their own communities, and its perceived importance within formal schooling. The research employed a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods by which the data were collected. Quantitative data were obtained via 345 questionnaires administered to Jarainese students (N=173) and their grandparents and parents (N=172). Qualitative data were obtained via individual interviews of 13 parents and 5 focus group interviews with students. The qualitative data analyses were reported in three narratives as examples of the views of parents, and as thematic interpretations of the student focus groups. The findings reported in this thesis revealed the high degree of ethnic and cultural identity reported through the attitudes of the Jarainese people towards the use of the mother tongue and its maintenance. Jarainese people use their mother tongue to consolidate their ethnic and cultural identity and solidarity. However, the results revealed that Jarainese children tend to use more Vietnamese in their daily life whereas their parents and grandparents retain their oral native language. Additionally, there was a low level of self-reported literacy in Jarainese across the individuals surveyed. The findings disclosed that both languages are seen as important by the Jarainese people. They indicate that Jarainese people do not reject Vietnamese, because it is considered as a language of educational, social and economic advantages and advancement; however, they show the desire of the Jarainese people to affirm their cultural identity by retaining their native language. Despite this desire, the results demonstrated how impacts from the social milieu such as mass media, education and national dominance of Vietnamese hinder the maintenance of Jarainese. The findings confirm the results of other research in the field concerning the benefits and challenges of promoting bilingual development and preserving the native language. The results also confirm a link between demographic dimensions such as level of education, occupation, and living areas, and language attitudes. Furthermore, parents’ attitudes seem to influence their children’s perspectives toward bilingualism. In conclusion, this case study provides further evidence for the importance of values and knowledge related to bilingualism, as well as the need for bilingual development. This evidence is taken from a relatively unique context of the study: i.e., the communist context of Vietnam and under-studied indigenous minority groups in this area of the world. Hence, implications of the findings for bilingual education and regional language policy consideration are discussed. It recommends that the Vietnamese Government and education sector should pay greater attention to, and provide more support for, Jarainese people’s struggles to provide Jarainese children with minority language education. In addition, it is important to specify that a bilingual education program and a regional language policy should be considered and implemented in order to create environments in which Jarainese – Vietnamese bilingual children can develop and promote their bilingual proficiency and knowledge of bilingualism.

This thesis explores the current situation of the minority language, Veneto, in the bilingual Italo-Mexican community, Chipilo, located close to Puebla, in central Mexico. The study analyzes the attitudes of bilingual Spanish-Veneto speakers of Italian descent towards their language and the attitudes of monolingual Spanish speakers towards the former group. Using quantitative and qualitative data, particularly the interviews and the questionnaires, the study seeks to determine the possible outcomes of these attitudinal relations and the affect they have on the future of the Veneto language.

In this dissertation I will discuss some of the issues involved in maintenance of Aboriginal languages in Australia. Chapter 1 places the movement in a historical context, establishing why there is an interest in maintaining Aboriginal languages in the 1980s. In chapter 2 I ask what language maintenance actually is. Both 'language' and 'maintenance' need to be defined, and in doing so I suggest that we need something other than a structuralist notion of language. I distinguish two uses of the term 'language maintenance': (a) the activity of a group of speakers, usually described by linguists in terms of causes of maintenance, numbers of speakers over generations and so on; and (b) maintenance as an interventional practice, the approach that is favoured in this work. I also distinguish between maintenance of indigenous languages and maintenance of immigrant languages in the Australian context. / In chapter 3 I assess some arguments for language maintenance, and suggest that the strongest argument is based on social justice, with more commonly expressed arguments (e.g. that language is part of identity, that it is part of the national resources) often lacking firm ground, or else being potentially damaging. For example, if a language is equated with identity, then on what grounds do people still identify themselves with their heritage if they do not still speak that language? / Chapter 4 discusses some models that have been used for language maintenance, using the term now to include language resurrection, revival, renewal and language continuation. Following these models I discuss some of the causes for language shift, suggesting that an understanding of the causes may allow us to devise more appropriate interventional strategies, some of which are discussed in chapter 4.3. / Practical examples of the models and strategies of chapter 4 are included in a broader study of Aboriginal language maintenance in Western Australia in chapter 5. A brief historical sketch shows that little has been done by the colonial and state authorities to encourage the use of indigenous languages. The best examples of programmes aimed at maintaining the use of Aboriginal languages are in the community schools, and in the homelands movement, both examples relying on local community direction and involvement.

The purpose of this study is to investigate family factors in relation to young Chinese immigrants' code-switching and language maintenance. Specific attention is given to children's code-switching behaviour and how parents respond and the effect of parental response upon children's language choice in any subsequent utterance. Attempts are also made to identify the family factors that might have an effect on making language choice. Data were collected monthly through naturalistic tape-recording of families' conversations for one calendar year. Recordings of every other month were transcribed and coded for analysis. A questionnaire was used with the children's parents to obtain general family background information as well as to compare the parents' language beliefs and their actual language behaviour in real life.Results indicated that within an average of 28.1 months of stay in New Zealand, the use of Mandarin Chinese, their ethnic language, was dramatically reduced. In typical family conversations, the parents were using Mandarin Chinese in only 75.6% of their conversational turns and that figure for the children was 65.1%. If the amount of mother tongue use at home is an indicator, then the speed of shift in these families investigated appears to be relatively fast. Few parents, however, felt that their children were using too much English or ever attempted to stop them doing this, despite the fact that all the parents claimed that they very much wanted their children to maintain the ethnic language and were fully aware of the importance of their role as the main input source of their ethnic language. This seems to suggest that the marketplace value of the mainstream language is overtaking the core value of their ethnic language.Results also showed that parental use of English caused a substantially increased use of English from their children. There tended to be an "upgrading" towards English in the children's language choice suggesting that code-switching could be a temporary stage for the children along the gradual process of language shift. On the other hand, the parents were also found using more English after their children's code-switching. One of the reasons for this might be that the parents want to improve their English and regard their children as an ideal person to practise English with.With regard to daily communication functions, results showed that children often resorted to English for daily speech acts indicating that language function replacement has occurred for many daily communicative functions resulting from a gradually reduced use of the ethnic language.Many family factors were found to be affecting language use in the families: the presence of grandparents and the decision to return to their birth country for residence in the future were clearly correlated with increased use of the ethnic language; the parents' level of English language, on the other hand, was found to be related to the amount of English used, though with exceptions.These results strongly suggest that English is taking over the family domains that used to belong to the ethnic language. Parents who want their children to maintain their ethnic language need to put daily effort into action. Without painstaking daily effort, language shift will and probably is happening no matter how strong their theoretical beliefs might be.

Thesis(M.S.)--Auburn University, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographic references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Uppsala universitet, 1988. / Summary in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 256-272).