Finding One’s Place in a Host Space: A Small-Scale Study of Cultural Integration and Language Maintenance Among Croatian Immigrants in Canada

Abstract

This paper focuses on sociocultural and language-related issues among Croatian immigrants in Canada. It presents the results of thestudy conducted from November 2018 to February 2019 among Croatian immigrants of different generations in Ontario and British Columbia. Questions included in the questionnaire refer to different aspects of participants’ identity and their (families’) immigration, as well as issues related to their attitudes towards the homeland and engagement in Croatian associations in Canada. Participants were asked to provide feedback on their language acquisition, competence and use, as well as evaluations of the importance of the Croatian language for their identity. The questionnaire also contained questions related to participants’ language use from emotional and cognitive perspectives. Conclusions drawn on the basis of the collected data provide an insight into Croatian immigrants’ language use, the extent of cultural integration and language maintenance, and their attitudes towards the relationship between identity and language.