Abstract
AbstractAs a result of the wide availability of social media, cheap flights and free intra-EU movement it has become considerably easier to maintain links with the country of origin than it was only a generation ago. Therefore, the language and identity formation among children of recent migrants might be significantly different from the experiences of children of the previous generations. The aim of this paper is to examine the perceptions of parents on the formation of national and transnational identity among the ‘1.5 generation migrant children’ – the children born in Latvia but growing up in England and the factors affecting them. In particular, this article seeks to understand whether 1.5 generation migrant children from Latvia construct strong transnational identities by maintaining equally strong ties with their country of origin and mother tongue and, at the same time, intensively creating networks, learning and using the language of the new home country. The results of 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews with the parents of these children reveal that the 1.5 generation Latvian migrants are on a path of becoming English-dominant bilinguals. So far there is little evidence of the development of a strong transnational identity among 1.5 generation migrant children from Latvia. Instead, this study observed a tendency towards an active integration and assimilation into the new host country facilitated by their parents or occurring despite their parents’ efforts to maintain ties with Latvia. These findings suggest that rather than the national identity of the country of origin being supplemented with a new additional national identity – that of the country of settlement – the identity of the country of origin becomes dominated by it instead.
Highlights
IntroductionIn the early 2000s it was common for parents in Latvia to emigrate to Western European countries but to leave their children, at least temporarily, to be brought up by grandparents and other relatives while they searched for a job and to establish themselves in the new home country (Broka 2009; Trapenciere 2012)
Emigration patterns from Latvia have changed over time
The aim of this paper is to examine the perspective of parents on the formation of national and transnational identity among the 1.5 generation migrant children – children born in Latvia but growing up in England – and to factors affecting this
Summary
In the early 2000s it was common for parents in Latvia to emigrate to Western European countries but to leave their children, at least temporarily, to be brought up by grandparents and other relatives while they searched for a job and to establish themselves in the new home country (Broka 2009; Trapenciere 2012). Others emigrate together with their children (Kamerāde 2017) These children (the so-called ‘1.5 generation’ child migrants) are the children born in their country of origin but being brought up in emigration (Rumbaut 1976; Rumbaut and Ima 1988). The aim of this paper is to examine the perspective of parents on the formation of national and transnational identity among the 1.5 generation migrant children – children born in Latvia but growing up in England – and to factors affecting this. We focus on language that is central to the formation of children’s national identity, and especially the retention of the mother tongue and the learning of the language of the host country
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