Italian-Bangladeshis in London: Onward Migration and Its Effects on Their Linguistic Repertoire

Francesco Goglia

doi:10.3390/languages6030121

Abstract

This article discussed language use and language maintenance among the Italian-Bangladeshi community in London, considering in particular the effects of onward migration on the reorganisation of their linguistic repertoire. Drawing on focus groups and interviews with the second-generation members of Italian-Bangladeshi families, initial findings revealed that Italian is maintained through communication with same-age friends and siblings, with older siblings acting as the main agents of language maintenance. English is considered the most important language and, together with a British education, functions as a pull-factor for onward migration to improve the second generation’s future prospects. Bengali, on the other hand, is spoken by parents among themselves and children are not always fluent in the language. Bengali also represents a marker of identity for the Italian-Bangladeshi community as opposed to the larger Sylheti-speaking British-Bangladeshi community.

Highlights

During the last decade, thanks to the freedom of movement allowed within the European Union, a new migration phenomenon has been taking place, namely, that of third-country nationals
The data were collected in various ways among the Italian-Bangladeshi community: a sociolinguistic survey; focus groups with Italian-Bangladeshi students and parents in a secondary school in Newham (East London), a core area where Italian-Bangladeshis have settled; interviews with ItalianBangladeshi university students recruited through personal contacts and the snowball technique; and observations made in key places (Italian-Bangladeshi cafes and association gatherings in London)
This article focused on the second generation of Italian-Bangladeshis in London, providing their perspective on how they use and maintain the main languages of their linguistic repertoire: Italian, English, and Bengali

Summary

Introduction

Thanks to the freedom of movement allowed within the European Union, a new migration phenomenon has been taking place, namely, that of third-country nationals. After residing for many years in a European country, certain individuals become citizens but decide to migrate onward to another EU country. This onward migration often involves entire families with children who were born in other various European countries. No comprehensive studies, to the best of the author’s knowledge, have examined this type of migration from a sociolinguistic perspective with the exception of some initial observations on language practices of Spanishspeaking migrants in London who arrived via Spain (Reiter and Rojo 2015; Mar-Molinero and Paffey 2018) and families who migrated onward from Italy (Goglia 2021). I aimed to contribute to the emerging research on onward migration in the fields of geography, sociology, and immigration by adding a timely focus on the sociolinguistic implications of such migration; in particular, I examined how these families have reshaped their linguistic repertoire in London and their attitudes towards the languages in this repertoire

Methods

Results

Conclusion