Language Attitudes and Vitality Perceptions: Intergenerational Effects amongst Chinese Canadian Communities

Abstract

First (FGCC) generation and Canadian-born (CBC) subjects of Chinese origin in Canada completed the Subjective Vitality Questionnaire and a sociolinguistic questionnaire concerning self-reported usage and evaluations of Cantonese (CC) and English (EC) in different domains. Perceived vitality reflected the objective estimates of high EC and low CC vitality on demographic, institutional support and status factors. However, contrary to expectations, CBCs exaggerated perceived Cantonese vitality on some dimensions relative to FGCCs. Self-reports and evaluation of language use reflected the dominance of the English Language in public settings, but CBCs agreed less than FGCCs about Cantonese usage in the home and church. Overall, vitality perceptions of succeeding generations of Canonese-speakers were most useful in understanding language usage and evaluation patterns when used in conjunction with group identification and language proficiency information.