Maintaining ethnic identity and heritage language through community involvement: a case study of third-generation Australian-Latvians

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ABSTRACT By the third generation, migrant languages are usually no longer spoken and few identify with their grandparents’ ancestry. This study investigates factors that have encouraged a group of third-generation Australian-Latvians in their teens and twenties to maintain their ethnic identity and heritage language. Active community involvement was found to be a major factor, particularly in organizations such as Latvian schools, folk dancing, and singing groups. Involvement is facilitated by their connections with family, friends, people, and organizations in Latvia, and creates an individual sense of belonging with the community and identification as a Latvian.