“May our language not perish. Our language is our memory.”: A mixed-methods investigation of the ethnolinguistic vitality of Laz

Osnovni cilj ovog rada jest utvrditi opće kretanje ukupnog broja stanovnika hrvatskog podrijetla i broja govornika hrvatskog jezika u Kanadi kako bi se dobila što cjelovitija slika o demografskim značajkama hrvatske iseljeničke zajednice u toj prekooceanskoj zemlji. Specifični cilj ovog rada jest ispitati očuvanost hrvatskoga kao manjinskoga ili nasljednog jezika te utvrditi obrasce njegove upotrebe kod različitih generacija govornika. U radu se analiziraju popisi stanovništva Kanade iz 1996., 2001., 2006. i 2011. s obzirom na podatke o brojčanom kretanju i dobnom sastavu stanovništva hrvatskog podrijetla te podatke o upotrebi i poznavanju hrvatskog jezika. Posebna pozornost posvećena je proučavanju lingvističkih popisnih podataka, pa se analiziraju podaci o broju i dobi govornika hrvatskog jezika, o materinskom jeziku kanadskih Hrvata te o jeziku kojim se najčešće govori u obitelji. Kako bi se ostvario specifični cilj rada i ispitala očuvanost hrvatskog jezika, popisni podaci nadopunjuju se podacima dobivenima terenskim anketnim istraživanjem provedenim među pripadnicima hrvatske iseljeničke zajednice u Torontu (N = 220). Pokazalo se da je hrvatski jezik u Kanadi relativno dobro očuvan zahvaljujući tome što je stariji naraštaj iseljenika uspio u prenošenju jezika na mlađi naraštaj. Pritom su bili jednako bitna uloga pojedinca (inzistiranje na upotrebi hrvatskoga u krugu obitelji) i djelovanje šire zajednice (dobro organizirana obrazovna i kulturna djelatnost). Nažalost, održavanje takva pozitivnog stanja u budućnosti će predstavljati ozbiljan izazov, osobito zbog smanjenja dotoka novih iseljenika.

Social network and ethnolinguistic vitality have been separately studied in various language constellations with different speech communities and participant profiles so far. However, studies focusing on the interplay between social networks and ethnolinguistic vitality are quite scarce, even though the number of endangered languages is increasing in number. Adopting a mixed-hybrid model involving social network theory and ethnolinguistic vitality, this study aims to investigate whether the interplay between language vitality and language use in constructing or maintaining social networks could be observed in Khalaj-Persian by observing 26 multilingual Khalaj-Persian individuals. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews, field work notes, and a language use questionnaire. The effect of generational difference was also manipulated by dividing the participants into three generation groups (older, middle-aged, and younger) based on their ages. The findings revealed that there was an intimate relation between language use in networking and ethnolinguistic vitality for predicting language endangerment with its limitations. The intergenerational analysis showed that the older participants were more inclined to use their heritage language, i.e., Khalaj, with Khalaj-speaking individuals whenever possible, while the younger participants tended to use Persian predominantly in their social networks.

The paper relates the results of an ethnolinguistic vitality (ELV) survey among the Kashubs in Poland. The results reveal two interrelated layers of ELV: (1) an individual ELV reflected in language use and shaped by personal experience, emotions, and language proficiency; (2) a more collective ELV associated with the perception of the group's language strength, its status and utility. The most surprising predictor of linguistic praxis in our study, in addition to language skills, was the positive impact of experienced discouragement on language use. This remained significant when controlling for proficiency. We argue that the correlation between experiencing discouragement and increased language use is best explained by the self-empowerment of speakers who, earlier in their lives, met with negative attitudes toward their heritage language. Rather than succumbing to this discouragement and assimilating to the dominant language, their response was to develop an emotional link to Kashubian and increase their use of this minority language as a conscious act of self-determination and engagement.

The paper relates the results of an ethnolinguistic vitality (ELV) survey among the Kashubs in Poland. The results reveal two interrelated layers of ELV: (1) an individual ELV reflected in language use and shaped by personal experience, emotions, and language proficiency; (2) a more collective ELV associated with the perception of the group’s language strength, its status and utility. The most surprising predictor of linguistic praxis in our study, in addition to language skills, was the positive impact of experienced discouragement on language use. This remained significant when controlling for proficiency. We argue that the correlation between experiencing discouragement and increased language use is best explained by the self-empowerment of speakers who, earlier in their lives, met with negative attitudes toward their heritage language. Rather than succumbing to this discouragement and assimilating to the dominant language, their response was to develop an emotional link to Kashubian and increase their use of this minority language as a conscious act of self-determination and engagement.

The focus of this paper is on the relationship between Albanian speakers' ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) perceptions and their language maintenance, language use and choice patterns. A subjective EV questionnaire, and a language usage questionnaire capturing domain-specific language use was completed by 200 Albanian immigrants of first and second (one and a half) generation residing in various areas all over Greece. In addition, interviews were conducted with 180 informants from the sample to generate useful information for the qualitative analysis. The findings of this study chime with recent findings on Albanian immigrants' social integration strategies. Data analysis uncovers three themes: first, language use is domain-specific, with preferences for the L1 in the home/family domain only, L2 being the language of choice elsewhere especially for the 1.5 generation; second, there are low perceptions of EV of the L1 group across the sample; and third, there is evidence for a shift in language use and competence as a result of an integrative attitude to migration by the respondents, governed mostly by practical reasons.

In migrant communities, parents and children not only represent two diverse generations, but two different languages and cultures. As migrants who still carry memories of their homeland and culture close to their hearts, many are tied linguistically, culturally, and emotionally to their native country and culture. Language maintenance in migrant families assists parents and their children not only to communicate but to also understand cultural values better, which are crucial to their identity and worldview. Although research on community languages has flourished since Michael Clyne’s pioneering work on community language maintenance in the 1960s, there is limited understanding of the role of migrant families in maintaining and transmitting a community language and its influence on identity in Australia. Specific research on Rioplatense Spanish language maintenance and Argentinean identity within the Argentinean community has remained largely unexamined in the contemporary global landscape. In particular, we lack research on how and why first and second generation Argentineans maintain the Spanish language, but more specifically, Rioplatense Spanish and the consequences this has for their experience of Argentinean identity. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap for Australia and elsewhere by examining and discussing the following four themes. First, the central role of the family (as opposed to governments) in conceptualising and implementing language maintenance and identity practices. Second, the influence of familial (endogamous and exogamous unions, extended family, siblings, and language strategies) and extra-familial factors (social networks, travel, language status, and institutions) in augmenting the development and maintenance of community language literacy skills and identity. Third, how linguistic strategies and attitudes are dynamic and play a role in the process of language learning and maintenance, and last, the role and consumption of media (print, audio, audio-visual, and digital communication technologies), and technology in community language maintenance and identity. This thesis analyses the results of a two-step study, drawing upon data derived from mixed-methods research. First, a community-based survey of first and second generation Argentineans from Australia’s three largest cities — Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane — examined respondents’ use and maintenance of the Spanish language and the influence this has on their experience of Argentinean identity. Second, semi-structured interviews with first and second generation Argentineans were conducted to verify and triangulate survey findings and develop insights derived from the survey data. The analyses of the survey and interview data in this thesis provide insights into how the attitudes and actions of first generation Argentineans since the 1970s have influenced intergenerational ethnolinguistic vitality in Spanish language maintenance. This thesis illuminates our understanding by demonstrating how Argentineans in contemporary Australia maintain and transmit the Spanish language, their dialect Castellano Rioplatense [Rioplatense Spanish], and the implications this has for their experience of Argentinean identity. It also demonstrates that although the Argentinean community pertains to the broader Latin American community in Australia, they signal their uniqueness via their use of Rioplatense Spanish. The principal finding of this thesis is that despite Australia’s dominant monolingual landscape, first and second generation Argentineans continue to transmit and maintain Spanish, but more specifically, Rioplatense Spanish. Moreover, their use of Rioplatense Spanish allows them to maintain a distinct Argentinean identity in a multicultural context that otherwise publicly renders them as ‘Latin Americans.’ This thesis identifies four key elements in community language maintenance and identity. First, the family is the most salient factor in language maintenance and transmission. Second, the heterogeneity of the Argentinean community compared to other Latin American communities in Australia is reflected by their distinct use of Rioplatense Spanish, which maintains and ameliorates ethnolinguistic vitality, framing their Argentinean identity. Third, positive language attitudes within families further aids in the transference and maintenance of Rioplatense Spanish in various domains, at both micro and macro levels. Fourth, the consumption of media and digital communication technologies influences how the community language is used and experienced. This is achieved by individuals participating in diverse spaces that use and sustain not only the Spanish language, but more specifically, Rioplatense Spanish, and Argentinean identity. Hence, the use and maintenance of Spanish creates a sense of an imagined community, with individuals sensing that they mentally belong ‘here’ in Australia and ‘there’ in Argentina. The findings of this thesis have implications for promoting intergenerational language and identity within families, communities, pedagogical programming, educational and linguistic policies to facilitate language maintenance and identity opportunities.

This article aims to analyse ethnolinguistic vitality of pupils from schools where they are taught in the Lithuanian language in terms of the Lithuanian language usage, proficiency and language assessment. The survey was aimed at assessing the following ethnolinguistic vitality indexes of the analysed group of respondents: (1) language use and domination,(2) language proficiency and motivation to learn, (3) the attitude to the Lithuanian language, and (4) creative powers of language. Ethnolinguistic vitality of different age group pupils is analysed on the basis of an empirical study on the impact of other languages on the Lithuanian language of third- and fourthformers conducted in 2018–2019. The relevance of the study rests on the fact that ethnolinguistic vitality, as ethnic vitality of the Lithuanian linguistic community, has never been analysed before. For the first time, the article sequentially and systematically analyses ethnolinguistic vitality of a group of pupils through the aspects of the relation to language, which allows predicting perspectives of sustainability and continuity of the Lithuanians as an ethnic community. The study data show the tendency that, according to all the aspects studied, as the pupils become older, their vitality as members of an ethnolinguistic group decreases. Moreover, a foreign (English) language is becoming more and more dominant in the pupils’ language as they grow older. When assessing the pupils’ ethnolinguistic vitality in terms of language proficiency, it turned out that the pupils’ learning achievements decreased from the fifth form. As the data show, the majority of the pupils (more than 70 per cent) claim that they are proud of the Lithuanian language as their language, they indicate the connection between the Lithuanian language and their ethnic identity, and they relate the sustainability of the ethnic identity to the language strength – its usage in the ethnolinguistic community. However, the data also reveal the following tendency: the older the respondents are, the fewer of them have an opinion about the significance of the language to the identity of an ethnolinguistic community (from 7.3 per cent in the fourth form to 26 per cent in the eighth form). It can be assumed that a part of the respondents, especially the ones in senior forms, have weak ethnic identity self-concept and linguistic identity, and therefore the native language is being assessed only as the instrument of communication, the same as any other language. Assessment of the pupils’ ethnolinguistic vitality in terms of their linguistic powers and linguistic potential revealed that only a half of the respondents assess the Lithuanian language as a modern language. Weak linguistic self-awareness of pupils is observed in their attitude towards the strengthening of the Lithuanian language powers: less than a half of the respondents agree that the Lithuanian language resources must be expanded. The study data reveal that pupils’ ethnolinguistic vitality in terms of trust in the creative powers of their language, their attitudes to the expansion of the Lithuanian language resources, and giving priority to the use of the Lithuanian language decrease with age.

Post-monolingual circumstances are increasing reflecting the growing occurrence of multilingualism, migration, and advancing communication technologies. Cultural groups value maintaining heritage languages while also learning the ones in their new life environments. Heritage language maintenance is, for example, promoted by immigrant parents and grandparents in the Northern Netherlands, as well as in other locations. Maintaining cultural heritage language also needs innovative instructional approaches and pedagogy. This article presents a study exploring the role of peer collaboration in supporting children’s Chinese heritage language use and learning in New York City. Drawn from sociocultural theory and extended in prior research examining peer collaboration in writing development, we focused on understanding the role of peer collaboration in Chinese immigrant children’s Chinese heritage language use in an after-school (Sunday school) program. In collaboration with organizers of the school, our study involved a 30 min peer collaboration writing activity. The activity invited children to collaborate with a peer to write a letter about the fun experiences they had in the Chinese language school. Interaction processes and products were collected and analyzed to address two primary research questions including the following: What are the languages and peer collaboration processes that children in this Chinese language school used in their conversations and in the text of the letters they created together? How did children’s use of Chinese and English during peer collaboration relate to language in the texts they wrote? Results indicated that children played diverse, mutually supportive roles during their collaboration, such as suggesting narrative sequences for the letter, including confirming/agreeing, and correcting and clarifying, although different pairs balanced such strategies somewhat differently. Among numerous findings is that children used Mandarin most frequently when narrating events that they found enjoyable at the Chinese language school. The findings fill a gap in research on multilingual peer collaboration, in particular with Chinese and English in the United States. In addition to those findings, research in an after-school heritage language program provides a model for innovative research in practice.

Aims and Objectives: While research has focused on effects of language exposure within the family, evidence for the role of the quality and quantity of language exposure within peer contexts for the acquisition of both majority language (ML) and heritage language (HL) skills is still limited. Against this background, the present contribution investigates the patterns in which language exposure within family and peer contexts relate to different bilingual reading outcomes of migrant adolescents. Design: The data used for this contribution provide a unique opportunity to fill in this research gap as it contains standardized reading assessments in the ML and HL as well as questionnaires on language exposure within peer and family contexts. Data and Analysis: Using multinomial regression models with a sample of n = 803 adolescents with German–Russian and German–Turkish language backgrounds, we investigate the role of adolescents’ bests friends’ language backgrounds and language skills as well as adolescents’ language use with parents for the prediction of different bilingual reading outcomes (i.e., skilled bilingual readers, skilled ML readers, skilled HL readers, and low-skilled bilingual readers). Findings: The results indicate that dual inclusion into best friendships with both monolingual German as well as HL peers might be a favorable friendship pattern as it is positively related to both the skilled bilingual reading and the skilled ML reading outcome. Furthermore, we observe a tendency that skilled bilingual readers benefit from having a high-skilled HL speaking best friend. In addition, HL use with parents is an important predictor for HL skills, but not a hindrance for high ML proficiency. Effects of the peer group predictors are rather small, nevertheless they add value for explaining bilingual language outcomes controlling for relevant predictors.

Recent developments in ethnolinguistic vitality research appear to place agreater emphasis on interpersonal language experiences than on the wider intergroup context of ethnolinguistic phenomena. A questionnaire was administered to second-generation Italian Australians to predict Italian language competence and use from (a) subjective ethnolinguistic vitality (SEV), (b) ethnolinguistic identification, (c) societal language support, and (d) interpersonal language experience (interpersonal networks oflinguistic contacts-INLC). Multiple regression procedures revealed, as predicted from social-identity and intergroup perspectives, that language behavior was associated with societal-level language support and, in some circumstances, with ethnolinguistic identification, but not with INLC. It was further revealed that identification was mainly predicted by societal level language support, not by INLC. Unexpectedly, SEV had little relationship with identification or language use.

To what extent is minority language use in society imposed by social determinism, a force acting on individuals based on the language group's relative vitality in terms of demography, institutional support, and status? Can social determinism be countered by the force of self-determination sustained by group members’ personal autonomy, critical consciousness, and strong engaged integrated identity? These questions are addressed by testing a revised Self-determination and ethnolinguistic development (SED) model, using structural equation modeling. This model specifies how three categories of language socialization (enculturation, personal autonomization, critical consciousness-raising) mediate between objective ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) and four psycholinguistic constructs (engaged integrated identity, community engagement, linguistic competencies, subjective EV) in the prediction of minority language use. Results on a large sample of French Canadian students in different EV settings strongly support the SED model and show that social determinism can be at least moderately countered by psycholinguistic constructs that increase individual self-determination.

This research delves into the sociocultural dimensions influencing the preservation or decline of ethnocultural identity within Hemshin heritage communities situated in the Çamlıhemşin and Hemşin districts of Rize province, Turkey. Despite being recognized as a heritage community of the Hemshin language, this group remains relatively understudied. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to explore the maintenance of ethnocultural identity within these communities, characterized by low ethnolinguistic vitality. This ethnographic study employs face-to-face interviews with 103 participants, direct observation, and detailed field note collection conducted between 2021 and 2022 to explore the mechanisms through which Hemshin heritage communities maintain a strong ethnocultural identity. Despite the minimal use of the Hemshin language within these communities, identity preservation is achieved through a combination of contemporary cultural practices and traditional lifestyles. The members demonstrate a deep attachment to their community, reflecting a steadfast commitment to their ethnocultural identity despite their perceptions of low ethnolinguistic vitality (Bourhis and Sachdev, 1984; Johnson, Giles, and Bourhis, 1983, Saint-Blancat, 1985). Furthermore, this study supports Edwards’ (1992) contention that language loss within heritage communities does not necessarily entail a loss of group membership, solidarity, or a sense of belonging. Along the same line, it underscores the resilience of ethnocultural identity, which persists despite linguistic shifts, thus highlighting the multifaceted nature of identity maintenance within such contexts.

This thesis describes language policy practices in Senegal, identifies the languages used by Senegalese people in various social, public, and institutional settings, and details the attitudes of Senegalese people towards their own mother tongues, Wolof, French, and English and these speech communities. It examines also the importance, place, and future of local languages and European languages in Senegal and analyses the issue of language(s) of education in Senegal. To conduct this research, a variety of sampling techniques were used to collect data from a wide range of population-categories including respondents from the general population, public administration, students, and the business sector. Throughout the period of this study, Senegal was undergoing a phenomenal linguistic experience characterised by the sudden arrival and strengthening of English in the country, increasing interest by Senegalese people in local languages, and a gradual decline of the domains of French language use in the country. Against this linguistic backdrop, a number of major findings have resulted from the research including the finding that home languages (in particular, the mother tongues) are dominant in most family and social settings while French is dominant only in public settings. However, the data show that both mother tongues and Wolof are being used increasingly in public institutions; domains that hitherto belonged to French. The language use with people indicates a similar pattern, i.e. local languages are mostly used with close family members and with people in the extended family circle while French is dominant only with people in public institutions. The home languages (mother tongues and Wolof) and, to a lesser extent English, are more popular in public settings, thus reducing the hegemony of the use of French with people in public institutions. The study based on the data collected from the overall sample found also that the attitudes of the Senegalese people towards French, English, and their mother tongues are high and positive but the attitudes towards Wolof show both positive and negative ratings. The results show that, according to Senegalese people, the local languages are not given due importance in the education system. Similarly, they believe that English is not regarded as important in the education system either. Therefore, they request more importance to be given to both languages in the education system. As for French, it is considered very important in the education system and therefore, there were no particular requests to increase its relative importance in education. Further, French is believed to have negative influences in Senegal while this is not the case for English. Regarding the language(s) of instruction, local languages are described as the most appropriate languages for education. However, when languages are analysed in parallel, French maintains its leadership. In general, the Senegalese people have positive attitudes towards the speech communities. However, the attitudes towards the Wolof and French speech communities are both positive and negative. Similarly, the intensity of the desire to learn languages is generally positive but is characterised by the presence of a mix of positive and negative ratings for French and Wolof. However, a cross-sectional analysis shows quite interesting variations across the four population-categories mentioned earlier, mainly regarding language use, the issue of the language(s) of instruction in Senegal, the attitudes of Senegalese people towards languages and towards speech communities, and the intensity of their desire to learn languages - to name but a few areas of variation. The study has resulted in major findings regarding language use in Senegal. One of these is the loyalty of Senegal people towards their languages, that is, first, to their own mother tongue and then to Wolof - as a second language; second the Senegalese people remain attached to the French language, and finally they have a great admiration for English. According to the study, Senegalese people are attached to their language because of the more effective communication opportunities the local languages offer and also because of the positive benefits associated with (early) education in one's own mother tongue. In addition, the respondents believe that local languages help them assert their identity and maintain their cultures. The study found that Senegalese people are attached to the French language because it is an important national language (the official language of the country) and international language (for communication in the Francophone world). As for English, they admire the language because of its prestige and its status as a 'universal' language for communication and its dominance in science, technology, education, and business. The study concludes with a number of recommendations for the improvement of language planning and language-in-education policy in Senegal. The recommendations focus mainly on enhancing considerably the place and role of local languages in the education system, initiating systematic language policy prestige activities, and developing a rigorous policy that fosters positive attitudes towards local languages in general and the Wolof language and the Wolof speech community in particular. As regards the English language, the study recommends offering greater opportunities to learn the language by widespread reinforcement of its teaching in the education system.

The focus of this paper is on the relationships between Turkish speakers’ ethnolinguistic vitality (EV) perceptions and their language maintenance (LM), language use, and choice patterns. The theoretical framework of the study is based on Giles, Bourhis, and Taylor's (1977) EV theory. In line with the model, a subjective EV vitality questionnaire, a Language Use–Choice Questionnaire, and a language rating scale have been applied to 25 Dutch-born Turkish and 64 Turkish-born immigrants in the Netherlands. Subjective EV questionnaire was administered to 104 Dutch informants. The findings of this study contribute further evidence into the role of education for LM and shift. Birth country turns out to be a significant factor for Dutch language skills of Turkish immigrants. While both the Dutch speakers and Turkish immigrants agree upon the vitality of the Dutch, there is significant difference concerning the Turkish vitality ratings. Turkish immigrants seem to compensate for their lower vitality in the mainstream institutions by establishing their own institutional support structures, which partly explains higher LM rates among them.

Globalization and transnational mobility have contributed to linguistic and cultural diversity. Yet small migrant communities trying to preserve their heritage language (HL) face challenges. This study investigates the intersection of family language policies (FLPs), migration, and multilingualism within the Hungarian-speaking immigrant community in Israel, focusing on the social and affective dimensions of HL transmission. Grounded in the FLP framework, it explores how cultural heritage, parental attitudes, and pragmatic considerations shape HL transmission and maintenance, particularly within transnational families, where maintaining ties with extended family often serves as a key motivation. The study involved 51 Hungarian-speaking adults who immigrated to Israel post-2000, with at least one child under 18. Participants were functional multilinguals who used Hungarian (HL), Hebrew (societal language, SL), and English daily. An online questionnaire assessed participants' biographical information, language use, attitudes toward HL maintenance, and code-switching. Self-rated language fluency was measured using the CEFR scale, and data were analysed using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and multilinear regression to identify predictors of HL transmission and maintenance. Thematic analyses (TA) were used to identify and report themes within the qualitative data. Findings revealed that most families adopted bilingual FLPs, balancing HL and societal language (SL) use. PCA identified two significant components: cultural heritage (including parental emphasis on HL literacy, cultural practices, and linguistic immersion) and communication in HL (focused on child-directed HL use). Parental attitudes towards code-switching negatively correlated with HL use, while efforts to transmit cultural heritage positively predicted successful HL maintenance. Multilinear regression analysis identified cultural heritage transmission and attitudes toward code-switching as significant predictors of HL maintenance. Grandparents played a central role in encouraging HL transmission and maintenance, with strong correlations observed between parental efforts and children's ability to communicate with extended family. This study examines how Hungarian-speaking immigrant families in Israel, a small and underrepresented community, maintain their HL. The findings suggest that balanced exposure to both HL and the SL supports HL sustainability, with intergenerational ties playing a key role. However, the study's scope is limited to highly educated, mid-high SES families, so results may not apply to the entire community.