Multiculturalism and language shift: A subjective vitality questionnaire study of Sydney Italians

Abstract

Abstract There is a mismatch between the language vitality of Greek, and the language vitality of Italian in Australia. Part of the explanation for the comparatively more rapid language shift in the Italian community may lie in perceptions of ethnolinguistic vitality. Giles, Rosenthal & Young (1985) have examined a Greek‐Australian community using the Subjective Vitality Questionnaire. This paper is a replication in predominantly Italo‐Australian suburbs of Sydney. It compares SVQ results for standard Italian and standard Greek in Australia in order to determine whether the substantial real difference in vitality between these two languages is reflected in perceived vitality as measured by the SVQ. Since Anglo‐Celts are a minority in many parts of Australia's larger cities, our second objective was to see whether perceptions of language vitality of subjects who are not members of the SVQ target language communities differ from those of the SVQ target language communities. The results show that the differe...