The Impact on Language Maintenance and Studies Among Third- and Fourth-Generation Turkish Students in Melbourne, in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract

The research into the maintenance of the Turkish language amongst third- and fourth-generation of Turkish students enrolled into the study of the heritage language is part of a greater ethnographic study on Family Language Policy (FLP) of second- and third-generation Turkish parents in Melbourne, Australia. The study investigated the strategies implemented by families in promoting language choice and methods towards maintenance practices of the heritage language. The research also begins to reveal the impact of declining enrolment numbers into the study of the Turkish language and its impact on language maintenance. Data was collected on the language beliefs and practices of forty-five bilingual families through participant observation and in-depth interviews amongst intergenerational family members including parents, children, and grandparents. The current research stemmed from the initial study to investigate an extensive element specific to the maintenance and study of the Turkish language. The subsequent research was instigated during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby school closures and remote learning were prominent. Families with students enrolled into the study of the Turkish language took part in an online chat forum discussing the impact onsite school closures had on the maintenance of Turkish studies and the continued declining enrolment numbers. Whilst the family home remains for most migrant communities the main domain for language maintenance, formal studies of language education offer an additional platform derived towards heritage language practice as a further strategy in family language policy and planning. The findings reveal that whilst the study of the Turkish language was once a foundation essential for heritage language maintenance amongst the implementations of first-generation Turkish parents, raising their children bilingual; current data reflects a shift in generations to follow second-generation Turkish. The findings reveal the declining enrolment numbers into the study of the Turkish language as an additional factor to the shift in language preference and language maintenance.