Language Transmission Research Articles

“What is language for us?”: Community-based Anishinaabemowin language planning using TEK-nology

Language planning and policy (LPP), as a field of research, emerged to solve the “problem” of multilingualism in newly independent nation-states. LPP’s principal emphasis was the reproduction of one-state, one-language policies. Indigenous languages were systematically erased through top-down, colonial medium-of-instruction policies, such as in Canadian residential schools. To this day, ideologies and policies still privilege dominant classes and languages at the expense of Indigenous and minoritized groups and languages. To prevent further erasure and marginalization, work is required at multiple levels. There is growing consensus that top-down, government-led LPP must occur alongside community-led, bottom-up LPP. One shared and common goal for Indigenous language reclamation and revitalization initiatives across the globe is to promote intergenerational language transmission in the home, the community, and beyond. The affordances of digital and online technologies are also being explored to foster more self-determined virtual communities of practice. Following an Indigenous research paradigm, this paper introduces the TEK-nology (Traditional Ecological Knowledge [TEK] and technology) pilot project in the Canadian context. TEK-nology is an immersive, community-led, and technology-enabled Indigenous language acquisition approach to support Anishinaabemowin language revitalization and reclamation. The TEK-nology pilot project is an example of bottom-up, community-based language planning (CBLP) where Indigenous community members are the language-related decision-makers. This paper demonstrates that Indigenous-led, praxis-driven CBLP, using TEK-nology, can support Anishinaabemowin language revitalization and reclamation and more equitable, self-determined LPP. The CBLP TEK-nology project has implications for status and acquisition language planning; culturally responsive LPP methodologies; and federal, provincial, territorial, and family language policy.

Bio-Inspired Homogeneous Conductive Hydrogel with Flexibility and Adhesiveness for Information Transmission and Sign Language Recognition

The wearable electronic technique is increasingly becoming an effective approach to overcoming the communication obstacles between signers and non-signers. However, the efficacy of conducting hydrogels currently proposed as flexible sensor devices is hindered by their poor processability and matrix mismatch, which frequently results in adhesion failure at the combined interfaces and deterioration of mechanical and electrochemical performance. Herein, we propose a hydrogel composed of a rigid matrix in which the hydrophobic and aggregated polyaniline was homogeneously embedded, while quaternate-functionalized nucleobase moieties endowed the flexible network with adhesiveness. Accordingly, the resulting hydrogel with chitosan-graft-polyaniline (chi-g-PANI) copolymers exhibited a promising conductivity (4.8 S·m-1) because of the uniformly dispersed polyaniline components and a high strain strength (0.84 MPa) because of the chain entanglement of chitosan after soaking. In addition, the modified adenine molecules not only realized synchronization in improving the stretchability (up to 1303%) and exhibiting a skin-like elastic modulus (≈184 kPa), but also provided a durable interfacial contact with various materials. The hydrogel was further fabricated into a strain-monitoring sensor for information encryption and sign language transmission based on its sensing stability and strain sensitivity of up to 2.77. The developed wearable sign language interpreting system provides an innovative strategy to assist auditory or speech-impaired people in communicating with non-signers using visual-gestural patterns including body movements and facial expressions.

From One Bilingual to the Next: An Iterated Learning Study on Language Evolution in Bilingual Societies.

Studies of language evolution in the lab have used the iterated learning paradigm to show how linguistic structure emerges through cultural transmission-repeated cycles of learning and use across generations of speakers . However, agent-based simulations suggest that prior biases crucially impact the outcome of cultural transmission. Here, we explored this notion through an iterated learning study of English-French bilingual adults (mostly sequential bilinguals dominant in English). Each participant learned two unstructured artificial languages in a counterbalanced fashion, one resembling English, another resembling French at the phono-orthographic level. The output of each participant was passed down to the next participant, forming diffusion chains of 10 generations per language. We hypothesized that artificial languages would become easier to learn and exhibit greater structure when they were aligned with participants' bilingual experience (i.e., English languages being easier to learn overall), or as a function of practice (i.e., languages learned second being easier to learn overall). Instead, we found that English-like languages became more structured over generations, but only when they were learned first. In contrast, French-like languages became more structured regardless of the order of learning, suggesting the presence of an asymmetric switch cost during artificial language learning. Moreover, individual differences in language usage modulated the amount of structure produced by the participants. Overall, these data suggest that bilingual experience impacts how novel languages are learned at an individual level, which can then scale up to cultural transmission of novel language at a group level.

Safeguarding intangible cultural heritage: exploring the synergies in the transmission of Indigenous languages, dance and music practices in Southern Africa

ABSTRACT Like other forms of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), Indigenous music and dance cultures have been adversely affected by significant social, economic, technological, and ecological modifications. The resultant transformations in cultural contexts, function, modes of transmission, and performance have endangered the sustainability of several music and dance traditions and their transmission languages. Moreover, efforts to actively support the vitality of jeopardised cultural heritage are being developed and implemented in the emerging fields of applied ethnomusicology, ethnochoreology and linguistics. The area of Indigenous language safeguarding has theoretical, epistemological, and practical models comparable to safeguarding Indigenous music and dance traditions. This similarity is essential to developing interdisciplinary models, policies, and strategies to support the transmission of Indigenous choreomusical and linguistic heritage. Therefore, this article demonstrates how Indigenous music, dance, and language are integral to African cultural heritage and argues for an interdisciplinary community-based model to safeguard them as part of the same cultural ecosystem.

Documenting a Reduction in Signing Space in Nicaraguan Sign Language Using Depth and Motion Capture

In this paper, we use motion tracking technology to document the birth of a brand new language: Nicaraguan Sign Language. Languages are dynamic entities that undergo change and growth through use, transmission, and learning, but the earliest stages of this process are generally difficult to observe as most languages have been used and passed down for many generations. Here, we observe a rare case of language emergence: the earliest stages of the new sign language in Nicaragua. By comparing the signing of the oldest and youngest signers of Nicaraguan Sign Language, we can track how the language itself is changing. Using motion tracking technology, we document a decrease in the size of articulatory space of Nicaraguan Sign Language signers over time. The reduction in articulatory space in Nicaraguan Sign appears to be the joint product of several decades of use and repeated transmission of this newlanguage.

Quebec-based parents’ concerns regarding their children’s multilingual development

ABSTRACT Many parents express concerns for their children’s multilingual development, yet little is known about the nature and strength of these concerns – especially among parents in multilingual societies. This pre-registered, questionnaire-based study addresses this gap by examining the concerns of 821 Quebec-based parents raising infants and toddlers aged 0–4 years with multiple languages in the home. Factor analysis of parents’ Likert-scale responses revealed that parents had (1) concerns regarding the effect of children’s multilingualism on their cognition, and (2) concerns regarding children’s exposure to and attainment of fluency in their languages. Concern strength was moderate to weak, and cognition concerns were weaker than exposure-fluency concerns. Transmission of a heritage language, transmission of three or more languages, presence of developmental issues, and less positive parental attitudes towards childhood multilingualism were associated with stronger concerns. These findings have both theoretical and practical implications: they advance our understanding of parental concerns and facilitate the development of support for multilingual families.

Transmitting white monolingual Anglo-American norms: A concept analysis of “quality of language” in parent-child interactions

AbstractWhite monolingual Anglo-American values permeate language acquisition research, which extends into public health and educational policies. “Quality of language” in parent-child interactions is often called upon to explain weaknesses in the language development of children who are racialized, experiencing poverty, or bilingual. Indeed, many early intervention approaches build on this premise by aiming to improve the “quality of language” used by parents. We aimed to understand the conceptualizations of “quality of language” in studies of parent-child interaction through the critical lens of Community Cultural Wealth Theory and perspectives from development research across cultures. We completed a Systematic Concept Analysis of articles published from 2010 to 2022 and focused on parent-child interactions in the home environment. Our search identified 972 articles and 78 met the inclusion criteria, but only 45 papers provided a definition. These definitions covered eight conceptualizations but only three were previously described. We also found inequity in the use of this terminology, which focused on children who were bilingual, had disability, or experiencing poverty. Informed by a critical lens, we recommend the use of four new terms to encompass “quality of language.” We also recommend refraining from using this term as it is value-laden, poorly defined, and diminishes culturally sustaining language transmission practices.

Acehnese parents’ attitudes and their implications in the intergenerational transmission of the heritage language

This study aims to find out the Acehnese parents’ attitudes toward their heritage language, Acehnese, and its implication for the intergenerational transmission of the Acehnese language in the family domain among Acehnese parents residing in two suburbs of Lhokseumawe city in Aceh Province, Indonesia. This qualitative study collected data from semi-structured interviews with 20 female parents who are from endogamy families and Acehnese native speakers. The results of the study underlined three significant issues. First, the parents’ attitudes toward higher educational degree graduates toward their heritage language are negative, and have low self-esteem to speak their heritage language which gradually resulted in a language shift among female parents. However, the parents with lower educational degrees are more confident to speak Acehnese with a strong sense of belonging to their heritage language. Second, a discrepancy is found between the parents’ declaration and their practices in using Acehnese as a mother tongue in their homes because of educational pressures and negative attitudes of the parents. Last, the traditional pattern of intergenerational transmission of Acehnese has been disturbed in the home domains, and this resulted in the Acehnese language being under threat. Consequently, the ability of Acehnese children in speaking Acehnese deteriorates. This study suggests that the important status of Acehnese needs to be recognized as equally important as Indonesian by strengthening the local content policy and immersion approach in schools. Revising the language planning and policy to improve awareness of the values of Acehnese needs to be done.

Spanish as a heritage language in Europe: a demolinguistic perspective

Abstract This paper offers an estimation of the number of Spanish speakers in Europe in order to analyze the demographic dynamics according to their migratory backgrounds. This demolinguistic approach allows us to quantify this group of Spanish heritage speakers and outline their demographic and linguistic profiles. Through analyzing specific family, social, educational, and geographic settings, this paper identifies a heterogeneous group of 1.7 million Spanish heritage speakers. Moreover, we discuss the social dynamics involved in the intergenerational transmission of the Spanish language in different contexts: spaces in which Spanish is an official language and in which different geographic varieties coexist, and spaces beyond the national borders of predominantly Spanish-speaking countries. In the latter, the demolinguistic analysis suggests that barely a third have been linguistically socialized in environments favorable to the intergenerational transmission of the Spanish language.

A Different Kind of Heroes: The Romanian Anticommunists during Postcommunist Era

In Romania, a hero was always considered to be a historical or cultural figure who fought for the union of all Romanians, for the preservation and transmission of the Romanian language, as well as for the Romanian traditions and values. A person who defied the state (considered as a national asset, Barbu (2004, p. 106)) and cherished values such as freedom, solidarity, communality was perceived as a negative charac-ter. However, the fall of communism in 1989 changed this perception and brought along a new perspective on this category of people. The anticommunist fighters, most of them former political detainees, were/are depicted as a new type of heroes, animat-ed by ideals and values which characterized the West to which Romanians wanted to adhere. My paper investigates this new category of heroes and its main symbols. It discusses the importance of the national myths and the cult of dead in the heroization process. Furthermore, my paper argues that the victimization paradigm and the male dominated Pantheon hinder the acceptance of former political detainees as national heroes.

Echoes from the motherland: Heritage language transmission within the Malawian community in South Africa

This paper explores heritage language transmission among immigrant families in South Africa. Such research is essential to maintaining language for educational purposes and family interactions. This is a very important topic in a multilingual and multicultural country such as South Africa, and it adds new knowledge to the current research on family language policies and heritage languages. Family interactions are central to language transmission. The available literature shows family units as central to language maintenance and sustenance among immigrant families. Research on immigrant language practices in South Africa is sparse, with available research mainly focusing on school experiences. No available research specifically addresses heritage language transmission within Malawian immigrant families in South Africa, which this study aimed to investigate. The research employed a sociolinguistic approach to explore the language transmission of Chichewa within Malawian immigrant families. The theoretical framework positions Chichewa as mainly used in family circles and less at religious and social gatherings. Data were collected through interviews and observations at family and social gatherings. The study finds that the family context is the main domain within which children are exposed to parental heritage language to a consequential degree, whereas social gatherings contribute to a lesser extent. The data show that parental efforts at transmitting heritage language are insufficient for sustainable levels. Although parents wish to preserve some elements of their identities and culture, a signifier of ethnic identity, their children seem not keen to do so. The study uncovered two major reasons for children’s disinterest: fear of anti-foreign sentiments and a lack of attachment to the parental home country. The paper concludes with the identification of an emerging ‘indelible’ heritage language speaker, a phenomenon that could motivate further research in this field.

Wendy Scase, Visible English: Graphic Culture, Scribal Practice, and Identity, c. 700–c. 1550. Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy, 54. Turnhout: Brepols, 2022, xix, 408 pp., 28 color figures.

Visible English provides a sweeping introduction to the status, transmission, and pedagogy of visible language (opposite spoken and heard language, a dichotomy distinct in some ways and identical in others to the oral-literate paradigm) in premodern English. The book also intervenes in discussions of language and identity formation in a novel way by building on the practice and reception of littera theory and pedagogy, the tradition of reading and writing by breaking language into its constituents.

РОЛЬ СЕМЬИ В СОХРАНЕНИИ РОДНОГО ЯЗЫКА

The article substantiates the role of the family institution as one of the most important factors for the preservation of the national language for future generations. The relevance of the study is due to the unsatisfactory state and functioning of the Buryat language, the low level of proficiency and use of the language, especially among young people. The purpose of the article is to reveal the important role of the family in the intergenerational transmission of the native language for its preservation. Based on the analysis of literature, the results of the Population Censuses of the Republic of Buryatia in 2002, 2010, and sociological surveys, we come to the conclusion that the state of the Buryat language causes concern, since the knowledge and the actual use of the language by representatives of the Buryat nationality is steadily falling and, moreover, there is a narrowing of the social functions of the language. In the context of today's socio-cultural processes that negatively affect the state and functioning of native languages in multinational societies, it is the family that becomes an important tool for transmitting and preserving the native language and culture, for transmitting the socio-historical experience of the people to subsequent generations.

TRACING VARIATION IN OLD CHINESE: WHAT, IF ANYTHING, WAS “YǍYÁN 雅言”?

Based on the single pre-Qin attestation of the compound yǎyán 雅言 in the Confucian Analects (Lúnyǔ 論語 7.18) the idea of a normative spoken standard language is often projected back by early modern and modern authors into remote pre-imperial antiquity. An overview of the conceptual history of the term and of the competing etymologies of yǎ in early Chinese texts is offered in order to problematize this “invented tradition” and its ideological baggage. Four types of evidence (uniformity of phonology and syntax in excavated texts, ode citation practices, phonophoric repair by double phonophoric characters, lexical variation) are then presented and their usefulness to support an early written standard of elite inter-communication is discussed. Straightforward creolization and mixed language accounting for the emergence of Old Chinese are rejected. Instead, a scenario of interrupted language transmission in a highly diverse linguistic Sprachbund area is sketched and argued to best account for the observed asymmetries between a high degree of early lexical and orthographical variation (including substrate influences) on the one hand, and phonological and syntactic uniformity of texts from geographically diverse areas on the other.

Microtoponymy in the Interlingual Space: Names of Vilnius Intracity Objects

The article is devoted to the names of intracity topographical objects of the Lithuanian capital and their foreign language transmission. The subject of consideration are the official urbanonyms, used both to fix a specific place in the urban area, and performing a historical and educational function. Particular attention is paid to Lithuanian urbanonyms, the transfer of which into other languages ​​is associated with difficulties and is devoid of unambiguity. The specific speech material analyzed in the article includes Vilnius microtoponyms that have appeared or become relevant in recent times.
 The article outlines certain features of the practical Lithuanian−Russian transcription and contains recommendations for its application. Attention is also paid to the grammatical form of Russian words dating back to Lithuanian toponyms, as well as the specifics of syntactic constructions with these words. The choice of the method of transferring the original toponym in a foreign language in all cases is determined by the aim of maintaining a balance between the authenticity of the name, proximity to the Lithuanian original and the understandability of the name for a foreign user.
 The article is intended to contribute to streamlining the Lithuanian toponyms used in Lithuania and abroad in Russian transmission and is intended primarily for journalists, translators, editors who specialize in local topics and for guides.

Language Revitalization and the Classroom: Video Workshops at an Elementary School in Miyakojima

This paper explores a pedagogy for language revitalization in the specific endangered language context of the Miyakoan language in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. The topic discussed on language revitalization in this paper is a matter of language teaching and learning methodology. The transmission of Miyakoan to the younger generation will be sought in the school domain. There are three guiding research questions: (1) what pedagogy might suit language revitalization, (2) how the school can accommodate this educational goal, and (3) will this educational plan raise pupils’ awareness to learn about the Miyakoan language. First, this paper will review the current direction of Indigenous languages in Japan at the macro socio-historical level. Second, the micro-educational practice will be reported and analyzed. From this micro-educational practice, the role of the school in the community is indicated to become a domain for language revitalization to raise the pupils’ awareness of the local endangered language. The findings also suggest an approach forging the ‘mainstream’ education and pedagogy for language revitalization. Since language transmission is only partially conducted at home in Miyakojima in the 21st century, heritage language education in schools will be essential for revitalizing the language and cosmology of Miyakojima.

Use of internet forums by multilingual families

Raising children in a multilingual family is a demanding task. Seeking support, many parents turn to the internet where they post questions eliciting advice and feedback to forums and blogs. In our study, we identify the most pressing issues around the practice of multilingual upbringing reported in this rich source of data from the perspective of parents themselves. We collected over 500 posts from seven such forums, selected by purposive criterion sampling. We focused on characterizing users’ demographics and identifying most frequent themes. Our sample included mostly Western European and North American families with 2–4 languages each and 2–3 children up to 15 years old. The most frequent inquiries were from parents asking for language transmission strategies to support their minority language, which is especially salient among the children aged 4–6, coinciding with the start of full time schooling, but it lasts longer. Language mixing and finding resources are a concern for younger children but fade with age, although the former remains in the form of language preference by the children. Language mixing is disproportionally present for trilingual or multilingual children (children with three or more languages). Other categories include environmental criticisms, literacy, mobility, raising a child in a non-native language, language delays, linguistic insecurities, timing, and a (large) miscellaneous category.

Language teacher identity and language acquisition in a South Saami preschool: A narrative inquiry

This paper explores language teacher identity (LTI) among three preschool teachers. The focus lies on the preschool teachers’ identities as linguistic role models by means of analysing their own descriptions of language learning, that is, their personal experiences of and reflections on language acquisition. Three interviews were made with different in-service preschool teachers. The interviews were analysed by means of narrative inquiry and thematic analysis and guided by literature on LTI, as well as the researcher’s previous experience and knowledge of the current field. The findings illustrate how the teachers assumed a leading position in the South Saami language revitalisation project and cope with the responsibility tied to that position. The discussion of the narratives revolves around language teaching and learning made salient in the narrative process. The study provides a hopeful view of language revitalisation by showcasing that it is not only the expected first-language native speakers that are driving forces in the process of restoring a broken chain of intergenerational language transmission. It further illustrates a way for an Indigenous academic to investigate settings within their own community and collaborate with other stakeholders in a language revitalisation project to generate new insights on language revitalisation.

Język odziedziczony a język przodków na pograniczach

In this article, I will deal with the issues of the in herited language and the language of ancestors in the Ukrainian-Romanian, Ukrainian-Moldavian and Ukrainian-Russian borderlands. The aim of this article is to show the sociopolitical influences on the transmission of the language in Polish families. Examples of the use, language transmission and learning of the Polish language in the aforementioned border lands will be shown as an example. The criteria for defining Polish as the ancestral language or the language inherited by the interlocutors emerged during the analysis of the linguistic biographies of my interlocutors. These theoretical considerations were based on practical material. The inheritance of the Polish language of two interlocutors was influenced, among others, by being born in a Polish family, close neighborhood, which also spoke Polish; maintaining Polish traditions; practicing religion. The lack of transmission of the Polish language among the interviewee, who was born in the Luhansk region, was due to the fact that her parents did not speak Polish, the father hid his Polish origin, fear of repression and de-portation, living in an urban environment, and lack of contacts with people of Polish origin. This interlocutor started to learn the Polish language as an adult as the language of her new identity, and what is very important, she instilled in children and grandchildren a sense of Polish identification.

Mother Tongue, Father Tongue, Place Tongue: Twenty-First-Century Language Transmission and Language Survival in the Andes and Western Amazonia

Mother Tongue, Father Tongue, Place Tongue: Twenty-First-Century Language Transmission and Language Survival in the Andes and Western Amazonia