Module 2: Ancillary links, resources and/or materials

1. Language maintenance and language shift as a field of inquiry.

This link provides Fishman (1964) journal article. The purpose of this link is to provide access to articles that can give a better understanding of language shift.

2. Tere’s English Teaching Notes: Factors Contributing to Language Shift.

The purpose of providing this link is to show a teacher’s personal opinion and experience as an educator about the factors contributing to language shift. 

3. Economic, social and political factors.

With this link, visitors of the website can see a summary of the factors that lead a community to shift from using one language to using another.

4. A Historical Study of the Factors Contributing to Language Shift among the Thai Chinese.

The purpose of providing this link is to provide a journal article that discussed the factors that have promoted language shift in Thai Chinese, which can be seen as an example for other languages.

5. What the experts say about language shift- 2 of 4 Joshua Fishman and Elliot Sperling

The purpose of this link is to show an academic talk by one of the major contributors of the research on language maintenance and language shift.

6. Census 2011 show language shift in Canada 

This link provides a video about how statistics show a language shift in Canada. The purpose of this video is to show an example of how language shift can affect a whole country in the recent years.

Module 2: Glossary

I. Assimilation: “process of giving up non-dominant languages and cultural practices to increasingly exclusive participation in dominant linguist and cultural practices” (de Jong, 2011, p 253).

II. Americanization movement: “efforts that focused on helping immigrants learn English and become ‘American’ in cultural practice; this emphasis was on assimilation” (de Jong, 2011, p. 253)

III. Community: “includes neighborhoods, schools, and peers, social networks, and participation in local religious institutions” (Potowsky, 2013, p.327)

IV. Family: group of two people or more living together in a household, and who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing (U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.)

V. Language loyalty: when language is the pre-eminent badge that expresses a sense of belonging to a national group. Language comes to gain and sustain language group cohesion (Baker, 2006).

VI. Language choice: a bilingual or multilingual person’s decision to speak a certain language in a certain situation (Department of linguistics, 2011).

VII. Language prestige: language that has high standard or respect in a community (Department of linguistics, 2011)

VII. Language policies: formal and informal decisions about language use; including laws, regulations, and statutes, as well as practices (de Jong, 2011).

IX. Linguistic shift: the replacement of one language by another as the primary means of communication and socialization within a community (Mesthrie, Swann, Deumert, & Leap, 2001, p. 253).

X. Network: “a group of people who know each other in some capacity and with differing degrees of intensity” (Stoessel, p.95)

XI. Social network: “informal social relationships contracted by and individual” (Milroy, as cited in Stoessel, 2002, p.95)

Module 2: References

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4^th Ed.). Buffalo: Multilingual Matters.

Brown, N. (2008). Language shift or maintenance? An examination of language usage across four generations as self-reported by university age students in Belarus. Journal of Multilingual & Multicultural Development, 29(1), 1-15.

De Jong, E. J. (2011). Foundations for multilingualism in education: From principles to practice. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

U.S. Census Bureau (n.d). Current population surveys: Definitions. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://www.census.gov/cps/about/cpsdef.html.

Fillmore, L. (2000). Loss of family languages: Should educators be concerned? Theory into Practice, 39(4), 203-210.

Fishman, J. A. (1964). Language maintenance and language shift as fields of inquiry: A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development. Linguistics, 9, 32–70.

Fishman, J. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theory and practice of assistance to threatened languages. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Fishman, J. (2013). Language maintenance and language shift as a field of inquiry: A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development. Linguistics, 51, 1-60. doi:10.1515/ling-2013-003

Hickey, R. (2010). Contact and language shift. In R. Hickey (Ed.), The handbook of language contact (pp.151-169). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Lane, P. (2010). We did what we thought was best for our children: A nexus analysis of language shift in a Kven community. International Journal of the Sociology Of Language, 2010(202), 63-78. doi:10.1515/IJSL.2010.014

Lanza, E., & Svendsen, B. (2007). Tell me who your friends are and I might be able to tell you what language(s) you speak: Social network analysis, multilingualism, and identity. International Journal of Bilingualism, 11(3), 275-300.

Mouw, T., & Yue, X. (1999). Bilingualism and the academic achievement of first- and second-generation Asian Americans: Accommodation with or without assimilation?. American Sociological Review, 64(2), 232-252.

Nawanz, S., Umer, A., Anjum, F., & Ramzan, M. (2012). Language shift: An analysis of factors involved in language shift. Global Journal of Human Social Science, Linguistics & Education, 12(10), 73-80.

Pauwels, A. (2005). Maintaining the community language in Australia: Challenges and roles for families. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 8, 124-131.

Portes, A., & Hao, L. (1998). E Pluribus Unum: Bilingualism and loss of language in the second generation. Sociology of Education, 71(4), 269-294.

Potowsky, K. (2013). Language maintenance and shift. In R. Bayley, R. Cameron, & C. Lucas (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sociolinguistics (pp. 321-339). New York: Oxford University Press.

Schüpbach, D. (2009). Language transmission revisited: Family type, linguistic environment and language attitudes. International Journal of Bilingual Education & Bilingualism, 12(1), 15-30. doi:10.1080/13670050802149499

Sofu, H. (2009). Language shift or maintenance within three generations: Examples from three Turkish-Arabic-speaking families. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(3), 246-257. doi:10.1080/14790710902878684

Stevens, G. (1985). Nativity, intermarriage, and mother-tongue shift. American Sociological Review, 50(1), 74-83.

Stoessel, S. (2002). Investigating the role of social networks in language maintenance and shift. International Journal of The Sociology Of Language, 2002(153), 93-131.

Suslak, D. F. (2009). The sociolinguistic problem of generations. Language & Communication, 29(3), 199-209. doi:10.1016/j.langcom.2009.02.003

MODULE 3: What else is lost when language shift occurs

Introduction Statement 

             This module consists of a brief description of the possible consequences and effects of language shift. As mentioned in module 1, language shift is a phenomenon that is frequently developed in a structure of a three-generation process (Fishman as cited in Portes & Hao, 1998). This means that language shift tends to go hand in hand with a decrease of the first language (L1) use in first generation immigrants, which then leads to a decrease in language proficiency. In the second generation, a clear decline in both (parents L1) language use and proficiency might typically be perceived. By the third generation, it has been found that language shift has been developed, and members of this generation become monolinguals in the language of the host country (Stoessel, 2002). This means that typically, members of the third generation lose their heritage language as a consequence of the language shift which occurred across generations (Baker, 2006).

            It has been discussed in several investigations that  most immigrants tend to promote the acceleration of their children’s second language learning, but ironically they fail to see the possible risk of their children losing their  L1 as they acquire their L2 (Filmore, 2000). Unfortunately, it has been found that the loss of heritage language occurs between the second and third generation (Hickey, 2010). Therefore, language loss is one of the main consequences of language shift and in a broader view language shift has also been identified as the first step towards language death, which can also affect a whole community (Nawanz, Umer, Anjum, & Ramzan, 2012).

            With this in mind, the loss of the heritage language has been identified to have serious negative consequences. According to Potowski (2013), loss of heritage language might generate feelings of linguistic insecurity and identity loss.  Moreover, as language shift promotes the eruption of the language heritage, devastating consequences have been found to exist in the family of those who suffer from language shift across their family generations (Zhou & Bankston, 2000). For instance, some of the consequences resulting from language shift are the weakening of the family relationships (Mouw & Yu, 1999; Potowski, 2013), parental authority diminished (Edstrom, 2010; Guardado, 2006), weakness of communication among members of different generations (Filmore, 2000; Donghui, 2010), and the loss of family and ethnic values transmission (Ishizawa, 2004; Potowski, 2013).

            To see some of the possible consequences and effects of language shift across generations, continue with the activities presented in this module.

Module 3: Goal & Objectives

Module Goal

The goal of this module is to briefly describe some of the consequences and effects of language shift

Module Objectives

Parents and potential visitors of this website will:

            1.     Review some of the consequences and effects of language shift.

            2.      Identify some of the different effects on family relations and heritage transmission due to                        language shift.

            3.      Reflect on how language shift might affect family relations and communications.

Module 3: Activities

Activity 1: Literature Review The Consequences of Language Shift

               The purpose of the following literature review is to describe some of the consequences of language shift discussed by different scholars in the field of bilingual education and linguistics.

               As mentioned in the introduction of this module, language shift has numerous negative consequences and most of them have been identified as having an impact on family relationships (Potowski, 2013). 

                However, language shift also has an effect on the cultural and ethnic continuity across generations (Mouw & Yu, 1999; Stevens, 1985). The transmission of cultural values, beliefs, traditions, and history, mostly occurs through the use of the family language, but when this family or heritage language is lost, the transmission of ethnic factors seems to be inhibited (Mouw & Yu, 1999). The main reason for this is that the members of older generations are considered to be the family historian, who transmits ethnic heritage, values, family traditions and family history to the younger generations (Ishizawa, 2004).

                Although, when a language shift has occurred, the communication among different generations seems to be ineffective, or broken. Therefore, the transmission of heritage values and family traditions by the older generations tends to be minimal (Guardado, 2006). For instance, the middle generations tend often to be a mediator between older and younger generations and there is little direct communication between these two generations (Ishizawa, 2004).

                It has been discussed that language shift might increase family separation and deteriorate family relationships because of the impact of language shift on the communication between older and younger generations (Filmore, 2000). This is because language has been viewed as much more than a technical communication device, but as “a symbol of individuals’ intimate relationships with their families in the past and in the present, with people in the home country, with the new family they build as adults, with friends, and with themselves” (Tannenbaum, 2005, p.248). When this symbol differs among generations due to the language shift, parents might perceive an emotional disconnection with their children. Additionally, feelings such as frustration and guilt might be present among parents for not being able to have a meaningful conversation with their children. Similarly, children feel disconnected with their family members and frustrated by a lack of effective communication. This might lead to provoke feelings of isolation and rejection of and from their own family and culture (Edstrom, 2010).

                On the other hand, it has been argued that language shift has consequences of the identity loss, since there has been found an emotional attachment to the language itself with the identity of a person (Stoessel, 2002). According to Matiki (2009), the language that a person speaks is habitually associated with the cultural group that the person belongs to. Consequently, heritage language is not only used to communicate messages, but it is also a strong indicator of people’s cultural identity. Hence, when heritage language is lost, part of the heritage identity of the individual seems to be lost, too (Guardado, 2006).

                Furthermore, language shift has an impact in the way the home culture views the members of the family who have suffered it. It seems that most of their own cultural group of families who have gone through a language shift perceive them as “bad parents” or “bad role models” for not teaching the children their heritage language (King & Fogle, 2008). As a consequence, parents and grandparents feel guilty for jeopardizing their children’s ability to acquire and maintain not only their heritage language, but their culture (Edstrom, 2010), which might be a decision or a result of diverse factors as described in Module 2.

                 Finally, Zhou and Bankston (2000) agreed that loss of heritage language provoked by language shift might lead to engage in delinquent behavior at school in the quest for a new identity. According to Edstrom (2010), parents feel unable to communicate to their children the cultural norms and socialization practices related to appropriate behavior, since there is a broken bridge in their communication caused by the language shift. Consequently, parents’ authority might be diminished, and loss of control of their child’s behavior might be one of the most devastating consequences of language shift (Potowski, 2013; Zhou & Bankston, 2000).

Activity 2: Hunger of Memory

                This is a reading of an autobiography written in 1982 by Richard Rodriguez. The purpose of providing this reading is to give an example of what might happen in families when parents try to socialize their children in a language they do know well. Also, the aim is to give an example of how communication can be broken in families when language shift is being developed across generations.

Hunger of Memory

By Richard Rodriguez (1982).

                This is a small part of Rodriguez’ autobiography, which describes what took place in his family when his parents attempted to socialize him and his siblings in a language they did not know well. He recalls what happened as he and his siblings moved from Spanish to English after the parents were advised to stop using Spanish at home with the children, and as a consequence, he and his siblings knew little Spanish.

Activity 3: Grandparents convincing their grandchildren to value their heritage culture and language- Chickasaw Adventures

            The purpose of showing this story is to give an example of how language shift might provoke a distance in the relationship of grandparents and grandchildren. Also, it aimed to reflect how grandparents can convince their grandchildren to value their heritage language and culture.

            This is a small part of the comic book entitled Chickasaw Adventures, which tell the story of a Chickasaw teenager named Johnny who uses the power of a sacred ritual object to travel through time and re-visit key moments in Chickasaw history.

            This part of the story starts with the issue that Johnny is complaining about his grandfather. He perceives his grandfather as a peculiar man who says weird things and stories.

This is what happens when his grandfather finally confronts him:

            After reading this small story, it is important to reflect on the relationship among grandparents and grandchildren in our own families.

As grandparents, you might ask yourself,

          -How can you convince your grandchildren to value their heritage, language and culture, since                 you do not have an instrument to transport back through time?

          -What stories would you like to transmit to your grandchildren, but due to the effects of language             shift in your family relationships and communication, you have not been able to do it?

        Please, feel free to share in the space provided in this module your experiences, opinions and answers related to these questions.