What a language is good for: Language socialization, language shift, and the persistence of code-specific genres in St. Lucia

2005 ◽  
Vol 34 (03) ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL B. GARRETT
Keyword(s):  
Language Socialization ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Good For

Ideology, affect, and socialization in language shift and revitalization: The experiences of adults learning Gaelic in the Western Isles of Scotland

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMILY McEWAN-FUJITA
Keyword(s):  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Language Socialization ◽  
Language Revitalization ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Minority Language ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Scottish Gaelic ◽  
Micro Level

ABSTRACTThe intertwined role of language ideologies and affect in language shift and revitalization can be understood by taking a language socialization perspective on local micro-level interaction between adult Gaelic learners and fluent Gaelic-English bilinguals. Seven adults living in the Western Isles were interviewed about their efforts to learn and speak Scottish Gaelic, a minority language spoken by 1–2% of Scotland’s population. Their negative affective stances in describing their interactions with local Gaelic-English bilinguals indicate that they were being socialized into an ideology of local Gaelic-English sociolinguistic boundaries: an “etiquette of accommodation” to English speakers and wariness about public Gaelic speaking. This socialized combination of ideology and negative affect reduces opportunities for Gaelic speaking, hindering both Gaelic learners’ efforts to become fluent speakers and their potential contribution to language revitalization. In contrast, however, the interviewees described “sociolinguistic mentors” who socialized them into a more inclusive vision of Gaelic speaking laden with positive affect.1

Crossing the Line in Quebec and Catalonia

2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. O'Donnell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Life Style ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Mixed Marriage ◽  
The Future ◽  
Quebec French ◽  
Good For

The linguistically “mixed” marriage stands at the crossroads of important factors in the future of French in North America and Catalan in Europe: reversing language shift. While Quebec and Catalonia initially appear strikingly similar, one could easily conclude that if the couple exogamique is good for the future of Catalan, it will also favor francisation in Quebec. Strong evidence indicates that demographic, linguistic, socioeconomic, and even “life-style” factors may make linguistic exogamy favorable to Catalan, but marginally disadvantageous to Quebec French. With “mixed” couples (whether married or not) increasing in number in both countries, the linguistic outcome of the “mixed” household becomes increasingly important to language planners.

Triadic directives in Navajo language socialization

2001 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARGARET FIELD
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Socialization ◽  
Practice Theory ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
Navajo Language ◽  
Patterns Of Interaction

This article argues that certain aspects of language use may be more resistant to change than is language code. In communities undergoing language shift, researchers have noted ways in which indigenous patterns of interaction may be retained after the language used has shifted to English. It is argued that aspects of a speech community's interaction that are most tacit are also the most resistant to change, and are maintained through mundane routines and forms of everyday interaction. Such contexts for language use typically are the focus in studies of language socialization, which bring the theoretical perspectives of both practice theory and Bakhtinian dialogicality to bear on the question of how interactional and linguistic routines are maintained and transmitted across generations. Analysis here focuses on one particular interactional routine: the giving of directives involving a triadic participation structure, between caregivers and children in a Navajo community.

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