Language socialization in Canadian Hispanic families: ideologies and practices - 2008 (original) (raw)
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Language socialization in Canadian Hispanic communities: Ideologies and practices - 2008
Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of British …, 2008
Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of supporting home languages for linguistic-minority families in multilingual settings, as the family language is the means through which they can more successfully socialize their children into the beliefs, values, ideologies and practices surrounding their languages and cultures. Although there has been some research examining issues of Spanish acquisition, maintenance and loss in Canada, the language socialization ideologies and practices of Hispanic families have not yet been examined in this context. This ethnographic study investigated language socialization in immigrant families from ten Spanish-speaking countries residing in Greater Vancouver. Thirty-four families participated, three of which were selected for intensive case study in their homes and in three grassroots community groups. More specifically, the study examined the families' desires and goals with respect to Spanish maintenance, the meanings they assigned to Spanish, and the processes through which they attempted to valorize Spanish with their children.
Language, Identity, and Cultural Awareness in Spanish-Speaking Families - 2008/2011
Canadian Ethnic Studies, 2011
There exists a wealth of research in the areas of heritage languages in the United States. Over the last two decades, the rapidly growing work on Spanish, particularly, is making important strides in the understanding of this research area. Yet, there is only minimal work focusing specifically on language socialization and Spanish maintenance in Canada. In this article, I describe qualitative research examining the contextual factors of the linguistic socialization of Spanish-speaking families and their children in Vancouver, Canada. Analysis of the data indicates that cultural awareness and identity, familism, and home language practices are key factors that cut across a variety of aspects of first language maintenance, both as agents and outcomes.
Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics (CJAL)/ …, 2010
This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Latin American children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of children either developing bilingually (Spanish-English) or monolingually (English). The participating families were from Colombia, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and had children between the ages of three and seventeen. Drawing on semi-structured interview data, the article highlights the complexity of the issues affecting maintenance and loss of L1 and points to the multifaceted nature of the attendant consequences. The discussion mainly revolves around the issues of cultural identity, the role of family, intergenerational communication and the size of the L1 community.
2006
This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Latin American children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of children either developing bilingually (Spanish–English) or monolingually (English). The participating families were from Colombia, Guatemala, and El Salvador, and had children between the ages of three and seventeen. Drawing on semi-structured interview data, the article highlights the complexity of the issues affecting maintenance and loss of L1 and points to the multifaceted nature of the attendant consequences. The discussion mainly revolves around the issues of cultural identity, the role of family, intergenerational communication and the size of the L1 community.
Loss and maintenance of first language skills: Case studies of Hispanic families in Vancouver - 2002
Canadian Modern Language Review/La Revue …, 2002
This qualitative study aims to explore the loss and maintenance of Spanish in Hispanic children in Vancouver from the perspective of parents. It focuses on the experiences of Hispanic parents of children either developing bilingually (Spanish-English) or monolingually (English). The primary method of data collection is the semi-structured interview. Data collected in this study support the notion that first language (Li) cultural identity is crucial to heritage language maintenance in the context of a dominant second language (L2). However, the data contradict previous findings that a narrow linguistic community and the input of one parent are not sufficient for Li maintenance. The bilingual (i.e., Li maintenance) children in the present study had LI input from only one parent and limited LI contacts outside the home. The data also show that the type of encouragement parents give to their children to speak the LI can have a facilitating or a detrimental effect. Therefore, this article urges parents committed to LI maintenance to promote a positive attitude in their children and to address their affective needs accordingly.
Journal of World Languages, 2023
This paper explores from a qualitative and quantitative approach, the complex interactions between second dialect accommodation or acquisition, language socialization, ideologies, family language policies, and identity, among Argentinean immigrants living in Malaga, Spain (n = 72). We found that family language policiesand more specifically mothers' language policies and their stances towards both varieties in contactshape their children's development, connect with their formal school success, determine D1 maintenance, and even affect identity projection. We also found discrepancies between conservative family language policies and linguistic production: what families try to do with language does not always match their own linguistic performance. Through the analysis of different language componentsphonological, morpho-syntactic, and lexicalwe conclude that linguistic accommodation or second dialect acquisition does not always follow a linear path to assimilation, but it is related to early stages of exposure and formal education in the D2 community (optimal age acquisition period), takes place to improve mutual intelligibility, derives from both unconscious and conscious decisions to change D1, and allows speakers to showcase different identities through accommodation or divergence.
Doctoral Dissertation , 2022
The use of a heritage language (HL) at home has been seen as one of the most influential factors in determining its maintenance and is highly shaped by the attitudes parents have towards their language. These parental attitudes thus play a significant role in children's HL socialisation, particularly in environments in which the HL is in competition with multiple minority and/or majority languages, as is the case in many areas of Canada with the two Official Languages (OLs), French and English. In such environments, HL maintenance is not only influenced by the parental attitudes towards the HL itself, but also towards the OLs. Parental attitudes, the language(s) of schooling and overall exposure to each language all play a role in determining if the child will grow up to be monolingual, bilingual, or multilingual. This exploratory study aimed to identify the attitudes of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking parents towards maintaining these HLs in Canada and their children’s language development in their HLs alongside French and English. It also aimed to explore how these attitudes influence their practices with respect to their children’s language socialisation, specifically their family language practices and the language(s) of schooling in which they choose to enrol their children, adding to this area of study that currently lacks descriptive research. Both the qualitative and quantitative results showed that the 315 parent participants generally had positive or very positive attitudes towards their HL and its maintenance in Canada, showing a high desire for their children to develop bilingually or multilingually in their HL and one or both of the OLs. These attitudes supported the family use patterns, with many parents reporting a high use of their HL at home, including those in linguistically intermarried families. Their positive attitudes towards both OLs and a generally high desire for bilingual or multilingual education were supported by the choices they made, when possible, in the language(s) of education of their children. The lack of quality and/or accessible options was noted by many and shows a growing need for more educational offerings in these two HLs. The results may be used in determining best practices for the transmission and maintenance of Spanish and Portuguese in a linguistically-diverse Canada.
Bilingual Research Journal, 2001
Latinos in Canada are receiving attention because of frequent poor performance in school. This phenomenon turns out to be connected to a number of basic problems that can only be understood through investigation of institutional processes with routine operations that may disadvantage certain minorities. This paper presents and discusses part of the data collected in a larger research project on Latino families and Canadian schools. Bilingual Latina researchers used participant observation and action research techniques to report on the home language practices of 45 Latino families and how the school's routine processes influenced those practices. Findings include the following: (a) parents saw Spanish maintenance as a way to foster family unity, Latino identity, and professional advancement; (b) the strong assimilative pressures experienced by parents often resulted in their doubting the desirability of openly speaking Spanish at home; (c) because the children were losing their home language rapidly, the parents used a number of strategies; and (d) there are several things that parents would like to see happen that would enable them to maintain Spanish. Our findings indicate the necessity for schools to proactively recognize and build on the family's cultural capital, including their home language.