Language Maintenance and Shift Muhammad Azam Research Scholar COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore, Pakistan
Aug 16, 2015
Language Maintenance and Shift
Muhammad AzamResearch Scholar
COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Lahore, Pakistan
Introduction
• What happens when people with different mother tongues meet each others?
• 1. They simply maintained their mother tongue. That’s called “Language Maintenance”
• 2. They shift to the new L2 as their main (or only) language. It is “ Language Shift”
Introduction
• There are three main possible outcomes when speakers are exposed to a second language:
Introduction
• How much time is required for language shift?
Introduction
• However, a ‘three generation shift‘ is not the only possible pattern. Paulston (1994) cites the Greeks in Pittsburgh as experiencing a four generation shift. She attributes this slower shift to the use of a standardized, prestigious written language; access to an institution teaching Greek language and literacy (i.e. Greek churches in Pittsburgh); and arranged marriages with one partner being a monolingual Greek speaker from Greece.
Introduction
• A five stage shift from minority language monolingualism to majority language monolingualism was found by Von Gleich and Wölck (1994) in Peru:
– (1) mono-lingualism in Quechua (Quichua),– (2) bilingualism but Quechua stronger than Spanish,– (3) bilingualism with Quechua and Spanish approximately
balanced, – (4)bilingualism but Spanish dominant over Quechua,– (5) mono-lingualism in Spanish.
Introduction
• Amongst Panjabi, Italian, Gaelic and Welsh communities in Britain, there are occasional ‘fourth generation’ individuals who sometimes wish to revive the language of their ethnic origins.
• The pressure to become part of a larger whole seems to result in a counter-balancing need to have secure roots within a smaller and more domestic community.
Political, Social and Demographic Factors
Political, Social and Demographic Factors
Cultural Factors
Cultural Factors
Linguistic Factors