1. Loss of Language in Immigrant Language
Jessica Jordan
Objectives
Many researchers have found that after families immigrate
to America, they begin to lose their language. More
specifically only certain languages seem to be lost over
time. There have been case studies on families over a span
of generations in order to find what contributes to the loss of
language in a Chinese family, Ukrainian family, and the
Hispanic population specifically. Researchers have found
that personal, social, and political factors all come into play
and contribute to the loss of language. Studying why there is
a loss of language is important because it composes and
individual’s identity and the continuation of language is
important to keep it from becoming extinct in certain areas.
While there has been research done on specific families
over generations, it is important to look at all different types
of families or individuals with different backgrounds and
different languages. By doing this there may become a
clearer answer and solution on what can be done to keep
from immigrant families losing their language.
Methods
There are several different ways in which I could go
about obtaining information on how language is lost. The
best way to obtain information in regards to my topic
would have been to study multiple immigrant families
from the Chicago area over a period of multiple
generations. However, this was not doable given my time
constrictions. Originally I would have liked to do a survey
using logic, so that I would be able to pool a large
amount of data from the Chicago area seeing how
language is affected in large scale. This, however, was
not an option because I did not have access to the proper
resources so I opted for interviewing a small pool of
individuals from different backgrounds. Each individual I
picked was different from the others in one way or
another, whether it was what generation American they
were or their background ancestry. I conducted an
interview which questioned their language and whether
they kept their immigrant language or lost it, and more
importantly I tried to ask questions that gave me an
understanding as to why this was and how they felt about
it in relation to their identity.
Results
• First and second generation American kept their immigrant
language
• After third generation American individuals could no longer speak a
second language fluently
• All participants felt as if their language, lost or retained, is part of
their identity
• Personal choices by the parents have a strong influence over the
continuation of language
• Social influences effected a small portion of individuals coming from
European countries, this did not apply to the Hispanic individuals
• Political influences seem to have had little to no effect on the
individuals in which interviewed
• Those who lost their language wish they were taught to speak it
• Those who kept their language plan on teaching it to their children
• Overall my data supports the research that I have found. The
majority of participants lost their language after the third generation
and the majority of participants kept their language within the first
and second generations. There are personal and social reasons
that influence language, however, political reasons do not seem to
have affected the participants. There are feelings of regret for those
who lost language.
0
2
4
6
8
Influences on Language
Participant
Repsonse
Figure 1: This graph shows the
responses of the influences that
affected those interviewed
language negatively or positively
0
1
2
3
4
5
Continuation of Language
Participant
Responses
Figure 2: This graph shows the
number of participants who
retained language in different
generations
Discussion
My hypothesis before starting my research was that the majority
of participants would have lost their immigrant language by the
third generation. I performed this study in order to find why
immigrant families lose their language after the second
generation and the influences and effects of it. In Figure 1 it
shows the responses from participants in regards to what
influenced their language positively or negatively. The majority of
participants said that personal and social reasons affected their
ability to retain their language. In Figure 2 it shows the responses
from participants in regards to what generation American they are
and still able to speak their families’ language. As the graph
shows after the third generation participants had lost their
language within previous generations. The weaknesses in my
study was the lack of time because an interview is not enough
time to fully understand the loss of language as well as the
continuation of it, as well as the small size of my participants
which narrows my results.
References
(1)Bodnitski, Joanna. "First Language Maintenance Or Loss: Ukrainian Immigrant Families' Perspectives." Order No. MR29549 York
University (Canada), 2007. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 6 May 2014. (2)Zhang, Donghui. “Between Two Generations: Language
Maintenance and Acculturation Among Chinese Immigrant Families.”El Paso: LFB ScholarlyPub. LLC, 2008. eBook Academic
Collection (EBSCOhost). Web, 6 May 2014. (3)"Massey Study Shows Rapid Loss of Spanish Language among Mexican Immigrants
in the United States." Princeton University. Trustees of Princeton University, 13 Sept. 2006. Web. 06 May 2014