Individual Differences in SLA: Socialization

1. Individual Differences in SLA: Socialization Fundamental question: How are people different socially – that is, how are they situated differently relative to race, ethnicity, class, economic status, culture, country of origin, and similar categories – and how do these differences influence the process of and success in SLA? 1

2. Individual Differences in SLA: Lge Contact What happens when groups of people who -- speak different languages; and are differently situated relative to race, ethnicity, class, economic status, culture, and / or country of origin -- come into permanent contact through processes of immigration, migration, colonization, invasion, etc? 2

3. Individual Differences in SLA: Lge Contact Joshua Fishman suggested a very productive taxonomy of outcomes: language maintenance, shift, and relatively stable bilingualism. Fishman, Joshua A. (1964). Language maintenance and language shift as a field of inquiry: A definition of the field and suggestions for its further development. Linguistics 9, 32–70. Fishman, Joshua A. (1969). The measurement and description of widespread and relatively stable bilingualism. The Modern Language Journal, 53, 152–156. 3

4. Individual Differences in SLA: Maintenance Language maintenance means that the immigrant group retains their language as their primary language, over multiple generations. What are some examples of this? Amish – German Hassid – Yiddish African American – BVE Others? 4

5. Individual Differences in SLA: Maintenance Why have these groups maintained their language? Maintaining identity – as a way of hanging on to their old ethnic or group identity. Resisting socialization – as a way of resisting assimilation into the new ways of thinking and acting (“social roles, cultural affiliations, beliefs, values and behavioral practices” [Lam, p. 46]) of their new or changed geographical home. Language maintenance sets a people apart; language serves as a very visible symbol of social (and all that it implies) difference among groups. 5

6. Individual Differences in SLA: Maintenance Issue: Choice In some situations, language maintenance is a choice made by the speakers of these languages. The Amish in the United States choose to speak German; they choose to reject the dominant culture through language and other choices (clothes, religion, etc.). 6

7. Individual Differences in SLA: Maintenance Issue: Choice In other situations, language maintenance is imposed on speakers. Here, the dominant group does not encourage / will not allow shift as a means of denying access to the social and cultural capital that attaches to linguistic status, that is to “the power structure of society that privileges those who are socialized with particular linguistic and cultural dispositions” (Lam, p. 46). Examples of this? British colonial venues, where indigenous languages are privileged in education Post apartheid South Africa, where indigenous languages are similarly privileged 7

8. Individual Differences in SLA: Shift Language shift means that speakers of other languages gradually give up their languages in favor of the dominant language, sometimes over the course of several generations. What are some examples of these groups? European immigrants to the US – The Godfather, or My Great-Great Grandfather Chinese to SE Asia, Thailand, Cambodia, etc. Classic three generation language shift model: immigrant speaks only heritage language children (perhaps born abroad) are bilingual: heritage language and dominant language grandchildren speak only dominant language. 8

9. Individual Differences in SLA: Shift Why have these groups shifted language? Because they recognize the capital that attaches to the language – economic, political, cultural. Because they do not resist the “social roles, cultural affiliations, beliefs, values and behavioral practices” of their new geographical home (Lam, p. 46). Because they want to become the dominant group. For these groups, language shift is simply one of many artifacts of assimilation: over several generations they become the dominant group, linguistically and culturally. 9

10. Individual Differences in SLA: Shift Issue: Demographics To a certain extent, demographics facilitates assimilation – it was easy for my great-great grandfathers to assimilate, because they looked like the dominant group. It is less easy for others (Africans, Asians, Latinos) to assimilate because, no matter what language they speak, they do not look like the dominant group. But note Lam’s informant’s comment about ABCs: “we feel that they’re like white people” (p. 50). Have they assimilated? Assimilation differs in different settings / countries. 10

11. Individual Differences in SLA: RSB In between maintenance and shift is relatively stable bilingualism. This is a form of diglossia (where two languages exist side by side, in functional distribution; Greek: di-, two; + glossa, tongue, language). In RSB, the immigrant group learns the dominant language for certain purposes (functions) maintains their heritage language for others. 11

12. Individual Differences in SLA: RSB What are some examples of relatively stable bilingualism? Germans in the U.S. before WWI. Chinese in San Francisco Cubans in Miami Why have these groups become bilingual, whereas other groups have shifted to English or maintained their original language primarily? What are the functions associated with the “other” language in these situations? 12

13. Individual Differences in SLA: RSB What are the functions associated with the “other” language in these situations? Garcia (1995) argues that it is the economic utility of Spanish in Miami that facilitates bilingualism in the Cuban immigrant community. Garcia, O. (1995). Spanish language loss as a determinant of income among Latinos in the United States: Implications for language policy in schools. In J. Tollefson (Ed.), Power and inequality in language education (pp. 142-160). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Is there a correlation between the vitality / longevity of the other language and the function it serves? 13

14. Individual Differences in SLA: Globalization Language maintenance, shift, and stable bilingualism are outcomes of immigration (and colonization / invasion) – i.e. of language contact in a world organized by nations. What of language contact in a global world organized around spaces that transcend national boundaries in complex and discontinuous ways? With this in mind, let us turn to the discussion for today: Lam, W.S.E. (2004). Second language socialization in a bilingual chat room: Global and local considerations. Language Learning and Technology, 8(3), 44–65. 14