Language maintenance in friendships: second-generation German, Greek, and Vietnamese migrants

Winter, Joanne; Pauwels, Anne

Abstract

Our contribution explores the language maintenance (LM) patterns of children of migrants (second-generation) to Australia from three ethnolinguistic groups — German, Greek, and Vietnamese — in their same-age peer friendships. Focusing on the affective social relationship of “friendship” imagined as a dynamic fluid site of independence and a locale for identity formation, we scrutinize it as a pressure point for LM. The macro survey trends indicate that languages other than English (LOTE) are used in the friendship domain but with differing participations. Follow-up in-depth interviews reveal subtleties and complexities for LM practices. Co-presence of bilingual others in friendships proves to be a minimum but not sufficient condition for LM, particularly for German men and Greek women. Hyphenated belongings — for example, Vietnamese-, Greek-, German-Australians — construct varying LM alignments that reflect shared histories and authenticities (the migration experience) and the localizing of settlement (Australia).

Citation

Winter, J., & Pauwels, A. (2006). Language maintenance in friendships: second-generation German, Greek, and Vietnamese migrants. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2006(18), 123-139. https://doi.org/10.1515/IJSL.2006.044

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Aug 16, 2006
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2006
• Deposit Date: Aug 25, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 25, 2019
• Journal: International Journal of the Sociology of Language
• Print ISSN: 0165-2516
• Electronic ISSN: 1613-3668
• Publisher: De Gruyter
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2006
• Issue: 18
• Pages: 123-139
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/IJSL.2006.044