This study investigated heritage language (HL) maintenance and ethnic identity among Korean heritage speakers in the Pacific region (Australia, New Zealand, and Hawaii), an understudied population in the field. It focused on patterns of language use and factors (i.e. age at immigration (AI), self-rated language proficiency, and frequency of…

Diasporic Indian languages in Malaysia are unique and distinguishable from their native variants. Past studies have indicated that dominant languages tend to overpower minority languages in multilingual communities, hence causing languages to shift. The aims of this study are to identify the language choices of Malaysian Tamils and to what extent…

Research on multilingualism in the home has approached the family as a fixed unit thus neglecting the dynamic view of the family and its intersection with family language practices. The present study aims to address this gap by focusing on Russian-speaking mothers in Finland who have raised their children bilingually in single-parent as well as in…

Despite the high number of recognised Indigenous groups who are struggling to maintain their languages, cultures, and identities in Russia, there is little research done on the matters of cultural and linguistic revitalisation. This study sought to address this gap by exploring the views of two Indigenous groups, Karelian and Mari, on the…

This is an article on the relation between the market for Sámi language in a contemporary bilingual Norwegian nursing home and the Norwegian history of the Sámi language. Bilingual nursing homes are supposed to invest in the Sámi language and thus increase its value. It was, however, difficult to identify investments in the Sámi language in the…

The article presents a comparative analysis of the subjective vitalities (SVs) of the minority groups of Latvia (Russian-speakers), Lithuania (Russian-speakers and Poles) and Mari El (Maris) in the Russian Federation, with a particular focus on the Mari case. The same extended version of the SV questionnaire was used in quantitative surveys in all…

Educational issues in relation to ethnicity and language education policies have been underexplored in Asian contexts. In particular, issues related to ethnic and linguistic minority students have not received much attention in the post-colonial context of Hong Kong. This paper highlights challenges and tensions faced by Nepali ethnic minority…

This article presents the results of an analysis of reported interlocutors in Spanish in a group of heritage speakers (HS), in three communities of the US Midwest. Participants were college-aged bilinguals developing their own personal and professional networks outside the direct influence of their parents. Responses are compared with those from…

Ethnolinguistic vitality theory asserts that Status, Demographic, Institutional Support and Control factors make up the vitality of ethnolinguistic groups. An assessment of a group's strengths and weaknesses in each of these dimensions provides a rough classification of ethnolinguistic groups into those having low, medium, or high vitality. Low…

This paper highlights the fact that language endangerment in some multilingual developing societies is causal to the violent ethnic conflicts in those societies. Endangered language identity groups shift to the dominant language groups. But, over time, a concatenation of factors and nuanced realisation of perceived marginalisation (showing overtly…

Using as a framework the theory of the ecology of language formulated by Einar Haugen, compares two Finnish minorities in Sweden, one which ceased to exist in the middle of this century and one, the Tornedal Finnish minority, which still exists. Discusses circumstances favorable to the preservation of Finnish in the Tornedal. (SED)

Discusses the status of the Same (Lappish) language which is distributed into six different dialect groups. Earlier research into the problems relating to the linguistic behavior of a Same group living in Finland and the position and use of their minority language is analyzed in terms of demographic, social structural, and political-legal factors.…

Discusses the assimilation process of the Kven (descendants of Finnish-speaking immigrants from Northern Finland and the Tornio River Valley in Sweden to Northern Norway) and the historical factors and government policies which has lead to their status today as an assimilated group speaking the majority language. (SED)

Asserts that in order to participate in and contribute to the development of a cohesive multicultural society, it is not necessary for the members of minority groups to become monolingual speakers of English, and that the goal of a multicultural society should be to appreciate the value of each cultural group. (SED)

Discusses the role of the school in supporting minority group identity, particularly through language maintenance programs. While language shift may not be countered by schools acting in isolation, identity can be maintained through periods of language shift. (Author/CB)