Family Language Policies of Refugees

276 Pages·2015·2.3 MB·English

Family Language Policies of Refugees:
Ethiopians and Colombians
in New Zealand
By
Melanie Sandra Revis

A thesis
submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington
in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

Victoria University of Wellington
2015
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Abstract
There has been a surprising dearth of research on language maintenance and shift in New
Zealand over the last decade. This thesis addresses this gap by examining incipient patterns
of language maintenance and shift in families in two refugee communities in Wellington.
Earlier research suggests that immigrants may maintain their ethnic languages in spite of
societal factors pressuring language shift for up to three generations. By then, however,
language shift is often completed, with the third generation using the majority language only
(Fishman 1991). In a largely monolingual country such as New Zealand, this shift may be
accomplished in only two generations (Holmes et al. 1993).
Understanding the language dynamics at the micro level that eventually lead to language
maintenance or shift requires more research into actual language use among family members
than traditional methods provide. This investigation therefore uses ethnographic observations,
semi-structured interviews and recordings of naturally-occurring interactions between
mothers and their children to highlight the challenges involved in transmitting a minority
language. Using Spolsky’s (2004) tripartite model of language policy, I investigate family
language beliefs, practices, and management in the refugee-background Ethiopian and
Colombian communities.
The Amharic-speaking Ethiopian community consists mostly of first and second generation
members. They first settled in New Zealand in the 1990s and now display awareness of the
challenges of maintaining their language. Most Ethiopian parents consider it their
responsibility to teach their children Amharic in the home and many have introduced explicit
language policies to promote Amharic use. These families exhibit an ‘impact belief’ (De
Houwer 1999) which links their positive beliefs about Amharic with their management of
family language practices. Nevertheless, in some cases children subvert and contest explicit
language management and become primary agents of language shift. Supporting the parents’
efforts, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church provides a social space where Amharic may be used
backed by an explicit policy which requires all members to use the language when at church.
This policy provides valuable institutional support and cultural capital for Amharic and
contributes to the vitality of the language in Wellington.
The Colombian community has had a relatively shorter stay in Wellington, with the first
members arriving as recently as 2008. Colombian mothers want to transmit Spanish and
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many seem confident that their children will maintain the language. In particular, they
consider the Colombian variety of Spanish to be a source of pride and a core value (Smolicz
1992), as many participants closely link this variety to their Colombian identity. They further
capitalise on the prestige of Spanish as a world language that motivates them to use it even
outside their ethnic community. However, few families have put in place explicit language
policies to use Spanish in the home; instead, many regard it as a more urgent concern that
their children learn English.
Overall, despite the community members’ positive attitudes towards their ethnic languages,
their efforts to transmit these languages appear to be constrained by the fact that English is
invested with considerable cultural capital (Bourdieu 1977) in New Zealand. English
acquisition often takes priority, particularly for many newly arrived Colombian families. The
participants’ refugee experiences, length of residence in New Zealand and the societal status
of their ethnic languages seem influential factors on the degree of control they assume over
their children’s language practices. Families also dynamically adapt their language policies to
the circumstances, for example by introducing an explicit minority language policy after their
children have acquired what they consider to be enough English. Despite a strong desire for
their children to continue speaking the ethnic language, the parents have many other (non-
linguistic) responsibilities and they frequently lack knowledge about “success strategies” for
minority language transmission. Moreover, the children often take significant agency by
introducing English into the home domain, in some cases even influencing other family
members to use it, and thus initiating language shift. The detailed interactional data in this
research provides insight into the different ways parents have instantiated their varying
language policies and negotiated home language choice with their children.
In sum, this research provides insight into language transmission efforts at the family level,
and, using data from observations, interviews and recordings of mother-child interaction,
describes in detail the unfolding of language maintenance dynamics. The thesis presents
valuable insight into the underlying beliefs about Amharic and Spanish, the role of explicit
language management strategies, parental socialisation and discourse styles and children’s
agency. As the first such research covering two recent refugee communities it will hopefully
assist the individual families to socialise their children in a way that enables them to become
proficient minority language speakers. This will ensure a linguistically rich future for New
Zealand.
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Acknowledgements

These three past years have been eventful in many ways and I have received wonderful
assistance from many sides. First of all, I would like to thank my primary supervisor
Professor Janet Holmes and my secondary supervisor Associate Professor Meredith Marra for
their fantastic guidance, encouragement, correction, patience and super-fast correspondence.
Your depth and speed of commenting on my writing have surprised me time and again.
I’m also appreciative of the Victoria University of Wellington Doctoral Scholarship and the
Faculty Research Grants, which have allowed me to present my research at conferences
nationally and overseas and to meet “the people behind the names” as I came into contact
with many academics whose frameworks and ideas have inspired my own writing. In this
regard, I’d like to thank Bernard Spolsky whose positive feedback after one of my
presentations greatly encouraged me, and whose subsequent comments motivated me to
explore some further issues in greater depth.
I would like to express my gratitude to staff and students at LALS for being available for
chats and for providing me with company as we went on this PhD journey together. In
addition, Dr Mary Roberts and Dr Deborah Laurs have frequently commented on my writing
and acted as sounding board for my ideas. They have helped me find a greater degree of
logical coherence. I have always looked forward to our meetings, thanks so much for
listening to me and for your encouraging feedback!
My gratitude also goes to my family, especially to Mama, Oma, Karin and Jürgen, who have
supported my academic career so far and surprised me with many care parcels filled with
German sweets. Sadly, my dad passed away when I was only few months into my PhD - I
miss you and I will always remember our fun times together! I especially thank my husband
Mike, who was an amazing “PhD husband”. I thank you for your patience when I
stayed in the office late and read and wrote on holidays, and for your sweet acts of love, like
the times that you cooked dinner and showed up to surprise me. We met the day before I
started my PhD - where will God take us now that it is finished? I look forward to a life of
adventure with you!!
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Last but not least, the Ethiopian and Colombian communities in Wellington deserve big
thanks – thank you so much for allowing me to get to know you, to draw on your expertise
and your own sociolinguistic insights and for being so welcoming. Dear Ethiopian families:
You have a beautiful culture and language and your determination to keep them alive in New
Zealand is a great inspiration. Dear Colombian families: I have learned a lot from spending so
much time with you. You have been a great support and encouragement during the last three
years. Muchísimas gracias por las horas que pasamos juntos compartiendo cositas de la vida,
y gracias por su ánimo, apoyo y sus oraciones. I really hope this work can benefit your
language maintenance efforts and your children will grow up as confident bi- and
multilinguals in New Zealand. This PhD is dedicated to all of you who are experiencing the
beauties and challenges of raising bilingual children.

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Table of Contents
1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 1
1.1 Research aims ........................................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Societal context: Multicultural New Zealand ........................................................................................... 5
1.2.1 From assimilation to multiculturalism ............................................................................................ 5
1.2.2 Influences on the health of minority languages .............................................................................. 8
1.3 The two communities ............................................................................................................................. 13
1.3.1 The Ethiopian community ............................................................................................................ 14
1.3.2 The Colombian community .......................................................................................................... 17
1.3.3 Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 20
1.4 Thesis overview...................................................................................................................................... 20
2 Literature Review ....................................................................................... 23
2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 23
2.2 Family language policy .......................................................................................................................... 24
2.2.1 Language beliefs ........................................................................................................................... 28
2.2.1.1 Personal experiences, societal ideologies and published research ...................................... 28
2.2.1.2 Economic influences on language beliefs ........................................................................... 29
2.2.1.3 Cultural influences on language beliefs .............................................................................. 31
2.2.1.4 Core values and the role of religion .................................................................................... 35
2.2.2 Impact belief ................................................................................................................................. 37
2.2.3 Language management and practices ........................................................................................... 40
2.2.3.1 Parental language input ....................................................................................................... 41
2.2.3.2 Activities to foster language development .......................................................................... 43
2.2.3.3 Parental responses to their children’s use of dispreferred language .................................... 48
2.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 51
2.4 Research questions ................................................................................................................................. 53
3 Methodology ............................................................................................... 55
3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 55
3.2 Ethnographic research design ................................................................................................................. 58
3.2.1 Tenets of ethnography .................................................................................................................. 58
3.2.1 Access to community members .................................................................................................... 60
3.2.2 Constructing my role as an ethnographer ..................................................................................... 64
3.2.3 Interviews ..................................................................................................................................... 66
3.2.3.1 Interviews with mothers ...................................................................................................... 66
3.2.3.2 Interviews with children ...................................................................................................... 72
3.2.4 Recordings of naturally-occurring speech .................................................................................... 74
3.2.5 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................. 75
3.2.5.1 Model for data analysis ....................................................................................................... 77
3.3 Summary ................................................................................................................................................ 78
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4 Family Language Policy in the Ethiopian Community .......................... 81
4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 81
4.2 Language beliefs .................................................................................................................................... 82
4.2.1 Adults’ beliefs about cultural identity ........................................................................................... 82
4.2.1.1 Self-positioning ................................................................................................................... 82
4.2.1.2 Cultural acts of identity ....................................................................................................... 86
4.2.1.3 Links between Amharic and Ethiopian identity .................................................................. 87
4.2.2 Children’s beliefs about cultural identity ...................................................................................... 90
4.2.1 Influence of religious beliefs on linguistic beliefs ........................................................................ 98
4.2.2 Amharic as cultural capital ......................................................................................................... 101
4.2.3 Personal motivations ................................................................................................................... 103
4.2.4 Contrasting status of Amharic and English at the societal level ................................................. 104
4.2.5 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 106
4.3 Language management and practices ................................................................................................... 106
4.3.1 Socialisation Scenario A ............................................................................................................. 108
4.3.2 Socialisation Scenario B ............................................................................................................. 113
4.3.2.1 Amharic socialisation and language negotiation ............................................................... 113
4.3.2.2 Influence of other family members on FLP....................................................................... 115
4.3.2.3 Teaching resources ............................................................................................................ 116
4.3.2.4 The child’s perspective ...................................................................................................... 117
4.3.3 Socialisation Scenario C ............................................................................................................. 121
4.3.4 Socialisation Scenario D ............................................................................................................. 122
4.3.4.1 Dilingual discourse ............................................................................................................ 122
4.3.4.2 English as a medium of communication ........................................................................... 124
4.3.4.3 The one person - one language strategy ............................................................................ 125
4.3.5 Socialisation Scenario E ............................................................................................................. 128
4.4 Case study: Hiwot ................................................................................................................................ 129
4.4.1 Hiwot’s cultural identity ............................................................................................................. 130
4.4.2 Hiwot’s language management strategies and practices ............................................................. 133
4.5 Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 135
5 Family Language Policy in the Colombian Community ...................... 137
5.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 137
5.2 Language beliefs .................................................................................................................................. 138
5.2.1 Cultural identification ................................................................................................................. 138
5.2.1.1 Links between Spanish and Colombian identity ............................................................... 140
5.2.2 Spanish as cultural capital ........................................................................................................... 142
5.2.3 Personal motivations ................................................................................................................... 144
5.2.4 Spanish loss ................................................................................................................................ 146
5.2.5 English as a world language ....................................................................................................... 147
5.2.6 English as a cause of frustration ................................................................................................. 150
5.2.7 Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 151
5.3 Language management and practices ................................................................................................... 152
5.3.1 Socialisation Scenario A: Angélica’s Spanish-only management .............................................. 154
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5.3.1.1 Spanish socialisation ......................................................................................................... 155
5.3.1.2 Exposure to English and linguistic insecurity ................................................................... 158
5.3.1.3 Angélica’s discourse styles ............................................................................................... 161
5.3.1.1 Reciprocal exchange of capital .......................................................................................... 164
5.3.2 Socialisation Scenario C: Daniela and Eduardo’s ‘move-on’ style ............................................ 167
5.3.2.1 Spanish socialisation ......................................................................................................... 167
5.3.2.2 English use in the family ................................................................................................... 169
5.3.2.3 Parental discourse styles .................................................................................................... 172
5.3.3 Socialisation Scenario D: Laura’s failed teaching attempts ........................................................ 176
5.3.3.1 Spanish socialisation ......................................................................................................... 177
5.3.3.2 Language negotiation ........................................................................................................ 179
5.3.4 Socialisation Scenario E: Maritza’s English management .......................................................... 182
5.4 Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 186
6 Discussion .................................................................................................. 191
6.1 Research question 1: What language beliefs exist in the ethnic communities and how are these
connected to cultural identity claims? ............................................................................................................ 192
6.1.1 Bourdieu’s view of the relationship between societal markets and immigrant families ............. 192
6.1.1.1 Orthodoxy ......................................................................................................................... 193
6.1.1.2 Heterodoxy ........................................................................................................................ 194
6.1.1.3 Creation of their own field ................................................................................................ 194
6.1.2 Relationships between culture and language .............................................................................. 195
6.1.3 Summary of response to research question 1 .............................................................................. 197
6.2 Research question 2: To what extent do parents assume responsibility for their children’s language
socialisation and what are their management strategies? ............................................................................... 199
6.2.1 Impact beliefs and the use of explicit management strategies .................................................... 200
6.2.2 Influences on the development of an impact belief .................................................................... 202
6.2.3 Dynamic nature of language management .................................................................................. 205
6.2.1 Summary of response to research question 2 .............................................................................. 206
6.3 Research question 3: What key influences affect the co-construction of home language practices by
parents and children? ..................................................................................................................................... 208
6.3.1 Influences on home language practices ...................................................................................... 208
6.3.2 Children’s agency ....................................................................................................................... 211
6.3.3 Summary of response to research question 3 .............................................................................. 213
6.4 Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 213
7 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 215
7.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 215
7.2 Research findings ................................................................................................................................. 216
7.3 Methodological implications ................................................................................................................ 218
7.4 Theoretical implications ....................................................................................................................... 219
7.5 Practical implications ........................................................................................................................... 222
7.6 Suggestions for future research ............................................................................................................ 224
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7.7 Closing remarks.................................................................................................................................... 225
References ........................................................................................................ 227
Appendix One: Human Ethics Committee Consent Form ............................................................................. 250
Appendix Two: Participant Information Sheet .............................................................................................. 251
Appendix Three A: Interview Schedule with Ethiopian mothers .................................................................. 252
Appendix Three B: Interview Schedule with Colombian mothers ................................................................ 255
Appendix Four: Interview Schedule with Children ....................................................................................... 258
Appendix Five A: Consent Form (English) ................................................................................................... 260
Appendix Five B: Consent Form (Spanish) ................................................................................................... 261
Appendix Six: Transcription conventions ...................................................................................................... 262

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