Intergenerational Transmission of Chinese Foochow: Exploring a Connection between Family Language Policy and Language-Ethnicity Dimensions

نوع مقاله : مقاله تحقیق

نویسندگان
1 PhD, Nanyang Technological University
2 PhD, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
چکیده
This study examines intergenerational transmission of Chinese Foochow in Sarawak, Malaysia by exploring a connection between family language policy and language-ethnicity dimensions. The specific aspects examined were: (a) family language practices; (b) family language ideology in defining characteristics of being a Foochow; and (c) family language attitudes towards heritage language management. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with nine Foochow ethnic families (29 participants) from urban Sarawak, Malaysia. The findings showed the Foochow dialect was mainly spoken at the highest level of the family hierarchy with the lowest level shifting to use standard languages (Mandarin and/or English). The nine families held strong beliefs regarding their ethnic identity being passed down by birth, blood, and descent and thus, not being able to speak Foochow did not subtract from their Foochow ethnicity. Some participants defined themselves as Foochow because they practised Foochow customs and ate Foochow food, indicative of the phenomenological dimension of the language-ethnicity link. As the dialect is predicted to lose its role and status in urban settings, various strategies for managing Foochow which attributed agency to others were provided by the participants. The findings suggested that attributing ethnic identity to paternity and not patrimony will lead to potential loss of Foochow from the linguistic repertoire of the youngest generation in urban localities in Malaysia.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات


Albury, N. J. (2017). Mother tongues and languaging in Malaysia: Critical linguistics under critical examination. Language in Society, 46, 567–589.
Albury, N. J. (2021). Language policy, ideological clarification and theory of mind. Language Policy, 20, 193–214.
Baumann, T. (2004). Defining ethnicity. The SAA Archaeological Record, 4(4), 12–15.
Bergroth, M., & Palviainen, Å. (2017). Bilingual children as policy agents: Language policy and education policy in minority language medium early childhood education and care. Multilingua, 36(4), 375–399.
Cavallaro, F., Ng, B. C., & Tan, Y.-Y. (2020). Singapore English. In K. Bolton, W. Botha & A. Kirkpatrick (Eds.), The handbook of Asian Englishes (pp. 419–448). Wiley Blackwell.
Carstens, S. (2018). Multilingual Chinese Malaysians: The global dimensions of language choice. Grazer Linguistische Studien, 89, S7–34.
Churchman, C. M. (2017). The eclectic nature of Penang Hokkien vocabulary, its historical background and implications for character writing. Journal of Taiwanese Vernacular, 9(1), 86–125.
Clammer, J. (1982). The institutionalization of ethnicity: The culture of ethnicity in Singapore. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 5, 127–139.
Curdt-Christiansen, X. L. (2013). Family language policy: Sociopolitical reality versus linguistic continuity. Language Policy, 12, 1–6.
De Houwer, A. (1990). The acquisition of two languages from birth: a case study. Cambridge University Press.
De Vos, G. A., & Romanucci-Ross, L. (1975). Ethnicity: Vessel of meaning and emblem of contrast. In G. A. De Vos & L. Romanucci-Ross (Eds.), Ethnic identity: Cultural continuities and change (pp. 363–90). Mayfield.
Ding, S. L., & Goh, K. L. (2017). Family language practices of Chinese Hakka in East Malaysia. In W.-A. Chang (Ed.), Hakka studies in Taiwan, Southeast Asia and the World (pp. 215–239). National Chiao Tung University Press.
Doyle, C. (2013). To Make the Root Stronger: Language Policies and Experiences of Successful Multilingual Intermarried Families with Adolescent Children in Tallinn. In M. Schwartz & A. Verschik (Eds.), Successful family language policy: Parents, children and educators in interaction (pp. 145–175). Springer.
Fishman, J. A. (1977). Language and ethnicity. In H. Giles (Ed.), Language, ethnicity and intergroup relations (pp. 1558). Academic Press.
Fishman, J. A. (Ed.). (1989). Language and ethnicity in minority sociolinguistic perspective. Multilingual Matters.
Fishman, J. A. (1991). Reversing language shift: Theoretical and empirical foundations of assistance to threatened languages. Multilingual Matters.
Fogle, L., & King, K. A. (2013). Child agency and language policy in transnational families. Issues in Applied Linguistics, 19, 1–25.
Gal, S. (1978). Peasant men can’t get wives: Language change and sex roles in a bilingual community. Language in Society, 7, 1–16.
Haugen, E. (1972). The ecology of language. In E. Haugen (Ed.), The ecology of language. Essays by Einar Haugen (Selected and introduced by Anwar S. Dil) (pp. 325–339). Stanford University Press.
Hua, Z., & Li, W. (2016). Transnational Experience, Aspiration and Family Language Policy. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 37(7), 655–666.
Jones, S. (1997). The archaeology of ethnicity: Constructing ethnicities in the past and present. Routledge.
Kang, H. (2004). Heritage language maintenance, acculturation, and identity: Chinese and Korean 1.5 generation immigrants in New Jersey. Ohio State University MA thesis.
King, K. A., & Fogle, L. (2013). Family language policy and bilingual parenting. Language Teaching, 46(2), 172–194.
King, K. A., Fogle, L., & Logan-Terry, A. (2008). Family language policy. Language and Linguistics Compass, 2(5), 907–922.
Lanza, E. (1997). Language mixing in infant bilingualism. A sociolinguistic perspective. Clarendon Press.
Leeman, J., & King, K. A. (2015). Heritage language education: Minority language speakers, second language instruction, and monolingual schooling. In M. Bigelow & J. Ennser-Kananen (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of educational linguistics (pp. 232–245). Routledge.
Lewis, M. P., & Simons, G. F. (2010). Assessing endangerment: Expanding Fishman’s GIDS. Revue Roumaine de Linguistique, 55(2), 103–120.
Luykx, A. (Ed.). (2003). Weaving languages together: Family language policy and gender socialization in bilingual Aymara households. Multilingual Matters.
Mah, B. (2005). Ethnic identity and heritage language ability in second generation Canadians in Toronto. Ryerson University MA thesis.
Malaysia Legal Research Board. (1997). Federal Constitution (as at 31st January 1997). International Law Book Services.
Ong, T. W. S. (2018). Language maintenance in Malaysia: A case study of the Chinese community in Penang. Griffith University PhD thesis.
Ong, T. W. S. (2020). Why bother maintaining languages? A discussion based on diminishing Chinese dialects in Malaysia. Apples – Journal of Applied Language Studies, 14(1), 1–5.
Ong, T. W. S., & Ben Said, S. (Forthcoming). Language maintenance and the transmission of ideologies among Chinese-Malaysian families. In S. Makoni, A. Kaiper-Marquez, & L. Mokwena (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of language and the global south/s. Routledge.
Ong, T. W. S., & Troyer, R. A. (Forthcoming). The double-edged sword of Mandarin Chinese: Language shift and cultural maintenance among middle-aged Chinese Malaysians. Manusya: Journal of Humanities.
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd edn). Sage Publications.
Puah, Y.-Y., & Ting, S.-H. (2017). Dominant language-ethnicity notions of the Malaysian Chinese in Sarawak: Paternity or patrimony? Asian Studies Review, 41(1), 79–98.
Ruohotie-Lyhty, M., & Moate, J. (2015). Proactive and reactive dimensions of life-course agency: Mapping student teachers’ language learning experiences. Language and Education, 29(1), 46–61.
Said, F., & Zhu, H. (2019). “No, no Maama! Say ‘Shaatir ya Ouledee Shaatir’!” Children’s agency in language use and socialisation. International Journal of Bilingualism, 23(3), 771–785.
Schwartz, M. (2010). Family language policy: Core issues of an emerging field. Applied Linguistics Review, 1(1), 171–192.
Smith-Christmas, C. (2017). Family language policy: New directions. In J. Macalister & S. H. Mirvahedi (Eds.), Family language policies in a multilingual world. Opportunities, challenges, and consequences (pp. 13–30). Routledge.
Smith-Christmas, C. (2021). Using a ‘family language policy’ lens to explore the dynamic and relational nature of child agency. Children & Society, 2021(00), 1–15.
Spolsky, B. (2004). Language policy. Cambridge University Press.
Spolsky, B. (2009). Language management. Cambridge University Press.
Ting, S.-H. (2018). Intergenerational Transmission of the ethnic language: Hakka stops at Gen X. Grazer Linguistische Studien, 89, S63–88.
Ting, S.-H. & Sussex, R. (2002). Language choice among the Foochows in Sarawak, Malaysia. Multilingua, 21, 1–15.
Ting, S.-H., & Teng, J. Z.-M. (2021). Chinese teenagers’ perceptions of vitality of Hokkien Chinese in Penang, Malaysia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, (2021)272, 185–217.
Ting, S.-H., & Ting, S.-L. (2021). The Foochow Chinese: Moving towards a pan-Chinese identity anchored to Mandarin. Global Chinese, 7(1), 1–27.
Tong, C.-K., & Chan, K.-B. (2001). One face, many masks: The singularity and plurality of Chinese identity. Diaspora, 10(3), 361–389.
Van Deusen-Scholl, N. (2003). Toward a definition of heritage language: Sociopolitical and pedagogical considerations. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 2(3), 211–230.
Vollmann, R., & Soon, T. W. (2020). Language change and convergence in multilingual Malaysian Chinese. Global Chinese, 6(1), 49–67.
Wang, F. (2016). The lived experiences of Canadian-born and foreign-born Chinese Canadian post-secondary students in Northern Ontario. Journal of International Students, 6(2), 451–477.
Wang, X. M. (2010). The sociolinguistic realignment in the Chinese community in Kuala Lumpur: Past, present and future. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 31(5), 479–489.
Wang, X. M. (2012). Mandarin spread in Malaysia. University of Malaya Press.
Wang, X. M. (2015, May 28-31). The spread of Mandarin in a Malaysian Hakka community: Focus on religious domain [Paper presentation]. International Society for the Study of Chinese Overseas 2015 Regional Conference, Seoul National University, South Korea.