Transcript Handbook of Language & Ethnicity

Handbook of Language &
Ethnicity
Chapter 10: Social Psychology
By Karmela Liebkind
What Is Ethnicity?
• Ethnicity is more associated with minority
than majority status
• Objective criteria: biological, geographical,
linguistic, cultural, religious
– But objective criteria are not so clear and
subjective criteria might be MORE important
• Subjective belief in common ancestry
Can Ethnicity Be Changed?
• YES: people will switch membership and
languages if it helps them get jobs, housing, etc.
– it can be rationally manipulated
• NO: people would rather die than betray their
group – it is irrational, unquestioned, part of a
herd instinct
• Ethnicity is ascribed because you can only be
born into one group, but achieved because you
can choose what that group means for your
identity
Ethnic Identity as Social Identity
• People understand their place in the world
according to social categorization
• Personal self-image
– personal identity
– social identity – membership in various
groups (preferable ones that we see as
favorably distinct
• Interpersonal behavior and intergroup
behavior are different
Language Groups in Contact:
Alternative Strategies
• Factors: +/-retention of culture, +/interaction with majority culture
• Strategies:
– integration: cultural integrity & interaction
– assimilation: loss of culture
– separation: cultural integrity only
– marginalization: loss of culture without
interaction
Different strategies for
different situations
• A minority can use different strategies for
different aspects of life: work, marriage…
• Integration creates bicultural identity
– BUT: some portion of minority identity will be
sacrificed, and this could mean language
The Social Psychology of
Language & Identity
• What factors make people use another
language, lose their language, or maintain
it?
– When ethnic group identity becomes
important for individuals, they may attempt to
make themselves favorably distinct on
dimensions such as language
– If language is a source of shame, they will
assimilate and lose language
Language and Ethnic Identity
• “Language interweaves…personal identity
with…collective ethnic identity” – What
does this mean?
– Language is an instrument for naming
self and world
– Upbringing of a child depends on
language
– Language is one of the most salient
characteristics of ethnic groups
Language and Ethnic Identity,
cont’d.
• Integrative attitude toward mother tongue
– people identify with a native language
and want to maintain that identification
• Language helps form group identity and
group identity influences language use
• But even if here is a negative attitude
toward a majority language, language loss
can occur
Language Attitudes and
Ethnolinguistic Vitality
• Minorities face socioeconomic need to use
majority language
• What factors condition loss, maintenance,
revival of a minority language – including
majority’s attitude toward minority language?
– Status (economic, political, linguistic prestige)
– Demographic strength (#, concentration, birthrates,
migration)
– Institutional support (media, government, education)
Ethnolinguistic Vitality, cont’d.
• Subjective perception of ethnolinguistic
vitality is more important than objective
numbers
• Other factors:
– group boundaries
– multiple group membership
• Power of majority group is crucial – they
often pursue assimilation policies
Language Identity and
Speech Accommodation
• Interpersonal communication (which can
also be interpreted as intergroup
communication) can involve
– speech convergence
– speech maintenance
– speech divergence
• Low-status speakers tend to converge
more
Speech Divergence
• Divergence maintains identity; What facilitates
divergence?
–
–
–
–
speakers see language as important to group
speakers see possibility for group’s increased status
speakers do not identify with other group
speakers see minority group membership as more
important and fixed
– speakers believe their group to have high
ethnolinguistic vitality
• But most people have multiple identities and
bilingual/bicultural identity is often best
Bilingual Communication
• Code switching is influenced by power and
status of the languages involved
• Feelings of security influence behavior –
majority groups tend to feel more secure
and are often more positive toward their
own group than minority groups are
– Insecure dominant groups are more
discriminatory, secure subordinate groups are
more empowered to assert themselves
Second-Language Acquisition
• A second language can represent either
– an alien identity
– a mere tool for communication
• It is hard to find any consistent correlation
between identification with a subordinate
group and the motivation/success in
learning a dominant language
• Language identity and language use can
be very different
The Effects of the Ethnic Revival
• What are two strong opposite trends since
WWII?
– growth of interdependence
– growth of differentiation among groups
• There are thousands of ethnolinguistic groups,
but only 200 (mostly non-homogeneous) nationstates
• Recent research emphasizes:
– Desirability of active bilingualism
– Rights of minorities to remain linguistically distinct