Displacement, Language Maintenance and Identity

Theoretical approaches and frameworks to language maintenance and shift research

“…A major criticism levelled against domain analysis is a terminological one with implications for LMLS research. Hatoss (2013) argues that the concept of 'domain' does not capture the dynamics of language use in our globalised world, where "localities are interconnected on multiple levels" (p. 127) and language use "is changing by the minute as different interactants enter and enact different identities" (p. 128). Hatoss clarifies that, for instance, the private domain of the family home might become somewhat transnational when family members communicate with their relatives through the Internet.…”

“…Other authors (Giles, Bourhis , & Taylor, 1977) have identified a number of objective and subjective ethnolinguistic vitality factors that are argued to promote maintenance or shift. However, a number of models have argued for the significance of considering cultural values for group continuity and LM (Smolicz, 1981(Smolicz, , 1984, as well as exploring the influence of attitude (Karan, 2011) and identity (Hatoss, 2013) on LMLS. In the following sections, I provide a review of these theories and their contribution to LMLS research worldwide while detailing criticism levelled against these theories.…”

Challenging Social Injustice in Superdiverse Contexts Through Activist Languages Education

“…A change in spatial environment clearly affects our capacity to deploy linguistic resources and skills and imposes requirements on us which we may fail to meeta quite common globalization experience which we accept as a sociolinguistic problem. (Blommaert et al, 2005, p. 198) An additional educational challenge in refugee contexts is that displaced populations have been shown to have a high proportion of children and typically those children have had their education interrupted by war and have suffered from various barriers to education (Hatoss & Huijser, 2010;Hatoss, 2013). According to the UNHCR 2016 Report on Global Trends, children below 18 years of age constituted about half of the refugee population in 2016, and more than 3.5 million refugee children of school age did not attend school (UNHCR, 2017, p. 8).…”

“…On the other hand, the loss of the home language in such communities can lead to the loss of ethnic identity and the breaking up of social network systems within the community. It can also deepen the generational gap between elders and youth (Hatoss, 2013). A major study conducted in the South Sudanese diaspora of Australia found that African tribal languages played a significant role as languages of communication in most language domains.…”

“…While English was a "passport" to educational and job opportunities, home languages provided important access to the social networks of South Sudanese communities. South Sudanese who arrived in Australia as vulnerable refugees were able to utilize their agency to organize language maintenance classes for the benefit of maintaining their language across generations (Hatoss, 2013(Hatoss, , 2019a. The important agentive role language plays in migration contexts has also been emphasized by numerous other studies.…”