Vitality Perceptions and Language Attitudes: Some Canadian Data

Bourhis, Richard Y.; Sachdev, Itesh

doi:10.1177/0261927x8400300202

Cited by 100 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 9 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…Notwithstanding that each model of vitality has various indicators to gauge the vitality of a language, it should be noted that in applying the concepts of both ethnolinguistic vitality and language vitality, early focus is on the immigrant minority, indigenous, and endangered language. This is seen in studies on vitality assessment between Italian and English language in Canada (Bourhis & Sachdev, 1984), the vitality of Turkish and English language among Turkish immigrants in Australia (Yagmur, Bot & Korzilius, 1999), the vitality of English, Bengali, and Sylheti language among Bangladeshi immigrant in United Kingdom (Lawson & Sachdev, 2004), the vitality of Sihan language in Sarawak, Malaysia (Mohamed & Hashim, 2012) and many more.…”

Section: Vitality Language Use and Identitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Language Vitality of Malaysian Languages and Its Relation to Identity

How

Heng

Abdullah

2015

GEMA

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Bahasa Malaysia is the national language in Malaysia, which acts as a national symbol that raise a sense of national unity, and maintains a sense of cultural value and identity. As the country is multicultural and multilingual, the use of Bahasa Malaysia, English, Mandarin, and Tamil invite questions of comparative vitality, which is a strength evaluation of language relative to other languages that coexist in the linguistic sphere.The present study, via the indicators such as language use, dominance and preference, language attitude and motivation, and language proficiency, aims to examine the vitality of these languages and to obtain comparative information about their connections to national and ethnic identity. Vitality Questionnaire was distributed to Malaysian primary five students fromvernacular Tamil and Chinese schools. Findings indicate that Bahasa Malaysiaand English do not have high vitality . Yet, vernacular languages are rated as having high vitality. It is suggested that ethnic languages dominantly shape ethnic identity and that they play animportant role in the students" lives at early age as compared to Bahasa Malaysia which has not gained a stronghold. Thus, the sense of national identity appears to have taken a back seat. National aspiration in this aspect of nation building is still far from being realized if it is to be nurtured and expected to be developed at this stage of growth. Within a multilingual milieu, establishing national identity appears a complex issue and language choice and use may have long term effects on the moulding of a Malaysian national identity.

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Section: Vitality Language Use and Identitymentioning

confidence: 98%

Language Vitality of Malaysian Languages and Its Relation to Identity

How

Heng

Abdullah

2015

GEMA

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“…Many French Canadians value their language very highly and feel threatened by the Anglophone culture that surrounds them (Bourhis, 1984; see also Bourhis & Sachdev, 1984). If more Canadians spoke French, this would increase the numerical strength of French Canadians as a group and also help them to differentiate themselves from their more powerful Englishspeaking neighbors south of the border.…”

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confidence: 99%

The more, the merrier? Numerical strength versus subgroup distinctiveness in minority groups

Livingstone¹,

Spears²,

Manstead³

et al. 2011

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

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Evidence attests to the efforts made by minority groups to defend and promote 'distinctive' attributes that potentially define the ingroup. However, these attributes are often only available to a prototypical minority within the minority category. In two studies we tested the hypothesis that, under certain conditions, large projected increases in the numerical strength of a 'distinctive' attribute (emotional intelligence in Study 1; ingroup language in Study 2) within a minority category can paradoxically evoke less-than-positive reactions from those who already have the attribute. Findings confirmed that while a large projected increase in the numerical strength of a 'distinctive' attribute was viewed positively when the comparative context focused on the inter-category relation with a majority outgroup, this increase was viewed less positively, and as undermining their own identity, in a narrower intra-category context. Implications for identity management strategies in minority groups are discussed

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“…The present study was inspired by that of Bourhis & Sachdev (1984) who showed that variations in the objective demography of intergroup relations can have a pertinent effect on vitality perceptions. They found that when there was a numerical balance between majority and minority groups (Angloand Italian-Canadians) in a particular school setting that the former would show far more ingroup bias in their vitality perceptions than when the immediate educational context reflected the proportions of ethnic groups common to the locale (Hamilton, Ontario).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%