Language Ideologies and Language Socialization: Case Studies of Italian Families in Calgary

Date
2014-09-23
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Abstract
The present study examines the language socialization practices and choices of four Italian families in Calgary. The study is examined through the lens of critical sociolinguistics with a focus on how language ideologies are embedded in the language socialization, identities, and discourses of the four families, as well as why and what consequences such ideologies could have on the linguistic future of the children. The research focuses on the last generation of Italian immigrants, who have been leaving Italy over the last 15 years. Both parents and children of each family have been interviewed and a Critical Discourse Analysis approach has been used to examine the data. Findings reveal contradictions and ambivalences around the Italian language, alongside ideologies that grant prestige to English and a standard and purist preference for using languages, in particular Italian. Such ideologies lead to different outcomes on the language socialization of each family and the Italian maintenance of the children.
Description
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Education--Bilingual and Multicultural
Citation
Torta, R. (2014). Language Ideologies and Language Socialization: Case Studies of Italian Families in Calgary (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26722